Rockwell East

A couple of front desk staff were kind and understanding, and a special thanks to Naz, who knew it was my birthday trip and did what he could for me. The front desk is the only reason I’m giving service three stars. The location worked very well for solo travel: under a 10-minute walk to a tube station and buses, Tower Bridge, which looks gorgeous at night, a restaurant across the street, and a Tesco Express up the road. I switched from a hotel near Canary Wharf when this more central one had a room available. I had a spacious one-bedroom suite. There were several problems. Water leaked from the shower because the door didn’t line up properly. The TV had very few channels; I’d have liked Netflix with the option to use my own account and more channels. I also couldn’t figure out the washer-dryer combination machine, which was unfamiliar to me coming from North America. I suggested putting instructions on the TV menu or in the room. Staff said someone would come up, but no one did during my six days there. I never saw a room attendant near my room or in the hallways, and there was no cleaning service during my stay. The most frustrating issue was a delivery. The front desk confirmed it had arrived and been logged, but when I went to collect it, they couldn’t find it. It arrived the day after I checked in and remained missing for the five days left in my stay. First I was told perhaps management had put it somewhere secure and wouldn’t be back until the next day. Then someone suggested it might have been thrown out by mistake. It was a parcel with my name and the hotel address on it, whatever its size. I had to keep contacting reception and management for updates, including every time I left or came back. It felt like they hoped I’d forget about it. The evening before I left at 4am, I had to ask management again for a refund at least for the cost of the item. He said he needed to discuss it with upper management, even though that should presumably have been considered days earlier or covered by a process already in place. I got the refund, which I asked to have returned to my card right away rather than take the stay discount they offered. Having to keep pushing them and explain how to fix their mistake was incredibly annoying. This is a very late review, nearly a year after I stayed, but I still wanted to share what happened.

The location near Tower Hill and Tower Bridge is good, and the rooms are spacious, with a microwave, washing machine, and pretty much anything you might need. Beyond that, the quality was poor. The room cleaning wasn’t great, and they never serviced it. Breakfast was terrible. There wasn’t enough seating for all the guests, so we had to wait for a table. The food selection was very limited and low quality, and they didn’t even have water on the counter. You had to ask for that too. For the price, I wouldn’t recommend it.

Rockwell East has become our favourite London base for our annual shopping trip. This was our second stay, and it was just as good as the first. The one-bedroom apartment was spotless, with a comfortable bed, cosy bedding, good temperature control, and a well-equipped kitchen for cooking our own meals. The bathroom had fluffy towels, bathrobes, and simple but nice toiletries. We enjoyed the free breakfast this year too: a small, tasty buffet with cooked options, pastries, ham, cheese, fruit juice, tea, and coffee. It was lovely not to have to cook in the morning. Nas at reception recognized us from last year and made us feel welcome. He was incredibly helpful. Clean, comfortable, well located, and great value. Highly recommended.

The location is good, and there are similarly priced hotels in the area. But when I arrived, my room wasn’t clean, and the front desk said they were fully booked and had no clean room to move me to. I’d been looking forward to staying here after seeing the good reviews and photos. At that point, everywhere else was obviously very expensive, so I searched for another place anyway. I also met another guest who’d had the same experience. Staying here could leave you with a headache and looking for somewhere else to stay.