NOX HOTELS | Paddington (DO NOT USE)

For £49 a night in central London, this is incredible value, and I'd happily stay again. Paddington Station is just a five-minute walk away, and the hotel is easy to find, handy if you're arriving late or leaving early. I checked in at 11pm without any trouble. The front desk staff were friendly and welcoming, and it seems nice and quiet so far. The room is clean, modern and nicely decorated. I booked a single, but the bed feels more like a small double or half-queen, which was a pleasant surprise. The en suite is spotless and surprisingly spacious for London. The bed and pillows are comfortable, and everything feels well thought out. There's an espresso and coffee machine with tea and coffee, a large Freeview TV with lots of channels that all work, and very fast free Wi-Fi. I'd highly recommend it.

The only thing in its favour was the location. We stayed for four days, and the room wasn't cleaned even when the “clean room” sign was lit. For our family of four, there was just one towel. There was no phone to request more help, and reception closes at night. No fridge in the room or shared fridge, either. We were in a basement room and kept hearing people walking above us. I'm surprised this has a 4-star rating. To me it felt more like a youth hostel than a proper hotel. There's little else to recommend it, and it was one of the worst hotel stays I've had.

We left because we were disgusted with the service and asked for a full refund, but the man at the front said he couldn't arrange one because he wasn't the manager. He gave us a hotel card. We emailed the manager and got no help or refund. I've never had worse service, even at a motel in the middle of nowhere in the United States. Stay somewhere else. There was short, curly black hair in and on the bed. When we asked to have the blankets changed, the guy at the front gave us some to put on ourselves, and they had more hair on them. The bathroom stank, and he handed us a spray. P.S. This was on March 2 of 2026.

The sink was the biggest problem. It's tiny, with a strangely shaped faucet set high up, so water splashed out onto the floor and our clothes even when we barely turned it on. I sometimes used the shower to avoid the splashing. We reported it the next morning. A staff member came up, tried it herself and said they'd fix it, but there was no apology and she wasn't very friendly. When we came back that evening, nothing had changed. We had to ask for an extra towel to dry the floor. We raised it again with two other staff during our six-night stay. All three came to see and agreed it was a real problem, but no solution was offered. One suggested moving us to a room beside reception, which would be very loud. Another at least apologized and was friendly. We don't understand why the faucet was designed in such an unusual and unusable way. The room and bed were very small, and we could hear noise from upstairs or neighbouring rooms. At checkout, we were nearly ready to leave at 11 when the receptionist knocked on our door two minutes after the checkout time, saying we could take more time if needed. It felt like extra pressure. We've never had hotel staff knock at that point before. Don't expect drinking water, a shower cap or slippers. They provide only two small shower-gel sachets and a bar of soap. This was the worst hotel we've stayed in for years. We're very disappointed and definitely won't return. It felt like a hostel, not a so-called four-star hotel.