Lydmar Hotel

To start I booked this hotel as its part of the Amex Fine hotels plan. In my opinion it should not be, it is not close to a five star experience that I was expecting. Most times, I would say 95% of the time we get an upgrade with Amex, this time we did not. It is not a fashionable hotel, it may have been when it opened 18 years ago but now the art looks old and stale and the guests are older American tourists. It is located with a river view but not near many stores or cafes. I booked this hotel expecting it to be quiet. The first night we had wedding music noise until 10 pm and the worst on the Saturday night a gangster rap vocal experience full of offensive words which made the walls of our room and bed vibrate! I cancelled another hotel booking as they nicely informed me via e mail there would be music at night on the weekend and to expect noise. I feel the hotel was trying to sell event space not thinking about the room guests. I would not say it was good value, it was over one thousand US dollars per night. The room was large and clean but nothing at all worked. There was no space to unpack, no space to put your luggage, one tiny closet, no phone charging points or converting plug supplied, water glass came crashing off a tiny bed side table with too large a lamp. One tiny bottle of water given each night and I was told to get water from the faucet. I do not find using a bathroom faucet near a toilet too clean. The bathroom was connected to the tv speaker and you could not turn off the sound! So if one person was watching tv just the sound would be in the bathroom.. to me an odd choice. The front desk people seemed to do everything, help with questions, give out keys and move luggage. Sometimes there would be no one there as they would be moving luggage. It seemed understaffed. The breakfast was fine. Run well. Basic but fine. Bed sheets where nice, bed was soft but ok, blackouts did not exist just curtains that the light came in

They literally play US-based ghetto/rap music quite loudly in the afternoons. Last night (Saturday), it felt like the hotel was hosting a rave until 9:15pm. We could barely make our way through the crowd to the stairway. My earplugs did not suffice. No air conditioning to be found. Open windows and fans (that we brought) just ushered in street noise as well as cooler temps. The first floor bar is mostly closed. Luggage must be physically hauled up a flight of stairs to reach reception. While we are paying for a classic king room, we are barely surviving on a queen. A mere feathertop is the blanket provided. It was a push-pull situation all night. I ended up moving to the foot of the bed at 1 am to avoid my husband’s snoring (and he mine). I do not recommend if you like quiet. Never had a drink at the bar. Went to the Grand next door. Glad to only be here 2 nights. The breakfast was quite pleasant.

Best hotel, Best location and Best staff

Perfect location to explore. We had a corner room with wonderful views of The Palace. I loved the bed and pillows were perfect. A quirky boutique hotel- you must explore each floors ‘photographic art gallery’- superb. Service was great and staff always willing to assist. We stayed for 4 nights and only slightly negative comments would be room storage- shower space was small and closet was tight.

Great hotel, location & rooms, but a poor dining experience. Overall, the Hotel presents very well with good service, a great location, great styling and lovely Rooms. IT also has a really great street side front bar and a more shaded quieter bar on the first floor, both really good. But the Dining experience in the main restaurant was really very poor and the table next to us joined in our complaint claiming this was the worst food they’ve had in a long time.