Falcon Hotel

The building is old, so the rooms and bathrooms are small, and there’s only so much that can be changed about its layout. If that’s a dealbreaker, there are pricier places to choose from. I found the staff really nice, the hotel clean, and the location convenient for the centre and sights. Good value for money, and I had a positive time in London.

Paddington is about a five-minute walk away, with plenty of restaurants and shops nearby. The location was the only good part of our stay. The room we got didn’t look like the photos from when we booked, and its condition and quality were very disappointing. It needs updating. Our basement room faced a small, dirty courtyard, and cigarette smoke came in through the window from somewhere. The wheeled divan beds rolled across the room when we sat up to watch TV. Around midnight, water started pouring through the bathroom ceiling. Soon after, the lights began flickering because the electrical system was malfunctioning. It was alarming and felt unsafe. The room had no phone, despite instructions to dial “0” for reception. We went upstairs, but no staff were there. The reception phone barely worked and had to be hit against the wall. Nobody answered our call for help. In the morning, we told housekeeping, since there was no receptionist. They said we’d be moved and contacted if maintenance needed access. We heard nothing, and someone entered our room without notice. At 4pm, when we got back, we were told the hotel was full and we had to stay in that room. Later, around 11pm, our key cards stopped opening the front door. After someone let us in, we were told we’d be moved to a third-floor room. There was no reason to wait until 11pm to arrange that. I can only assume we were lied to about the hotel being full. The replacement room was also in very poor condition. Its bathroom was about the size of a campervan bathroom. There were blood stains on the divan base, the lamps didn’t work, and there was only one socket, so we couldn’t watch TV and boil the kettle at the same time. The third-floor window opened all the way with no limiter, leaving a serious risk of falling onto the spiked railings below. That’s unacceptable. If my toddler had been with me, he could easily have climbed onto the bed and fallen out. The whole stay felt unsafe and badly managed. We’d booked two nights away without our toddler for a break, but being woken at midnight by a leak didn’t feel like much of a respite. We asked the hotel for a partial refund, and after three weeks they still hadn’t reviewed the information we sent or responded. We ended up staying only one night.

It was quiet at night and handy for Paddington Station, with good pubs nearby and a few places to get breakfast since the hotel doesn’t serve food. The staff were friendly, and it was relatively cheap. The rooms are small even by London standards and clean, though very worn. There aren’t many outlets if you need sleep appliances. The shower was barely 3 by 3 feet. There’s no lift, so it’s not suitable for people with mobility issues.

We booked a triple room because we needed three single beds, but were given a double and a single instead. I paid extra to get the three singles we’d asked for. When I went back down, staff called the room an upgrade, even though it actually cost less than the room I’d paid for. Not good enough.