The Royal Cambridge

Please don’t stay here. The whole place felt smelly and humid, and our basement room was unbearably hot, damp and musty, like a rainforest. The window looked straight onto an outside hallway, which felt creepy and unsafe. When we told the front desk we didn’t like the room, he said we could upgrade for 30 pounds, which was frustrating on our budget. He was also extremely rude and creepy, and followed us around.

We paid £70 a night and the location was good. Our basement room had no window, but the air-con worked, so that didn’t bother me. The room seemed clean, though it could probably use repainting, and the free Wi-Fi was good. They only left one pillow each and no spare. The main problem was the bathroom smell. It was awful and kept stinking, like someone had used the toilet and left it for ten hours.

The shower kept swinging from freezing to scalding without warning, and there were bugs everywhere we looked. We even saw rats. We also saw cleaning staff sleeping on freshly cleaned towels meant for guests. The beds felt like slabs of stone, and the duvet covers were filthy, with brown stains that looked as if they hadn’t been washed in months. With no air conditioning, we had to sleep with the window open. Then someone came in through it and jolted us awake in terror. It was the hotel cleaning crew using our room window to fold laundry. They were also dropping heavy laundry bags from the top floor to the ground outside, about 50 feet below. The noise was deafening and frightening. We asked them repeatedly to stop, but they didn’t. The front desk assured me it wouldn’t happen again after I went down to complain, but it happened the very next morning. This was by far the worst hotel stay I’ve ever had. I can’t believe the place is allowed to operate. Save yourself the stress and discomfort, don’t stay here.

The big downside was the lack of soundproofing. It felt like a giant was living above us! My son and I stayed three nights in a twin room. It was small, as was the bathroom, but clean and tidy and did what we needed. The staff were friendly and helpful, and being close to Paddington station was great. We could also leave our bags before check-in and after check-out.