Travelodge London Kingston Upon Thames Central

We eventually got moved to another nearby place, which at least had a working lift, and the staff member there walked us to the room. The first thing we saw was a big brown stain on the carpet, and outside the window was a pile of fly-tipped rubbish. The whole London trip with my partner was wrecked by the constant banging and sex noises from other rooms. Travelodge said the broken lift wasn’t their fault and that service would be better next time. They offered £30 as a goodwill gesture, but I want the first two nights in that dump refunded. I’m never going back. The original hotel was disgusting, smelly, run-down and poor value. We booked five nights from 5 January. My partner is severely disabled, and just reaching reception meant struggling up what felt like a hundred flights of stairs because the lift was out. The website hadn’t mentioned it. The stairwell had smashed glass bottles, broken windows, blood stains and graffiti, and smelled of booze and urine. At check-in, our key card didn’t work, so we had to go back and get it fixed. Nobody gave us directions to the rooms. The staff seemed more interested in going to the office to joke with colleagues. When we finally got upstairs, there were strange white stains on the floor, rubbish everywhere, thick black hair in the shower, a funky smell and dirty linen. The USB ports they advertise by the bed didn’t work, and the radiator flashed an error in red. After a few unbearable nights with banging nearby, we complained and asked to move. We were told to wait in the bar for 15 minutes, but two hours later we were still waiting and had to keep asking for an update. Lots of other people were complaining too. I came a long way to London for this trip, and the experience was awful throughout. If I could post pictures, I’d show the badly cleaned rooms and the state of these hotels.

The room was okay, though the first two bathroom-floor photos show how much more thoroughly it needed cleaning. A staff member, who was helpful and apologetic, took our bags up in the lift, but we had to climb the stairs ourselves. It’s five floors to reception, then another six to our room. There is a working staff lift, but guests apparently can’t use it because they aren’t insured. I was told this had been going on for over two months. We’d booked a sixth-floor room for the view without knowing the lifts wouldn’t work. The receptionist kindly offered us a lower floor, but we turned it down because we wanted the view. You can see the town view in the photo. Travel Lodge’s handling of this is completely unacceptable. The employees are friendly and helpful, and I feel for them having to explain this ridiculous situation to guests. I don’t think the hotel is fit for purpose until the lifts are repaired or guests are allowed to use the staff one. I’ve used Travel Lodge for years and am genuinely disgusted by the company’s lack of consideration here. I wanted to contact TL Head Office instead of leaving a review, but I can’t find a way to do that. Shame on you.

Breakfast had a decent basic mix of continental and cooked food, plus a hot-drinks machine, but my son was annoyed that there was no plain orange juice, just apple, water or a mix of apple and orange. He did want to give a special mention to the hot chocolate, which he said was the nicest he’d ever had. Kids’ breakfast is £1. Quite a few tables wobbled, though we eventually found a steady one. The room looked clean until we moved the fold-out bed and found things left by the previous guest and a dirty carpet. One lift was broken, but thankfully the other, which is old and slow, was working. There was no sign saying where reception was when we arrived, so we guessed it was on the first floor and got lucky. Aside from that, it was satisfactory.

Kingston Central Travelodge has pigeon droppings all over the window ledges, some broken bathroom doors, and lifts that keep failing without warning. It’s ridiculous to run a six-floor hotel like this. I feel for wheelchair users and frail people who can’t manage the stairs. The windows look ancient too. They should close the building for maintenance and replace the lifts. I used to like this Travelodge, but now you can’t leave your bags there while you take care of something before check-in. When Aleem was manager, he’d always let me leave my suitcases at reception and did whatever he could to make my stay pleasant. He’s gone now, and the Wi-Fi isn’t free. Premier Inn lets you store luggage before check-in and has free Wi-Fi, so that’s why I’d pick them over Travelodge any time. Travelodge might get my custom for a low price, but definitely not for service quality.