Travelodge London Central City Road — Hotel in London

My Stay at Travelodge: Convenient, Comfortable, and Great Value||As an Indian traveler who has explored Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, I know the high standards of hospitality we often expect. While European service styles differ, I always look for a reliable bed and breakfast—and Travelodge delivered just that.||Why I Chose Travelodge**|I booked this hotel on a flexible, cancellable rate before applying for my visa. Its central location, included breakfast, and affordability stood out compared to other hotels and Airbnbs in the area. Even though the rating was 3.8 (and many Asian travelers look for 4+), I decided to give it a try.||What Made My Stay Excellent (4.5/5)||-Location: The hotel’s central position made sightseeing easy. We could start our day with breakfast, leave by 9 am, return for a midday rest, and head out again in the evening. Public transport was easily accessible, which saved us valuable time.||- Transport: Three major stations—Liverpool Street, Moorgate, and Old Street—are within a 6-minute walk. There’s also a bus stop right outside, connecting you to central London and major attractions.||- Breakfast: While not extravagant by Asian or Middle Eastern standards, the hot breakfast buffet was a big plus. In Europe, such options are often expensive or unavailable. |For vegetarians and vegans, there were hash browns, baked beans, sautéed mushrooms, tomatoes, various breads and pastries, cereals, fruit, and multiple drink options. Non-vegetarians had bacon, sausages, and eggs.||- Dining Options: The ground-floor restaurant serves lunch and dinner. If you return late, Pret a Manger, Subway, and several Asian restaurants are nearby. Tesco next door is handy for snacks and ready meals. There’s no room service.||- Room: We booked a family room for three (two adults and a teenager). There was a king-sized bed and two small single beds. The space was tight with three suitcases. We placed two suitcases on the extra bed for easy access and to keep our room clean and organised. There’s no closed cupboard or locker, but an iron and ironing board were provided. Hair dryers are available on request. At the same time, the general room sizes in Central London are small. ||- Housekeeping: Room cleaning is scheduled every six days. We managed fine, but a mid-week cleaning would have been appreciated. Fresh towels and trash removal were available upon request.||- Amenities: Toiletries provided are very basic, so bring your own if you prefer something specific. Towels were soft and clean. Note: There are no water faucets with the toilets, which is common across the UK and Europe.||- Front Desk: The staff were efficient and helpful. Check-in was quick, and they assisted with booking a cab to Heathrow. Uber is also readily available.||- Air cooling: The hotel provides a table fan, which was useful during a few warm days. Most London hotels don’t have AC, so keep this in mind if visiting in summer. Hotel should consider lighter bedding as an addition for warmer nights.||It was due to the location of the hotel and no waste of time in searching breakfast that we could leave our hotel at 9 am for sightseeing and come back after lunch, say around 3/ 3.30pm, rest for 1.5/2 hours and go check out more of the city in the evening. And then, we used to come after dinner and reach the hotel by 9.30/ 10 pm and once at 11 pm.||It worked just fine from a transport and food standpoint.||Tips for Future Guests||- Double-check that your search results show “Central London”—many listings can be misleading.|- If traveling with two children, consider booking two rooms for more space.|- Adapt to the local breakfast style and bring your own toiletries for comfort.||Overall, Travelodge was a practical and comfortable choice for our week in London. The central location, including breakfast, and value for money made it an excellent base for exploring the city. I’d recommend it to other travelers looking for convenience and affordability in London.||This review is based on my personal experience and aims to provide helpful tips for fellow travelers considering this property, especially from...

BE CAREFUL: BED BUGS! AND OTHER PEOPLE’S BLOOD!

The 1st Room: The air conditioner screamed. Allocated room #2.

The 2nd Room: Returning at 11:30pm to find a bed bug crawling over a pillow! Receptionist said we needed to evacuate the room and she would go get the manager. Manager was “busy at the moment” and we were allocated room #3. Waited for the manager for ages when another receptionist asked if he could help and retrieved the manager.

The manager, SHEZAN, joined us and asked how he could help like he’d not heard what was going on. I told him about the bed bug room, and he replied, “So? I gave you another room!” That was it.

I advised that this was the third room we’ve been issued, I have a child waiting up and it’s now midnight, that surely he could understand the frustration and the need to be acknowledged that this was unacceptable.

Shezan shrugged and responded, “So what do you want me to do? I gave you another room.” I asked, what if the other room has bed bugs too, and he told me to “Go check it.”

The 3rd Room: Eventually Shezan agreed to inspect the room with us. I asked how would we know if there are no bed bugs? He said I was welcome to inspect the beds - I would have to undo each bed and thoroughly inspect them for bed bugs! I said I’d inspect their beds for bed bugs, so long as he has someone remake them. Shezan refused, then said, “You have a choice, you can have this room, or you can leave and find somewhere else to go.” It’s now after midnight.

I said my partner and I needed to talk about it, Shezan said we had 10 minutes because he was going home for the night, and that we could talk there in front of him, refusing to leave the room. I guess my death stare eventually sent him out.

We had no choice but to stay. Searching for accommodation, with a foreign phone, inability to dial out, a child, and a significant amount of luggage on the streets of London in the extremely early hours of the morning is not a good idea. Shezan insultingly offered us a 30% discount for the night.

I stripped the beds for inspection. One of the mattresses was stained like someone had urinated across the bottom of it and it was left there to fester for the rest of eternity.

We then had to re-make the beds with their ill-fitting linen. For one bed, the linen couldn’t even be tucked under the mattress.

If that wasn’t enough, when the toilet roll flew off its feeble handle towards the toilet on the floor, it was retrieved wet with heaven knows what and with someone else’s blood on it! The bathroom floor that hadn’t been cleaned from previous guests!

We slept on top of the linens with towels as pillows and dreamed about bed bugs for a few broken hours. At 7am, I went to reception to tell them that we were leaving and expected a full refund for the two nights we had booked. DERYA, the new shift manager, had no idea about what had happened, no incident report had been left. After explaining, Derya assured me she would make enquiries from Shezan to find out “what he’s done” and that she would email us back, advised us that she will refund the previous night in full, and that we needed to talk to Central Reservations or Customer Services to get the refund for the second night.

All this was on 19th/20th July. It’s been over a week, and we have not heard back from anyone at Travelodge.

Meanwhile, here are some of the complaints from other customers overheard while we waited at reception:

• One person complained they had no toilet paper in their room.

• One person complained they had to sleep on top of their bed the previous night because there was no mattress sheet.

• And the real kicker: one young woman complained that some random man she didn't know entered her room with a valid room key to her room while she...

If you just want a room to sleep in this is the hotel for you. If you want decent food to eat.. this is not it. I chose this hotel out of convenience for the location and the late check out. I had my graduation in the morning at the Barbarian center and was then traveling home the same day. I needed a late check out, but also for it to be within a short walking distance to the Barbarian.

Because I knew that this was going to be a hectic and busy time I opted to pay for the dinner meal deal. The main reason for this was that my partner was traveling at a different time to myself and did not know when he would arrive, so reserving a table elsewhere would have been difficult. After working in catering previously I know that not all food is cooked to order, but to have food that is brought out cold, and not just to our table but to others too... this is not just poor service but poor food hygiene. My partner ordered the pasta, this arrived as plain pasta (cold) sat in cold tomato sauce with some cheese grated on the top. Both ourselves and the other table sent them back. It was obvious that they had attempted to microwave them as the plates came back hot but the food was still cold. Food was sent back yet again. Again obvious that they had attempted to microwave it as the cheese had melted and the sauce had spluttered on the plate. Sent back again as it was still cold in the middle. Attempt number three was just warm enough to eat. What we were also concerned about was at the food was just being heated up, there was no way of telling which plate belonged to what table (the tables had all tried the food several times) My mother ordered pie and mash, the pie filling was boiling but the pastry was hard, the mash was instant and the peas cold. I ordered the chicken burger (knowing from my kitchen days that this has to be tested before being sent out), this arrived after my partner had finished his pasta and my mother was more than half way through her meal. This chicken was cooked but the temperature was only just exceptable. Dessert the best course of any meal and the one that people typically remember the most... the pancakes were tough and tasted of bicarb, the sticky toffee pudding was dry and the chocolate fudge cake was also dry. We did complain about this and we were given a refund of one meal deal. The excuse that was given is that food is not made from scratch on the premises, but rather it was brought in and reheated. I do not have an issue with food being brought in and reheated (after workings in catering this is more common than most think) but what i do have an issue with is food not meeting basic food hygiene standards. I wasn't expected Michigan Star quality at meal deal prices, but desserts that have some flavor other than bicarb would have been nice. Breakfast was also a disappointment, the bacon had become tough after being left under a heat lamp too long (even though we were eating at 0700), the scrabbled eggs had gone dry and crusty from the lamp, the coffee tasted how I imagine dirty dishwater would taste if you added UHT milk to it.

The room was as you would expect from a Travelodge, good comfy bed and pillows, sheets clean, nice hot shower. Missing ironing board (but it gave me an excuses not to iron haha). The soap by the sink was running very low but usable.

The location was perfect for us and the room was quite.

I have stayed at Travelodge before and not had issues. I have also stayed at other budget chain hotels (Premier Inn for example) and had their meal deal dinners because of their connivance, and I have never been so let down.

On the whole good nights sleep... but food...