The Londoner Hotel

Don’t fall for the platinum package. All you get is a box of chocolates. When I asked about the room grade “if available” I very much got the impression this hasn’t been considered. The staff were all nice and professional but there simply aren’t enough of them in The Residence and main bar area, so you are waiting too long to be served. Sadly for the high end prices and facilities, the service doesn’t match. It is very busy so there is no sense of calm with several people at a time desperately trying to get attention of busy staff members.

We booked one nights stay in London as the hotel was centrally located and had excellent facilities. Our first impression was everything we wanted and moreand the check in staff were friendly and let us check into our room early, which was very much appreciated. The reception area is vibrant and welcoming. We were taken to our room and were shown round the facilities. We then received a complimentary glass of fizz. Our room was well appointed and in good order. Extremely comfortable bed and loved the toto toilet. Only slight negative is the bath which is fairly low sunken, and can be awkward to get in and out of. We used the rooftop bar and had some food and this was a great experience and lovely view of the London Eye and Big Ben. It’s got a great vibe and you could literally sit for hours. The pool and spa area is lovely too. Only negative is breakfast which was sub standard at best. Order came totally wrong, no effort to correct by the staff until I asked. Food also came out cold. No offer of condiments and actual choice was just ok in my opinion. I had to end up clearing my own plates away as literally given the smallest table and couldn’t get more than a couple of plates on it. Staff didn’t seem keen to clear plates, even when asked. Not the experience you would expect from a 5 star hotel. We did by chance speak to the General Manager on leaving and made him aware as we feel it’s important to provide feedback when things go wrong as otherwise how do they know to fix the situation. This is a 5 star hotel and everything else is 5 star plus, we will definitely return but will just avoid the breakfast.

This was our first time in London and we arrived at 11 AM. Everybody greeted us with like we were their only priority. We didn’t stand at the check-in desk but were brought to a desk to sit down, have a coffee and tea, and begin the check in process. The right room wasn’t ready because it was so early but they took our bags and stored them for us. When we were done exploring the city and came back, they gave us our keys to the room and all our bags were in the room (great view of The London Eye and Big Ben). Also, they made up our rooms everyday and kept them spotless. Our clothes, headphones, other personal items were all organized. We had breakfast at the restaurant daily but it was great. Good selections on the buffet and the other menu order items were plenty. The Salmon Toast ended up being my favorite. I strongly recommend this hotel. We are coming back to London in October for 2 nights and we will definitely be staying here again!

We booked 5 rooms in this hotel, one being a suite for my daughter and her husband to be (there stay was 3 nights). My daughter called the hotel on the Wednesday to see if there was any possibility that out of one of the 5 rooms we had booked we could have an early check in as she obviously did not wish to get ready with her groom to be and was told it was not possible to do so with any of the other 4 rooms. She explained to them she was getting married but they were most unhelpful and told NO. I called on the Wednesday and again explained the situation where I was told a straight NO. No hospitality here?? I asked to speak to a manager where the receptionist rudely huffed and puffed and put me eventually through, after being cut off on 3 occasions while doing so . I spoke to a lady called Maria where again i explained the situation and she told me the only way I could obtain this was to pay for a room for another night. Obviously, this was not a possibility due to the extra cost and myself and my husband’s work commitments. I asked could I possibly pay for the room from 10am to which she said yes at a price of £349,50. Wow !!! Leaving us no choice we booked. Just like to say THANK YOU LONDONER HOTEL for being the worst unhelpful, unhospitable hotel I have ever had the displeasure of staying at, you really did taint my daughter’s special day with your unhelpful money grabbing attitude. I will never ever stay here again !!!

We stayed at the hotel this week for our anniversary. The hotel is brilliantly located (5 stars for that) right in Leicester Square. Check-in was great and the front of house team really made us feel welcomed. They wished us happy anniversary and told us they had upgraded our suite (we were paying £1,000 per night for 2 nights for our anniversary). They gave us a card with complimentary drink on the house for our special occasion (more on that later). Note, they took a £1000 holding charge on my account for extras, the most I have ever been requested - so be prepared! The suite was fantastic and had a large lounge area and super king size bed. Room service took place every day - but no turned down. There was no complimentary drinks or snacks in the rooms and the prices for the mini bar were frankly obscene, so we didn't bother. The main bar you find as you come in to reception was a champagne bar. Service here was haphazard. We were directed to a table, but not asked if we wanted a drink. We were then asked to move as they had mistakenly seated us where someone was already sitting - but who had gone to the toilet. We were eventually seated but then had to walk over to the bar to request a drink - where 5 members of staff were stood chatting. I was advised no draught beer was available (I would have to go to the bar upstairs to get one and bring it down) - none of the 5 offered. Frankly not great service as you would find in other high-end hotels. So we requested glasses of champagne and were told to go back to our seat and we would be served. Eventually a waiter with a champagne trolly arrived and didn't ask us which we wanted, he just poured us 2 glasses from an open bottle Veuve, seemingly to finish it. We gave him our room number for the bill. Shortly after we left a waitress hurried over to us to present us with a bill to sign - which has an £8 service charge on it. While initially amused by her following us out the hotel, I'm glad she did, so I could remove the service fee as it was frankly not warranted. The hotel is modern and has an excellent pool (though quite cold).It is surrounded by spa beds which were all shown as reserved (for people arriving 2 hrs after us i was told) and the jacuzzi was not working. The main pool was a good size, but far too cold, as was the room itself; as they had the air con blasting for some reason. A few tweaks (e.g. stop reservations for beds and heating) it would be fantastic area. The plus side was it was quiet. Breakfast was average, with a good selection for continental breakfast. However, cooked breakfast was dreadful. My English breakfast came with a cold sausage and the bacon which was so dry I could sole my shoes with it. My wife's smoked salmon on toast was impossible for her to cut though due to the thickness of the sourdough. Coffee is served in very small cups and clearly from a machine, and lukewarm. Go for the continental with orange juice is my recommendation. After a great welcome, the biggest disappointment was check-out. I checked the bill on the app (don't bother pre-checking in on it as you still have to go to reception to check-in). It showed they had applied 'optional' services charges and a charity donation. Why?! On check out I thought I would see if this would be mentioned, and the lady there referenced optional service fees that go direct to the staff. I asked for them to be removed as this should be included in the room rate. Also she didn't mention the charity fee which I asked to be removed. These additional fees amounted to around £60 may not be a lot in the grand scheme of the bill, but it is a principle. The hotel, its location, room and spa are 5 star. However, it is let down by the attempt to grab money at every turn and cutting corners and areas where the hotel seems to lack an understanding of what great customer service is. For example, the reserved beds in the spa....no one ever came down to them (reserved) as we were told they would. They were reserved so they didn't need to be redressed. As for the free drinks? We had the ignominy of presenting our voucher a couple of times only to be told it didn't apply to what we ordered. If the hotel wants to give away a drink on the house, don't leave the guests with the humiliation of being refused it. Perhaps leave a bottle of something in their room.....instead of plain water, or better still, just offer them a glass of champagne in the champagne bar they have to walk past to get to the lift. This hotel could quite easily be 5 stars and deserves to be, but it is let down by management decisions.