The Rookery

The noise was the biggest problem. We asked for a quiet room after reading about street noise, but for two of our three nights we were disturbed by other guests. We thought it was the room sharing our wall, then found it was actually across the hall. The walls are so thin that noise carries right across. We reported it the morning after the second night. We’d come in very late and were exhausted, and didn’t want to get dressed again to talk to staff that night. They said the couple next door was checking out and promised to move us to an available room if the noise carried on. It wasn’t that couple making the noise. On our final night we came back at 11 PM to find it still happening, went straight to reception, and were told they’d sold the room they had promised us. The staff gave us the manager’s number, but no apology beyond “sorry, we don’t usually get noise complaints for that room.” It felt like they didn’t believe us, so I asked an employee to come upstairs and hear it for themselves. I don’t like being treated as if I’m lying or exaggerating. Luckily, the manager was checking us out the next morning. She was lovely, friendly, professional, and apologetic, and offered a one night refund, which we felt was acceptable. I debated posting because I appreciate her quick offer, but want potential guests to know what happened. I stayed at the rookery last month and was disappointed. The design is beautiful and many details seem carefully considered, but the curtains were too long for the window and pooled on the floor. For an expensive hotel whose main selling point is its look, I think that needs fixing because it cheapens the room. Our first impression wasn’t great either. We came to drop our bags around 11 or 12 before check in, and the staff seemed tired. They weren’t rude, but they weren’t attentive or friendly. The stay also had other snags we were willing to overlook at first: copper cleaner left in the bathroom, no “Do Not Disturb” sign so housekeeping walked in during our honeymoon, and no glasses in the minibar cupboard. The night before our wedding, our ground floor room was very noisy from upstairs and the road, so I slept poorly. We had been so taken with the welcome, service, building and room decor, breakfast, and location that we extended our wedding stay from three to four days at great expense. On checkout day, we left our luggage and went for a walk around London. Then we noticed an unannounced credit card charge of about £45 for minibar items we hadn’t had. The Duty Manager had already mistaken us for another couple at checkout and apologized, so we thought this was probably a simple error we could sort out when we returned. Instead, the same Duty Manager said the charge wasn’t a mistake, without having sent an explanatory email first. We were also accused of taking a USB adapter from the room and told we’d face another charge if it wasn’t found. We said we’d taken neither the minibar items nor the adapter, but were told it was “impossible for those items to be gone if we hadn't taken them”. They wouldn’t consider that staff might have failed to restock the minibar, and treated us as dishonest. The manager eventually promised a refund for the minibar items, but the damage was done. I understand managers wanting to defend staff if they think customers are taking advantage. My partner and I are considerate and honest, often to a fault. This was the least tactful interaction I’ve had with hospitality staff. I have social anxiety and had never before felt I needed to confront anyone like this. At The Rookery, the exchange came close to spoiling our wedding weekend, which should have been the happiest of our lives. After that, all the earlier issues felt worse, especially at a premium four star hotel like The Rookery. During the stay we’d discussed coming back for anniversaries, but I’m no longer sure I could recommend it to people I know, in case they have the same experience. I’m deeply saddened to write this. It began as the best customer experience of our lives and ended as literally the worst. EDIT: The hotel later offered us a partial refund, which went a long way toward easing some of the hurt described above.

I called today to ask for a reservation, then had to cancel an hour later because I had an asthma attack and needed to go to hospital. The receptionist was particularly rude and argued with my husband on the phone. He refused to cancel unless my husband paid, even though my partner hadn’t made a booking or paid a deposit, he had only asked them to hold it, so it was still available to the public. The receptionist said, “two other people have reserved for tonight” and that they were “fully booked”, which contradicted itself and felt like a blatant lie. I tried to calm him down by explaining I’d been excited to stay and would come next week when I felt better, but he kept interrupting me and challenging my husband. This is the worst communication I’ve had from a London hotel, and I wouldn’t recommend staying here, 0/10. It’s my birthday, and from a business point of view they need to train staff to speak politely to the public instead of snapping and being patronising.

A charming, quiet little hotel. My room was lovely and spotless, and the bathroom was a bit quirky, which adds to the place’s charm. Breakfast was very good. I really want to come back!

EDIT: The hotel later offered us a partial refund, which helped a lot in easing some of the hurt described below. We stayed here for our wedding last weekend. At first we were blown away. The welcome and service, the building and room decor, the breakfast, and the location were all second to none. We loved it enough to extend our stay from three to four days while we were there, at great expense. There were some snags we were prepared to overlook because we were enjoying ourselves: housekeeping left copper cleaner in the bathroom, there was no “Do Not Disturb” sign, so staff walked in during our honeymoon, and there were no glasses in the minibar cupboard. The night before our wedding, our ground floor room had terrible noise from upstairs and the road, so I slept poorly. On checkout day we left our bags and went for a stroll around London. We then spotted an unexplained charge of about £45 on our credit card for minibar items we hadn’t had. The Duty Manager had mistaken us for another couple at checkout and apologized, so we assumed this was another simple error to clear up when we returned. But when we got back, the same Duty Manager said the charge wasn’t an error, despite not sending an explanatory email first. We were also accused of taking a USB adapter from the room and warned we’d be charged more if it wasn’t found. We explained we had taken neither the minibar items nor the adapter. They insisted it was “impossible for those items to be gone if we hadn't taken them”, refusing to consider that staff might not have restocked the minibar and accusing us of dishonesty. We were very upset. After some back and forth, the Duty Manager promised a refund for the minibar items, but the damage was already done. I understand managers may want to defend staff when they think customers are taking advantage. My partner and I are considerate and honest, often to a fault. Still, this was the least tactful exchange I’ve ever had with hospitality staff. I have social anxiety and have never before felt a confrontation like this was necessary, but at The Rookery it nearly spoiled our wedding weekend, which should have been the happiest of our lives. After this, every snag felt more serious, especially for a premium four star hotel like The Rookery. During the stay we talked about coming back for anniversaries, but now I’m not sure I could recommend it to anyone I know, in case they go through the same thing. I’m so saddened to write this. It began as the best customer experience of our lives and became quite literally the worst.