Comfort Inn Edgware Road W2

The staff were friendly, and the room had more space than a Premier Inn. But the cleanliness was a big concern. There was someone else’s hair on the pillows and duvet, white staining on the yellow pillows, and the carpets were dirty. I didn’t feel I could trust how clean the room was. The walls were extremely thin, so every sound from the hallway carried. I didn’t get a good night’s sleep.

There are nice restaurants around, and it’s a busy shopping area with good train and bus access. The room itself was nice and large. It was a very noisy night, with staff shouting or playing things on their phones at a fair volume. The food was weak: boiled eggs, cereal, toast, yoghurt, packaged bread and a pancake machine. The sauce kept running out. I ate while listening to the chef watch a video on their phone.

The room itself is spacious, clean, and comfortable, so in that respect it meets expectations. But the Wi-Fi has been unusable throughout our stay, and we chose this hotel partly because internet was listed as an included amenity. I’m in the Choice Hotels loyalty program, and this has left me disappointed. We’re a couple who work remotely in the evenings and at night local time to match our home time zone. We explained from the start that internet access is essential for us. We’ve reported the problem every day for four consecutive days. At first the staff were willing to help, but there’s still no solution. On day one, reception asked IT to reset the modem. It helped a little for a short time, then failed again that night. We were told nothing could be done until morning. The manager came to our room the next day and got the signal back, but only temporarily. Since then, it’s been unusable every evening, despite our daily reports. They suggested we work in the dining area, but it’s not suitable for calls or focused work, with people eating, talking, and coming and going. We asked to move because we’d seen the Wi-Fi working in other parts of the hotel, but were told it was full. Today we found an empty room on our floor and tested it. The internet worked there. When I asked again to move, I was told that room was reserved and moving guests would disrupt housekeeping, even though housekeeping was working on our floor. I also asked to speak to the manager today, but was told they weren’t in and wasn’t given contact details. We’ve heard different explanations over the past few days, including nighttime network congestion and that Wi-Fi is a “free service” so we shouldn’t expect quality. In reality it doesn’t work at any time of day. I’ve read similar complaints from other guests, followed by promises of improvement, and I’ve overheard other guests in the dining area raising the same issue. What’s most frustrating is that I’ve repeatedly given the hotel a chance to sort this out while we’re still here. I’d rather have resolved it directly than receive a routine “We’re sorry” after we leave.

I booked the Comfort Inn for its affordable nightly rate, but several problems made the stay disappointing. The street outside my room was noisy and made it hard to rest. Inside, the air conditioning didn’t work, despite my reporting it to the front desk more than once. The dimmer switch kept changing brightness by itself, and the toilet seat was loose and unstable. Housekeeping cleaned daily but left empty food and drink containers behind and didn’t replace the shower soap. The entrance outside was littered when I arrived, which made a poor first impression. Overall, the service and maintenance fell short of what I expected.