"If I could give this a zero rating, I would.
We stayed here at the end of October/beginning of November. We picked this hotel because of the rave reviews and the fact that it had a spa facility. The location looked spectacular being in the shadow of St Paul’s and indeed it was. Sadly, we left very, very disappointed and underwhelmed. We will not be staying here again and I will be avoiding the Leonardo brand in future.
We arrived early and the concierge was happy to look after our bags until check-in.
My partner needed to use the toilet before we headed off to visit St Paul’s. She came out horrified - and in fact did not use them they were apparently so bad.
We left to visit St Paul’s before returning to the hotel to check in. We were greeted with a glass of prosecco and check-in was friendly and efficient.
We were allocated a room in a separate block to the main block - walk through the bar area, out through sliding double doors, into the fresh air and then into a standalone block.
We were allocated room 573 - which, for the reader’s reference (because the hotel don’t know and wont be able to tell you), is an ‘accessible room’ - the bathroom being a wet room complete with very low level sink etc. Apparently - the hotel do not know which rooms are accessible rooms! Of course - I don’t buy that excuse for having allocated us an accessible room; how on earth are they going to allocate someone who needs an accessible room such a room if they don’t know where they are?
We were in a rush to get out to eat before the theatre so couldn’t complain about the room. Unfortunately the shower head just threw water everywhere apart from directly down and the bathroom quickly became the (very) ‘wet room’ it was.
On return to the hotel after the theatre, we walked through Leo’s bar when a mouse brazenly ran across our path. Of course, with the sliding doors constantly opening and closing with people having to get to the other accommodation block, I don’t suppose it should come as a surprise that vermin will get into the place but it was not what you expect especially with the bar serving food and having food on display.
We used the spa area the next day and whilst the steam room was plenty hot enough and steamy and the sauna also good and hot - the pool was fairly small with lots of young children around. There were no loungers or anything around the pool - as far as I could see - and it was not exactly what we were expecting. People were using the jacuzzi without showering after coming out of the sauna/steam room and there was brown scum floating on the surface.
The Sabine rooftop bar - the terrace was fabulous with the view out to St Paul’s.
Breakfast was plentiful but average. The food was not particularly hot, the hash browns rubbery etc. The breakfast restaurant is on the first floor and had the feel of a school canteen. The omelettes were freshly made and good but I’m not sure I would recommend opting for the breakfast as there are plenty of other options nearby.
What was quite bizarre, however, was when you came out of the lifts onto on of the ‘bridges’ - you were not permitted to take the direct route into the restaurant - you were forced to take the parallel ‘bridge’. That necessitated walking out into a lobby area that doubled as a games room (a table tennis table and a pool table) and you were forced to have your wits about you as you navigated young children wildly smashing the ping pong balls anywhere but on the table and then chasing around to find the ball oblivious of people trying to make their way to breakfast. A quite bizarre set-up, I have to say.
A nice touch in the rooms is the ability to ‘cast’ to the TVs - the first time I have encountered such a feature in hotel rooms.
On checking-out we raised the issue of our ‘accessible room’ to be told (as mentioned above) that it was because they have no idea what rooms are and are not accessible and if we were unhappy we should have complained (of course, we were in a rush so that wasn’t really practical) but it defies credulity to say that the location of accessible rooms is unknown! In all honesty - the reception staff gave the impression that they couldn’t really care less. When we mentioned the mouse, another receptionist interjected and expressed concern but we have since read another review on here that ALSO mentions a mouse loose on the ground floor!
What really upset my partner - and indeed me - is that we arrived home to find that my partner had left a souvenir from St Paul’s on the bed. She unpacked her bag when checking out to find something and forgot to re-pack it. She phoned the hotel at 6pm to be told that the room had not yet been allocated to anyone else and that they would get housekeeping to retain it for her and arrange for return. I should say that it took her the best part of an hour to get anyone to answer the phone. In the period she was trying to raise someone on the phone - I used the email contact form. I received an acknowledgement but more than 24 hours later I have not had a response!
My partner has called again tonight to be told that housekeeping did not hand the item in! This is of course appalling.
We paid far more for this stay than what we have ever done before. We could have stayed at the usual hotel we stay at in London for nearly half the price but we thought we’d extend ourselves because of the rave reviews and the spa facility but never again.
The poor room, the lack of interest on check-out and the joke of a suggestion that they do not know where the accessible rooms are coupled with the appalling level of response to telephone calls/email and the failure to secure my partner’s lost property leaves me wondering how this place has secured the positive reviews it has!
Thoroughly disappointed and not recommended."
