Easyhotel South Kensington

The room was hot and stuffy or cold, depending on the building manager’s temperature setting. There were no individual controls, and my internal room had no window. It was cramped and claustrophobic, and sharing a double room with another person would be difficult. In the tiny bathroom, the dirty shower curtain stuck to me while I showered. There was one soap dispenser over the sink, and it didn’t work. The only power outlet was by the front door, too far from the bed, so anything charging had to sit on the dirty floor. The hotel is a worn Victorian conversion terrace house. The rooms were dirty and well worn, with dented and broken steel wall panels. The mattress and topper were badly stained, and the thin sheets wouldn’t stay tucked in to cover the stains. The pillows were so thin I needed three to make one regular-sized pillow. It’s in a quieter part of London, away from the crowds of tourists, but there are several underground stops and supermarkets nearby. A couple of the employees were nice and friendly, but others were plain nasty and rude. I never saw more than three employees in the building at a time, and usually there was just one at the front door.

The one good thing was the reception staff, who were attentive and welcoming throughout our stay. But of the six hotels I stayed in across Europe, this was easily the worst. The room was extremely small, and while the description gave its size, it was hard to grasp just how cramped it would feel. There was nowhere proper to keep luggage. Put suitcases in the narrow gap between bed and wall, and it’s almost impossible to move around without shifting them out of the way. The air conditioning was advertised, but you can’t control it in the room. You have to ask reception in person to change the temperature, and there isn’t even a phone in the room. If you’re claustrophobic, this definitely isn’t a suitable choice.

We had a window in room 206, but couldn’t wait to check out. The room and shower together were so tiny that our caravan has better facilities. The bed was cold and horribly lumpy, the pillows were hardly worth mentioning, and water from the shower leaked into the bedroom.

The location was very good, but the room’s condition was much worse than I expected. I knew it would be small and that was fine, but the damaged wall panels, marked walls, dirty floor and dirty toilet were a letdown. There was no hot water for a shower either. It was a budget price and experience, and I wouldn’t repeat the stay. I should have paid more.