Stow-Away: South Bank

We spent five nights at Waterloo Stowaway, and repeated false fire alarms disrupted three of them badly. One night the alarm sounded twice, and on another it went off again in the middle of the night, around 00:00, 05:00 and 02:00. The fire department came to one incident, and we had to help by giving them access and the room codes. Stowaway didn’t clearly communicate during the emergencies. We were left outside in the cold for about 30 minutes, calling repeatedly before we finally got the code to get back in. The alarms left us severely short on sleep and anxious. Even after the final one, we couldn’t sleep properly because we were afraid it would happen again. The fire alarm issue didn’t seem resolved. We asked for a partial refund for the nights affected and were offered £100, despite paying over £240 per night. That didn’t reflect how serious it was to be woken repeatedly by safety alarms. Guest services handled our calls very poorly. We felt laughed at and that our concerns weren’t taken seriously, and Booking.com’s attempts to contact the property went unanswered. More than 20 days later, we still haven’t received the £100 refund. This was a very disappointing stay because of the safety concerns, the lack of communication during emergencies, and the way our complaint was handled. I wouldn’t recommend this property to anyone who values safety, rest, or responsive customer service.

The room was also very noisy because it’s beneath the train line. At check-in, I was given a code for a room that already had someone in it. That made me worry about the safety of giving people access to other guests’ rooms, and I wouldn’t feel safe staying here again.

The fire alarm went off at 1am, and with no staff there, we all had to wait outside while the fire brigade attended. It turned out someone had been cooking and chose not to evacuate. Earlier, the access code I was given didn’t work, so I had to call for another and wait outside. The electric blinds in my room were broken too. When I called, they seemed uninterested and said they might fix them the next day, which would have left me spending the night beside an open window facing offices. They said no other rooms were available, but that turned out not to be true. I asked for the manager, and was told they didn’t answer the phone after 6pm, which I assumed was another lie. Only after I said I’d saved the chat and would move to another hotel and claim the difference did they suddenly find me another room. One of the worst stays I’ve had. Terrible experience and terrible people.

The keypads at the building entrance are so worn that they’re hard to see at night, and I wouldn’t recommend staying here. I never got proper entry instructions, and the code Booking.com sent didn’t work. My blind wouldn’t operate in the first room, so I had to move. For any problem you have to call a phone number, but they don’t always pick up. The same blind issue came up in the second room, and I eventually got into a third. A really poor stay. I can’t understand why the Booking.com reviews are good when the Google ones aren’t.