The Mayflower

Well where shall I start, the web photos are nothing like what you are going to get. My friend and I booked a twin room and what we got was a shoe box with noise from the trains and a view of a Corination Street back yard, six inches space between the beds, a very small TV on top of the wardrobe, stained toilet, broken grate in the shower and the tea cups were dirty.So we decided to complain (what a waste of time that was) very unhelpful, the housekeeper said the toilet was stained due to the toilet brush going backwards and forwards as she cleaned it (could not bring myself to look at the toilet brush) The broken shower grate was done by another guest so it was not their fault (at this point the housekeeper was showing my friend and I how the other guest broke the grate by standing in the shower with her shoes on pretending to have a shower. We decided to go and find another hotel as this was not what we expected to find having booked from the web site picturing lovely rooms on it, how wrong can you be, we got the broom cupboard turned twin bedroom. We asked for a refund so that we could go and find a decent hotel but the hotel operates a 48hour cancellation policy also taking full payment before checking in. We now know why that is, this hotel makes a living from taking peoples money and not returing it when there is a genuine complaint, this is easy money for them. We left and spent a brilliant night at the Premier Inn Kensington just round the corner ( I would fully recommend this hotel for a really great stay) We were offered by the Mayflower an upgrade for £20 for the Saturday night , we took this offer as the Premier was full but what a mistake to think this would be any better, the room was slightly bigger but the bathroom was smaller than the previous room with very little room to even sit on the toilet properly, this was the last straw and we have cut our trip to London short and come home. The staff at the Mayflower were very unhelpful and was not concerned we were leaving as they say they have never had any complaints before, I beg to differ maybe they should read their review. This hotel is no more than a "DHSS Bed and Breakfast"and to top it all my friends husband rang them up to complain only to have the phone hung up on him.that says it all about this place.

dee and shaz

I was deceived into booking into the Mayflower Hotel by an outrageously flattering website and recommendation from Condé Nast. What appeared to be an excellent rate for a spacious, well equipped room was in fact a poor deal on the smallest hotel room I've ever set eyes on. The apparently slightly-below-standard-sized double bed reached from the partition separating the sink (in the bedroom, not the bathroom) to the far end of the room, with a very narrow channel separating the only accessible side of the bed from the poorly built, shallow, inadequate wardrobe. The shoe-box feel of the room was compounded by the angled wall at the foot of the bed.

Dissatisfied with the room, we were, reluctantly offered another which was marginally bigger - the bed was in this room was only against one wall(!) The usable size of the room (including the bed which felt smaller than a standard double) was roughly 7' square - smaller than some hotel bathrooms! Again, the quality of the furniture was very poor, the blind was torn and frayed along the length of one side. The bathroom was basic, and not well cleaned which may have contributed to the slight unpleasant smell.

The noise from the road is almost unbearable, but is marginally more palatable than the shrieking caged birds in the 'juice bar'.

Breakfast is included, but isn't a saving grace for this terrible hotel. A small selection of unidentified cereals, foul tea and coffee, and artificial-tasting unidentifed juice was topped only by the croissants which gave the impression they were baked a week previously. I didn't pluck up the courage to try the plates of two very-cheap looking processed meats or dry cheese. Cereal with milk had been spilled on the floor of the breakfast room before we reached it, and was still unattended when we had finished.

The staff are less than enthusiastic, an appropriate reflection of the hotel.

The hotel's website is entirely misleading, using words such as "spacious comfort", "luxury", "state-of-the-art" and "elegant" to describe what would be a step down from the average student halls of residence.