St. James' Court, A Taj Hotel

I have stayed at Taj hotels in India and South Africa and they were excellent. The London experience was not the same and just ok, at best. The executive rooms varied from very nice for some in our party, to average for me (especially for the price). The room was hot (ac did not work and the windows could not be opened), appeared somewhat tired with scratches on the doors and cabinets, amenities were inconsistent (room not always stocked consistently and no heated towel rack in my room, but present in others). The staff service reflected mediocre training--staff response to requests were often bland and somewhat non-sensical at times. The location was fantastic and convenient, but I expected more from the service and facilities. I was disappointed by the overall experience. I sent an e-mail with my concerns and did not receive a response. What a sad experience with a hotel chain I previously enjoyed.

After a morning walk around St James park I went into the breakfast area to grab a take away coffee and croissant. The coffee maker in the room was broke. I was categorically told no take away was possible and I wasn’t allowed to take a plate to my room. This was from a smiling member of staff. When I asked I only wanted a croissant to go as I still have some work to finish. I was told ‘that too’ and had the plate snatched from my hand. This was a business trip so I wasn’t paying for the room, but at over £200 per night I won’t be recommending or using this hotel again. I also asked for some extra milk in the room the night before and it took over an hour to come. This hotel needs to consider what create their value. This is clearly paying customers staying in the hotel and leaving satisfied. I definitely wasn’t with the service I got from this hotel.

Stayed at the hotel recently. The rooms and facilities were clean and well-maintained, but noise levels were quite high due to renovations which made it hard to fully relax. We were not notified of the renovations when we booked this hotel.

Despite calling the hotel 3 times to report this as potential fraud, and asking it to be cancelled, I was directed to Booking.com who would not cancel the booking because I didn't have any details - thats because I DID NOT MAKE THE BOOKING. I called the hotel again 16 Mar after receveiving the invoice to say I had not been in London, had not booked or stayed in the room. They said they would speak to a manager and call back...and goes without saying, nobody called back. Then I received a "How was your stay" Questionnaire!! FRUSTRATED AND ANGRY does not even come close to how I feel about this. I have been completely helpless and mistreated by both booking.com and the Taj, who just fobbed me off and did nothing. The only saving grace is that the credit card that was used does not seem to be one of mine! Note, the customer address given on the invoice is not mine either. The Taj has not offered to contact booking.com to investigate. Either it is an error in booking .com's records/systems or potentially somebody has stayed using my name and employers account details. Clearly I cannot answer the questionnaire, since I did not make a booking or attend - yet I have an invoice for £491.25 in my work inbox!!

I am giving 5 stars even though the stay didn’t start out as such (4 stars). I will explain. Reception desk staff are all incredibly nice and helpful. My original room was really nice and spacious however the wifi was a real problem. I specified I was travelling for business so this was an important priority. The heating in my original room was also not working well. After mentioning WiFi was not good the staff switched me to a different room. This is where the 5 stars come in. The immediate response and attention to solve the problem was top notch. Wifi was strong. Room was even better and they were kind to leave an amenity for the trouble. Much appreciated. The bed is very comfortable, the room (both of them) very spacious with plenty of space for bags and a small seating area and desk. The bathroom is newly remodeled with high end bath amenities from Molton Brown- such a plus, especially since they have refillable bottles instead of the small disposable ones (bonus points for sustainability). Water pressure is great. Coffee/ tea in the room with biscuits replenished every day and actual milk (none of this packaged creamer nonsense). The hotel itself is really really quiet. And the walk to the Palace is 5 minutes. Major underground is only 5-10 min walk. Parliament and Big Ben are also a 10 min walk. Mayfair is about 15-20 mins (cutting across the park, which is very safe even at dark). All in all I would highly recommend this hotel. There is construction going on and sadly I could not enjoy the main lobby but a glimpse was enough to see how luxurious this will be in the next couple of days.