Illy Caffè, London — Restaurant in London

I’ve been staying at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and have visited the Illy Café on the ground floor several times. Up until today, I enjoyed the good coffee and helpful staff. However, my most recent visit left me very disappointed.

When ordering a takeaway cappuccino, I was suddenly charged a 12.5% service charge — something that had never been applied on previous days for the same order. When I asked, I was told that management had recently instructed staff to apply it in all cases, whether you sit down with a porcelain cup or simply take your coffee away.

This practice is misleading and, frankly, unfair. The café does not offer table service — you order and pay at the counter — yet a compulsory service charge is added. To make matters worse, the card machine then prompts you to leave an additional tip, which creates the impression that customers are being charged twice for “service” that never actually happens.

It feels less like hospitality and more like an attempt to extract hidden charges. This is disappointing in a venue attached to a respected hotel, and it undermines the otherwise good experience provided by the staff and coffee. Management should urgently rethink this policy, as it risks driving loyal...

The attitude of the staff at the cafe is not honest at all. After eating and drinking for 1 hour with my family at the cafe between 15:00-16:00 on 01.04.2025, I forgot my coat hanging on the back of the chair I was sitting on when I got up. I noticed it half an hour after I got up and immediately called the cafe. They said they checked the entire waiting room and the coat was not there. I said I was sure the coat was there and asked them to check again. When I called 2 more times after 10 minutes, they said they checked again with security and that there was no such coat behind any chair or on the floor. I called again 10 minutes later and when I said I would come and check the security cameras, he hung up the phone and said he found the coat 5 minutes later and that it was hanging behind the chair. Everything he has said so far has been a complete lie. I don't even want to think about it, but this process did not seem honest to me. I did not like people working in such a corporate brand and moreover in the hotel. I am writing here to warn the authorities, please check the cameras and find the guilty person. I hope this will never happen to anyone...

If based on service I would give one star but the coffee and food was decent so it’s two stars. There is one particular woman with long blackish straight hair and fair skin who is quite rude. She wore a jacket compared to other staff so probably a manager (and she was the rudest). She never smiles and on top of that made rude comments when her staff obviously could not get our order right. It was just two Viennese cappuccinos and two tomato and cheese croissants but we were asked 4 times for clarification of what our order was, and instead of her helping out this very confused cashier, she made unprofessional side comments to question our order. I was staying at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge and this was the second time we ordered and she really has a long face and doesn’t help smooth things out for her team. Every time we saw her at the counter we refused to order there. Good thing she wasn’t...