The 55

I booked a large room with a double bed, but they moved me to another place and gave me only a small bed. There was no hot water in the shower either. I won’t be back.

The bathrooms were in poor repair and not very clean, and the property smelled of grease and fish. I felt unsafe with people constantly coming and going from the common areas. Nobody was there to greet us. Someone who arrived at the property asked me for my details and had me sign a form. Then I was asked for a £50 cash deposit, outside Booking.com, and extra fees that weren’t on my original booking. That was completely unacceptable. The listing didn’t show the full property, either. After reading reviews I tried to cancel, but was told I couldn’t. I now believe I was conned by a few nice photos showing only parts of the place. This was easily my worst experience on Booking.com, poor and unprofessional on every front. I don’t believe my safety concerns have been addressed, so I’ll be telling people I know to book elsewhere. I still haven’t received my deposit back.

I stayed about a week and barely slept one night because of what happened next door. Around four people I’d never seen before got into the building using a remembered password, went into the room beside mine, talked loudly, cooked at 2 a.m. and put the TV on full volume. It didn’t feel safe. The room itself was big for one person, but noise from other rooms came through easily. The toilet was quite dirty, and it only got a little better after I complained. At first, the woman there wasn’t friendly. They also suddenly asked me to switch rooms, which felt impolite. The whole experience was horrible. You deserve a better choice.

I can see why people are unhappy, though the staff were communicative with me by phone, so I’ll try to be fair. I booked two nights through Agoda for £99 plus a £10 cleaning fee, about £49 a night. For that fee, the room wasn’t cleaned well. There was someone else’s hair all over me, which made it awkward to sleep in the bed because it didn’t feel clean. The kitchen was a nice extra, as were the microwave and fridge, but the kettle had mold in it. There are two bathrooms, and the main one smelled so strongly of urine it was overpowering. They did bring in a proper cleaner while I was there, and she did her best. It’s more like self-catering accommodation than a B&B. Daytime was quiet, but at night it was very hard to sleep because other guests were so noisy. That’s not management’s fault, though a quiet sign on the door might help. There was already a notice in the main hall, but I got the impression many guests didn’t speak much English. Better cleaning and more emphasis on noise would help.