Normandie

The hotel's handy for Paddington station, but the stay wasn't great, even if I managed for the time I was there. My room was very cold because the heaters weren't on. A small heater only warmed the area around it, leaving the rest of the room cold. I had hot showers for two nights, then cold water for the other three, and the bathroom was extremely cold too. There was an empty little water bottle behind the curtains, so the room hadn't been cleaned properly. I was in room 5, where a sizeable gap under the door meant people outside could look in. I put a blanket along the bottom to block the view. The lock was stiff and felt a bit iffy.

The place felt dangerous to stay in. The fire alarm was locked out, so it wasn’t working, and the extinguishers were out of date. There was no WiFi, and no tea or coffee in the rooms. The décor was old and tatty. Worst hotel ever.

The second morning, we woke up covered in bed bug bites. We found bugs throughout the mattress and took photos. Getting hold of the manager was almost impossible, even through our booking agent, and the only staff member there, who also cleaned the rooms, helped us check out early. We weren’t offered a refund despite the health and hygiene problems, and lost a whole day of our trip taking everything to a laundromat. The bites bothered us throughout the stay. The night before, the shower only gave boiling hot water because its broken faucet couldn’t be adjusted. When I told the staff member on duty, they said there was nothing they could do. That was unacceptable for a stay meant to last almost two weeks. I rarely leave reviews, but people should know what happened. This property shouldn’t be operating in these conditions. There are plenty of hotels at the same price that seem much safer and cleaner. Save yourself the stress.

The rooms and bathrooms were old and dirty, and there was no WiFi. The keys I was given didn’t work, so I had to rely on someone else to let me into the building. At check-in, I waited 20 minutes for someone to turn up with the keys. Reception was absent for the rest of my stay, and they never replied to my emails or calls. A horrible experience.