London Apart Hotel

The location was a big part of what made my stay so enjoyable. London Apart Hotel is right in the city centre, handy for places like the British Museum, Covent Garden and the West End. The rooms had recently been refurbished and felt fresh, modern and very clean. I liked the stylish, comfortable décor, and it was a lovely place to relax after a day out. I’d happily recommend it, whether you’re sightseeing or just enjoying the city.

I was walking past and saw that the fire brigade had put a prohibition notice on the door for fire safety violations. Sorry the pictures are poor quality.

We left after one night and paid to stay elsewhere because the problems weren’t sorted. We told staff in the morning that there was no hot water and were told it would be fixed that day. When we came back, it still wasn’t working and nobody was at reception, so we had no other option. The apartment smelled of stale smoke throughout. There were safety worries too. One bedroom had been made from a balcony, with a plastic roof that leaked onto the wooden floor. The floor beneath it was coming apart with sharp edges sticking up, and one of our young children tripped and fell against the wall. The heating had to be switched on and off by hand, and water was leaking through the controls, which seemed like a possible electrical hazard. I’m not sure the building meets safety standards, and our room had hazards that could cause electric shock or fire. It was also very dirty. We found used cotton buds on the bedroom floor, the kitchen cups and cutlery had been put away dirty, and the hob and counter needed cleaning. There was dust everywhere, the carpet was vacuumed but badly stained, and the bath was very stained with the bathroom needing a thorough wash. The beds were hard and had springs, with no mattress cover, just a single sheet and very poor pillows. The place had no charm for us, just the feel of another modern box. There were enough problems that we couldn’t stay.

The only real plus was being close to Kensington. The listing calls this “luxury serviced,” but I can’t see how that fits. There was nowhere to put rubbish, so it piled up in the bins, on the counter and in a bag behind the door. Other guests had left notes at the desk about having no hot water too. We had no hot water for the first three days. Roger and the others came by, but gave us different explanations and instructions each time. The windows couldn’t be opened, and the flat was unbearably hot with no air circulating. The beds were awful, hard and springy, without a mattress pad, with only a sheet and the worst pillows they could find. Communication had been poor from booking onward. I got no email or message replies, and the texts answering several questions were only a word or two. At least check-in was easy, and someone was at the desk in the building. Opening the door to flat #8, we were hit by a horrible smell. It was filthy: no toilet paper, hand soap or dish soap, and dirty linen in the bedroom cupboard. I wouldn’t walk on the carpet in socks or barefoot. The more we walked over it with shoes, the bigger the hairballs seemed to get, and there was a huge clump of hair on the dish sponge. If you have any standards for where you stay on holiday, avoid this place. Even with none, you’ll be disappointed.