Flats Friends Soho Suites Aparthotel

The architecture in the city was stunning, but this apartment had a lot of problems. The bedroom TV had no remote, the safe didn’t work at first, and when staff got it going they hadn’t noticed the batteries were nearly dead. There was no kettle until we asked for one. The shower flooded the tiled floor every day, and staff didn’t seem concerned when we reported it. We had to ask for extra towels daily to mop it up, since the floor was dangerously slippery. Noise from other apartments kept us awake most nights, both late and early, and the sewage pipes were noisy too. The sofa bed was uncomfortable and had very little support, with a backrest only about 350 mm high and a seat over three feet across. There were prostitutes and a pimp on the street just outside the hotel, all day and night, which made walking past very uncomfortable. The apartment itself was very basic and had lots wrong with it.

They let us check in at 10 instead of 16, and the apartments were sparkling clean. The staff were amazing, and the location was central and very good. There were a lot of prostitutes and pimps around the area, though. Luckily we didn’t have any bad incidents with them, but it still felt pretty shady.

We booked three nights through hotels.com for over $1,000. When we arrived, the toilet wouldn’t flush. The receptionist first said they were fully booked when we asked to move, but after I asked her to put that in writing so I could contact hotels.com, she left and came back offering another apartment. My husband helped move the sofa bed mattress. Our daughter noticed dark red marks underneath that looked like dried blood. We didn’t mention them and hoped we’d be able to sleep all right. Later we found lots of bugs crawling around. There were so many that they got into the walls and furniture. We killed several, photographed them, and compared them with bed bug photos online. They looked very similar. There was no staff at night, so I called hotels.com. Their agent couldn’t get through to the hotel and suggested we book somewhere else and leave, promising a full refund. I found another hotel about 12 minutes away with room for three adults and booked it on hotels.com. It was midnight, and we couldn’t find a taxi or Uber, so we dragged our luggage for 15 minutes through rain and unfamiliar streets. I called hotels.com twice the next day; both agents again promised a full refund, saying no one at this hotel was answering their calls. The receptionist later called me and denied there were bugs, even though I said I had photos and dead bugs in my hand. On the third day, hotels.com emailed that the hotel refused any refund, so they would give me only $100 in credits. The bug problem disrupted our vacation, wasted precious time, and cost us $1,000. Do not book this place!

The staff were pleasant and helpful, offering luggage storage, local advice, and tourist packages. The place is fairly central, but the area itself isn’t great and we saw some shady people. There was mould on the walls, and the coffee machine was so rusty we didn’t dare use it. At least there are vending machines downstairs.