If you’re looking for a cheap night’s stay at any of these resorts, you might want to check out the reviews first
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Whether you're a Londoner with family members visiting for a few nights, or a tourist coming to visit the capital for the first time, it's essential that you find somewhere decent to stay. After a hard day exploring and taking in everything that this beautiful city has to offer, it's vital that you find somewhere decent to rest after a night out at one of the city's many pubs, restaurants or theatres.
Chain hotels are often your best bet if you're looking for something on the "cheap and cheerful" side of things. One important thing to remember, though, is that whether it be a hotel, restaurant or airline, chains can still differ depending on their location and staff. To save you scrolling through TripAdvisor for hours, MyLondon has compiled a list of the lowest rated Best Western, Premier Inn, Travelodge and Holiday Inn in the city.
READ MORE: Every London borough’s best pub according to their TripAdvisor ratings
As it does with pubs, restaurants, and even local attractions, TripAdvisor ranks every hotel in London based on its reviewers' ratings. For the purpose of this list, we have searched for the hotel in each chain with the lowest ranking compared to the others – with some potentially surprising results. We have only included hotels with more than 100 reviews. The city's lowest rated chain hotels can be found below:
Despite having a 3.5 out of 5 'very good' rating from 5,139 reviews on TripAdvisor, the 906-room Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum hotel on Cromwell Road near Kensington Gardens is the lowest rated in the city. Completed in 1972, the high-rise hotel spans 500,000 square feet, and is situated a short walk from Gloucester Road London Underground station. While many reviewers were positive, some recent reviews have been negative amid reports that the hotel is closing down soon after being bought over by a Singapore businessman. Others refer to "poor management" and a "tatty" interior.
One reviewer Graham, wrote last month: "Please do not waste your hard earned money on this horrendous place. Do not go there, the management don’t care, staff don’t care – the whole place is horrendously run from management downwards. No empathy whilst we were there. We witnessed customers crying, customers been given keys to rooms where other customers were in the rooms – just horrendous horrendous horrendous. STAY AWAY."
Another unhappy customer, Dacre H, who stayed for eight nights over Christmas and New Year, said: "What an awful hotel belonging to the Holiday Inn brand. The hotel is dated and tatty. and needs a makeover. The bathroom toilet blocked three times during my stay, the basins were blocked, the telephones don't work and my room key card wouldn't work in the lift or entering the room. This happened three times which meant another trudge back to reception to sort out."
The Travelodge on York Road in Battersea is ranked 949 out of the 1,242 hotels in London, and with 114 'terrible' reviews – more than any other rating – customers have made complaints from damp and mould in the bedrooms to broken locks and inattentive staff.
Jr302021 uploaded a review entitled 'Dirty towels and broken door lock that wasn't fixed'. He said: "Received dirty towels and they didn’t seem to care much. Broken door lock which was highlighted on the first evening. One member of staff tried his best to resolve this. Nobody else seemed to care. Will not be staying here again."
Sarah, from Manchester, also paid the hotel a visit in November 2021. She said: "We booked two rooms as we are a large family. We were put on two different floors. One of the rooms had damp and mould and the bed was wet. The floors in the hotel was uneven through out. Rooms had a stuffy smell. Needs new bathrooms. They were disgusting. I just felt dirty being there and couldn’t wait to leave."
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With a 3.5 out of 5 overall rating, the London Tolworth Premier Inn in Surbiton is ranked 727 out of 1,202 hotels in London. Situated close to Chessington World Theme Park and the Epsom Downs racecourse, company bosses say that "if you're in leafy Tolworth on a short break, there's loads to keep you occupied."
Previous customers, however, have not been so happy with the hotel's most recent review, dated January 2022, reading: "Worst hotel I've ever been to. I left a review at the time. When complaining to Premier Inn customer services I was assured that I would be getting a call from the hotel manager.
The reviewer, g_dawg001 continued: "Well it’s been almost six months now and still no call. I think this sums up the attitude of the management perfectly. Either customer services are just fobbing me off or the management just couldn’t care less."
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TripAdvisor reviewers have ranked the Best Western Queens Crystal Palace establishment number 843 out of 1,202 hotels in London, making it the worst Best Western in the city. With an average of 3 out of 5 over 374 reviews, some have branded the branch on Church Road as "not worth the money" and the "worst hotel ever". Another less than satisfied guest uploaded pictures which appeared to show "vomit on the walls".
A recent review from October by user BJR99 read: "Sick all over the place, going up the stairs rooms smelt awful – there was sick all down our walls. It was really mouldy and damp, we asked to be changed rooms and got put into a room in the basement without window – just a photo of the London Eye and curtains. Asked for a refund and we could only get half and I think we were lucky getting that. "Do not stay here, I got awful photos but behind the curtain was sick all up the walls and down the curtain as well."
Another guest, Paul, said that he "wouldn't stay again", adding: "This hotel has renovations going on. Restaurant (if can call it this) had four options of main course. I suspect it was microwave meals. They were ok, but not for the money paid. I pre-paid for breakfast which turned out to be a brown bag with sandwich, apple and orange juice? Really poor."
Do you have any stories that you think we should be covering? Get in touch by contacting sam.ormiston@reachplc.com
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I'm Sam, a News Reporter at MyLondon with a special interest in covering court and crime. I started in September 2021, and I'm based in Ealing. You can follow my Facebook page here.
Three stories I've worked on in the past month that I'm particularly proud of are:
Coming from a small town in rural Scotland, my favourite thing about London is the incredible mix of people and exploring all the amazing independent pubs, restaurants and cafes that the city has to offer.
Got a story? You can email me at sam.ormiston@reachplc.com or WhatsApp me on 07711924442.