King’s Cross Charm

The apartment's position on King's Cross street meant people, some good and some shady, were passing the door every minute. We had five or six random doorbell rings during our stay, so we kept the curtains closed most of the time and double-latched the door each night. That made us a bit anxious at night, though overall it was fine. We booked 163A through Booking.com for a convenient family stay after arriving from Belgium by Eurostar into King's Cross. Vesto owns 163A and 163B. The apartment we got was huge, with two very large rooms, two ensuite bathrooms, a shared toilet in the sitting area, and a fully working kitchen. Pretty much everything seemed new, and having a washer/dryer was especially welcome with kids' clothes to wash. The air conditioning kept switching on and off no matter what we tried with the remote or thermostat. I don't blame the owners, since I didn't tell them about it. On the second day, there was a problem with the oven, but the owners fixed it very quickly.

There was plenty of room inside, and the location was handy for public transport, shops, and restaurants. The beds were small, both in width and length.

This made my London trip the worst one I've ever had. I booked a family trip and checked that the reservation was correct before boarding my flight to London. I had also received text messages with the check-in instructions. Then, after I landed at London Airport, an email arrived saying the reservation had been cancelled. The hotel told me Booking.com appeared to have cancelled it, while Booking.com said the hotel had overbooked and cancelled it. After that, VESTO representatives stopped responding to my messages and calls. I filed a complaint with Booking.com, but more than two weeks have passed without a reply.

The place was unbearably hot, with no air conditioning, and the fans were too loud to sleep with. The shower had no running water, so there was no way to wash, and the advertised Wi-Fi didn’t work. I also couldn’t reach anyone on site or by phone. On top of that, other guests were extremely noisy, with some seeming to be under the influence of drugs and acting loudly and aggressively. I’d booked six nights through Booking.com for €800, but with all these problems, it wasn’t habitable for me.