The Mayflower

I stayed at this hotel with my husband for four nights to do some sightseeing in London. I booked the Mayflower because I had read a review in the Telegraph which said it was good value for money. We found it to be excellent in every respect.

We had a friendly welcome from the receptionists and were told we had been upgraded to an executive room at no extra cost. The room was quite spacious with a very nice bathroom which included a good size corner shower. We could not work out how the safe worked and without any quibbles the receptionist sent a porter to show us.

The room was spotlessly clean and the bed comfortable. The self service buffet continental breakfast was plentiful and excellent.

The proximity to Earls Court tube station makes the Mayflower a good choice for exploring London and we will definitely stay there again.

I stayed here during my first visit to the UK in 2003. At the time the hotel seemed to be going through some upgrades. I stayed in a double room and found it to be small but adequate. The decor was modern and comfortable. The bathrooms were beautifully done and modern. The location is just a stones throw to the Earls Court tube station. I would stay here again. It is in a safe area and the rooms were comfortable.

I chose this hotel to stay the night before a vital exam in Earls Court. I had read reviews on Trip Advisor and contacted the hotel directly to make a booking specifically identifying my need for a quiet room in preparation for the exam. I was confirmed a double room for single occupancy.

On my arrival late in the evening, I was informed that I in fact was not booked into a room, but was in an 'apartment'. This apartment I found to be in a basement flat, away from the hotel, adjacent to Earls Court Station. There was a constant noise of trains. The room was clean. There was no phone in the room which presented increased difficulty due to poor mobile reception in a basement room. At around midnight the occupants of the adjacent flat came and thin walls meant all the noise from their flat kept me awake until 4.30 am. In addition to the trains and the adjacent occupants, at around 1am there were people ringing the doorbell which sounded in both flats. The lack of a room phone meant I could not communicate with the hotel reception.

The most disturbing aspect was the response of the hotel management who instead of an apology for misleading me about what it was that I was booking into, said all they could have done is to refund my money if I'd checked out at 1am. I explained that nowhere to stay, at 1am, on the streets around Earls Court, with an exam marking the end of my surgical training in the morning was the absolute worse of all situations. However there was not even the slightest of empathy. I was most upset by the attitude of the management, I feel with good justification. More than anything else, it is this that would make me urge anyone thinking about staying here, to reconsider