St George Hotel Wembley

Being a few minutes from the OVO Arena worked perfectly for our evening, though we were in a front facing first floor room and London traffic was noisy overnight. You may want to ask for a room away from the main road. The room was comfortable, but the bath had no plug, the hot water took ages, and there was no hand soap, so we used the little shower gel bottle. We’d looked forward to having a bath since we don’t have one at home, so that was a shame, though not a major issue. We paid over £200 for one night and were also asked for a mandatory £50 deposit on arrival, which we hadn’t been told about. Parking was another surprise. The car park we drove to had been replaced by a building site, and the hotel said parking had to be booked ahead and was already full. That wasn’t mentioned on the website or booking confirmation. We ended up paying for roadside machine parking, which worked for our late arrival and early departure, but it allowed only four hours at most, so it wouldn’t suit many people. Breakfast was awkward from the start. Nobody greeted us or explained the seating or choices, and there was no menu for the cooked options. The buffet had toast, a few cereals and croissants. I couldn’t have a full English because of dietary requirements, so I had to ask for two eggs and two bacon. They didn’t explain what came with the full English or ask how we wanted the eggs. My scrambled eggs arrived stone cold and on their own. My partner’s full English was okay, but nothing special, and I ended up taking a sausage and bacon from his plate because we had no time to send mine back. We wouldn’t stay here again.

The moth problem is what finally puts me off this place. I’ve stayed twice. On the first visit, it was clear there had been carpet moths, although I didn’t see any. A couple of weeks later, I killed about six in the bedroom and felt I had to keep everything shut in my suitcase. I can’t accept being given a room with an obvious active pest problem. There are some good points. It’s a short walk to everything without being right in the middle of ‘new’ Wembley, and you can get a real bargain if you book at the right time. The hotel has the feel of somewhere that used to be stylish but is now worn, with a strange mix of good features and frustrations. The shower pressure is great and it gets properly hot, but takes around five minutes to warm up. The bathroom floor is heated, though I couldn’t turn it down or off. There’s a luxury bath with a TV at the end, but no plug for the bath and no way to turn the TV on. The air con is there, but the heating resets to twenty one degrees, so if you go out, the air conditioning stops and the heating comes back on.

We left early and drove home because neither of us thought the room was acceptable. There was a large square cut out of the ceiling above the door, apparently because of a hazardous amount of mould. The shower walls were mouldy too, and there was mould on the frame of one of the single beds. The carpet was badly worn. Moving the beds exposed what looked like cut hairs at the head of both beds, plus food scraps and crumbs underneath. Some shower tiles were loose enough that we could have slipped or cut ourselves. The room felt well below health and safety standards. We’d come for an event at the OVO Arena and booked through Booking.com. The listing said we could choose at reception between a double bed and two singles, but we weren’t offered a choice and were given separate beds. We agreed to push them together for the one night. When we went to reception to complain, the staff member dismissed what we said and our photos, doubted us, and spoke disrespectfully. He wouldn’t inspect the room or accept that anything was wrong. He then said another room could have been given to us, despite having earlier said the hotel was sold out. We’ve sought a refund through both the hotel and Booking.com, but Travel Future Holdings LTD is a third party in the process and we haven’t received anything. We’ve been passed back and forth in phone calls between the hotel and Booking.com. Other Booking.com complaints mention hygiene, health and safety, staff manners and people still waiting on refunds. Please avoid this place. DO NOT BOOK THIS HOTEL!!!

The room was spacious and very nice, with plenty of amenities, and the staff were friendly. Shops and entertainment are close by, and I’d definitely come back. My only gripe was the full English breakfast, which tasted like it had been cooked in old oil.