Arinza Hotel, London Ilford

After three nights, I found it a decent place for the price. My room was spacious, and it had hot water, a working microwave and fridge. The staff were friendly and helpful, and I was lucky to get a parking spot right outside the hotel drive. I had been uneasy about staying after reading the individual reviews the night before check-in, since there were quite a few negative ones. My own room did have a broken window, which made it a bit cold, and the fan was dusty and unpleasant to use. Otherwise, the stay went well and felt like good value. I’d put it at a solid 3.5 out of 5.

My partner and I arrived for our booking, which I’d made on 1 December 2025 for 14 February. At reception, I gave them my name, passport and booking details. After looking through my passport, the receptionist said I’d cancelled in January. I hadn’t. He then said OYO had cancelled it and told me to check my bank for a refund, but there was no refund. I’d booked through Agoda, so I called them. They said the booking was still active. The Agoda representative tried calling the hotel; I could hear the phone ringing, but nobody answered. The receptionist then went over to a table and started eating, as if my partner and I weren’t there. Eventually, the Agoda representative spoke to him through my phone, and he again said OYO had cancelled the booking. Honestly, I think he cancelled it when he saw us.

We needed somewhere cheap, so we ended up here and expected the room to be rough around the edges and a bit dirty given the price and earlier reviews. What I didn’t expect was how uneasy I felt as a woman: men were often sitting in the entrance staring as we came and went, and smoking outside while talking loudly. A rude staff member, who clearly didn’t have much customer service experience, also insisted we owed money despite my receipts and bank statements showing that we’d paid. OYO customer service helped me make a complaint. We were relieved to move to another hotel and not spend any more money here. If you’re a woman, avoid it, and if you can find somewhere better, go there.

We were exhausted and only stayed one night, but the room smelled like rotten linen as soon as we walked in. We switched on the air conditioner hoping it might clear the smell, and it made things worse. When I mentioned it to the receptionist, he said the odor was coming from the AC. The reception was full of men smoking cigars when we first entered, which made us feel awkward. The stay was horrible.