Booked 2 nights at the hotel in June 2009 and customer service leaves a lot to be desired.
Checked in at 18:00 and was given a room in the first phase of the hotel. This was on the 2nd floor. When leaving the lift you are confronted with a very odd smell.
We got to the room and observed the following:
very damp smell in the room itself
broken wall tiles
mould in the bathroom
dirt on the walls (as if someone has had dirty hands and wiped them on the walls!!!)
flies everywhere
broken and dirty cealing tiles
toilet not working properly.
Rather unamused, we headed back to reception and were given a key to another room. This time we were located in the newest part of the building on the other side of the road.
It was an event in itself trying to find the room... the receptionist gave us a key, told us the new room number and told us its over the road... we went over the road and made way for the entrance.... this room wasn't here.... phoned up via the phone in that reception to ask where exactly the room is and was told in the newest area.... you would think they would have the decency to give directions to the room when handing over the key.
This room was much more pleasant in appearance & on the surface looked cleaner... with the exception of a cup, a saucer & a spoon that were solidified together... when you see this you wonder what else hasn't been done correctly by the cleaners. The main enterance door is meant to be secured with access only via your key card. When i was packing up to leave, i left the key & my phone in the room with my girlfriend whilst i went to my car... with no other option i just decided to try the door... low and behold it was open.
My stay was in June 2009... and air temperatures were in the low to mid 20Cs... the room that I was staying in was uncomfortably warm... opening the window didn't do much to help that.
Going back to the cleaners... you wouldn't think it was too much to ask for a towel bigger than hand size... this is what we got on our first day at the sleeping beauty... in fairness they gave us 2 better sized towels the next day, but... my dad who was staying at the hotel too at this time was left NO towel on his 2nd day.
When staying here bear in mind you are staying at a main thoroughfair from whipps cross hospital. You will be disturbed with sirens all night... and i mean all night.
Breakfast wise you get toast, cereal, fruit juice & coffee as part of the price plan... you can get an upgrade for £5 if you desire, but there are places in Walthamstow that would offer a better service.
There is 2 car parks at the hotel, one at either building... you must remember to get a permit from reception otherwise you may be clamped and fined. The car park is unsecure, therefore it would be fairly easy for anyone to walk in and see contents of your car so i would strongly advise to remove all belongings from your car before leaving it.
now...the staff... the ones that i had the "pleasure" of dealing with looked like they would rather be anywhere but there... it isn't too much to ask for a bit of courtesy & manners... the reception staff, frankly, are rude. I gave account of finding the new room earlier & my dad complained to the receptionist when checking out regarding the towel and he shrugged his shoulder and ignored the complaint
the reason for this stay was for a family event in Walthamstow... it was a toss up between the sleeping beauty hotel and the travel lodge in Illford... the fact that sleeping beauty was in walthamstow swung it in its favour... in the future however, i will never make the same mistake... illford is only 3 miles away after all...and you know where you stand with travel lodge.
Management in this hotel have a lot to answer for. There is no pride in the hotel whatsoever... staff are rude & unhelpful & rooms are dirty & not properly maintained... i know the rooms are only £30ish a night... but professionalism should not be taken for granted.
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