Native Tower Hill

The customer service made everything feel like hard work, from booking through to reporting problems. It all seemed impersonal, and I felt like an inconvenience instead of a paying customer. We were in a Tower Hill studio; it was fine and had what we needed, but the sofas were hard and uncomfortable without cushions. The area is really noisy, so we couldn't leave the windows open to sleep. With them shut, the room got very warm, but the air conditioning was broken. I reported it three times before anyone came to look, and though they said someone would come, I never got confirmation that they had or that it was fixed. I didn't want to keep chasing them.

The apartment is well fitted, with air con and good double glazing, and the staff were friendly. It’s in a lively spot with the tube close by. The downsides: as of 12/09/21, construction next door was still underway and got very noisy from around 8am. A nearby club stays open until 2, and people often make a lot of noise outside the Native building when they leave, every day of the week. The Wi-Fi wasn’t great, and the lift broke regularly.

The location was good and the apartment was clean, but I strongly do NOT recommend this group. Internet in the rooms was about 2 Mbps, so video calls, working from home and Netflix weren’t really possible. Smells from the restaurant below could be very strong and reach the seventh floor, and when people smoked on the sixth floor we couldn’t open the windows. The payment issue took a lot of time and effort to sort out. Their website showed an error and didn’t pass the successful payment flag to their system, even though my credit card was charged. They blamed my bank and said their systems were 100% fine. I had to provide documents to prove the charge and even considered involving the police. It was a very unpleasant experience. If you run into this, be prepared. In response to Native’s reply, I’m glad they now accept that payment systems can fail, but the way they and their staff handled it was horrible. We didn’t stop anyone from coming to fix the issue. The only troubleshooting was a speedtest, followed by “we’ll get back to you.” We didn’t extend our stay by choice. We were stuck trying to resolve the card charge, lost a very good offer elsewhere in the city, and spent a lot of time explaining the situation and collecting paperwork through no fault of our own. Avoid this place.

Finding the place is a bit confusing, but it’s just next to The Rajasthan Hotel. There’s no reception, so check your email after booking for access details; for help, you can call their monument branch. The apartment has the basics, including a washing machine, dishwasher, microwave, iron, hair dryer, TV and cooking utensils. The room size is okay, the internet is good, and the underground is easy to reach. It’s an okay place to stay.