Travelodge London Balham

This was terrible in a heat wave. Our room was extremely hot, with no AC and no windows that open. Some rooms do have AC, but that wasn't clear when booking, and they were all taken by the time we arrived. The staff apologized and brought us an extra fan, but all it did was move the hot air around. They can’t change the way these rooms are designed.

I wouldn’t recommend staying here. There are people living at the hotel with the council paying for their rooms, and they’re rude, loud and like to party. On top of that, I was given the wrong room. At 7:30pm another guest walked into it, and around 10:30pm a staff member let himself in while I was in the shower, saying he wanted to find out who I was even though I’d already checked in. It was very scary as a woman. Why would you pay to stay here? Absolutely awful.

The train and underground station are right next door, and there are plenty of local places to eat. Our modern, clean room had twin beds that were reasonably comfortable, and it was fairly quiet despite being beside the train tracks. Amanda gave us a warm welcome, looked after our luggage until check-in and helped map out the underground route to our meeting point in the city centre, where we were catching up with relatives. The hotel has rooms only, and the bedroom card opens the automatic front door at night. We’d return.

Everything was close by, with the underground station just a few seconds away on foot. The room was bright and clean, and best of all, quiet.