The Winchester

We checked into the Winchester on May 11, 2009 after making a reservation several months in advance and requesting the ground floor due to problems with stair climbing. Friends were with us so we had two rooms. One room was on the first floor (2nd in US) and the other in the basement (#2), The room on the first floor was nice although small but the basement room was so small you couldn't get the closet door open all the way. But the main problem was the manager on duty. When we ask for a better room she said none were available and then proceeded to check later arrivals into better rooms. We ask for a restaurant recommendation but when we didn't let her make a reservation for us she became rude. After that almost anything I asked about I was told that she couldn't help me. Our room was very cold so we asked for heat but she told us if they gave us heat then the upstairs would get too hot. After much complaining the next day she finally turned on the heat for about an hour then shut it off again because people upstairs complained. The first night we had to take cold showers because the night clerk couldn't tell us how to operate the water temperature control. We had booked three nights but left after two because we couldn't take the cold cramped room or the lack of good service any more. They advertised free Wi Fi it didn't work. I have waited 5 months to write this review to make sure I hadn't changed my feelings about the Winchester. To be fair my daughter stayed at the Winchester a few weeks later without any negative incidents.

After reading some of the reviews prior to our trip we were a little worried. We need not have, even though the room was quite small, it was clean and well serviced. The staff were very friendly and the breakfast was cooked freshly for us. The location was perfect, 5 mins walk to Victoria where we picked up the tube system. We were also able to walk to lots of restaurants and attractions. For the reasonable cost we thought we had our monies worth (for Central London).

The Staff - The staff were very friendly and made us feel welcome, the two girls who appear to clean and serve breakfast were especially helpful and attentative.

The Room - The bedroom was quite small (to be expected in location?) and filled with furniture which looked like it came from a house clearance. It was very clea though. The bathroom had a good shower and was modern but very cramped.

Breakfast - We had to que for breakfast as the hotel did not have enough tables, food was not too bad. Waitresses were very helpful.