Zedwell - Tottenham Court Road
Introduction
I had booked this hotel as I was going to a friend's flat warming party
so I could stay later and not worry about trains to get home until the next
morning. Well I really should have read the reviews on Trip advisor first. I
had booked it as I found the idea of an underground (literally) hotel
interesting.
Sadly this is possibly one of the worst hotels I have used. Now I know
some may think I am exaggerating here but for me hotels should have a certain
standard and available amenities. This place falls well short on almost
everything. Frankly I don’t know how they dare call themselves a hotel.
Hotels from hell? This is a hotel IN hell.
Check in
A few days before my stay I received an email telling me it was
mandatory to check in online, not if I would like to, but mandatory. They
claimed this is easier and quicker (it really isn’t) so I did fill out the
online forms Then, apparently, you have to have a smartphone and download this
particular app for the room key as this is also simpler than giving you a room
key card (No, it REALLY isn’t) so that done I arrive at the hotel. Only to find
you have to check in AGAIN in the hotel using self-service screens, with the
hotel staff acting like helping almost every guest was an inconvenience to
them, to get the room key code which you put into the app to get the room key
as this is quicker and easier than the guest signing a sheet of paper whilst
the receptionist sets up a key card (No, it seriously REALLY isn’t). As it is
on your phone and you are out for the evening and you lose your phone or it
runs out of charge then how do you access your key? Yes the hotel may have a
backup for this (actual key cards perhaps?) but still a gross inconvenience.
All this fandangle took far longer, and is much less convenient (for the
paying guests that is) than getting to a check in desk giving your name and
being asked to sign a sheet of paper. Checking in twice, once online then again
on the self-service screens at the hotel is beyond a joke.
The 'Room'
Having navigated the maze on the floor I was on I got to my room. When
inside it was about the same size as a standard prison cell. The shower room
was through a sliding glass door but at least the shower room was a fair size.
Although there were no shaver power points.
The bedroom was clean but that was the only real good point.
The floor in the bedroom was made of cold tiles, there was no wardrobe,
just two wall hangers, only two power points, only one of which was in a fairly
usable location. Well I suppose the second one was fine for using a hair dryer
- if you brought one with you that is as one isn’t provided unless you are
prepared to pay £10 to hire one, that is PAY £10 it isn’t a deposit you get
back when you return it. There is no dressing table, or table of any kind, not
even a chair.
There is not even a kettle to make a brew. The fact there was no TV did
not bother me but what good hotel doesn't provide tea and coffee making
facilities? The room was also cold and the air con was impossible to control,
although they did send someone from maintenance to look at it. He was the
first, and as it turned out, only actually helpful staff member I came across.
Now the only way to contact anyone in the hotel is by WhatsApp as the
rooms are underground so there is no phone signal and no phone is provided in
the room. Although Wi-Fi is provided even if you do have WhatsApp on your phone
all you seem to get is a bot telling you the same answer to everything. Telling
you to call reception when you have no phone signal is also an utter joke. Well
it is either a bot, or much worse, someone just clicking the ‘standard reply to
shut them up’ option on a screen. All but two answers came far too quickly for
them to have read my question and the answer to have been typed.
One side of the bed was firmly against one wall so if there is a couple
staying if the person on this side needs to get up in the night they would end
up waking their partner. Although with the racket the toilet flush makes this
would wake anyone. The mattress was a little soft for me but this is a personal
thing.
The shower was fine, no better than the one I have at home. Shower gel
etc. is provided but in large hotel branded, used by everyone who uses the
room, pump bottle. Now I accept many hotels do this to reduce plastic waste but
the quality of this type of shower gel is usually low so I advise that you take
your own. The smell of the shower gel confirmed my suspicions that it is cheap,
generic, bought in bulk stuff. The overpowering smell of synthetic coconut -
not nice.
The one really good thing for me was at least it was dark with the
lights out. By dark I mean total black out dark. Now the claim is the rooms are
sound proofed. Well a bit of a swing and a miss there. Close to Tottenham court
rd. station, on a night tube night, the noise of the trains was very clear.
Their website claims the sound proofimg is done with natural oak panels well as
these only go about 3 inches above the bed it has little to no effect.
My sleep quality well I can only describe it as average. A calm and
tranquil experience (another of their claims) it was not.
Food provided
None. They do not offer breakfast nor do they have an in hotel bar, café
or restaurant. They do say they give a discount to an attached above ground café
(not owned by the hotel) which I did not use and that there are plenty of other
local places to eat and get a coffee - which there are. However, having to
leave not just your room but the entire hotel to get a coffee because they
don't provide a kettle etc is not what I would call providing a tranquil experience.
It is loading more inconvenience onto the guests.
Check out
Firstly, this is at 10am rather than 11am most hotels give so any
thoughts of a lie in was out of the question.
I went to check out. After being asked for my room number by a staff
member (sorry but standing there in the lobby with his hands in his pockets
does not qualify as any form of customer service person) giving it to him he
just said ‘ok fine’ and turned away, no attempt to do anything to check me out
of the hotel. I had to request a receipt in order for him to take his hands out
of his pockets and then with an exasperated sigh pick up his tablet to actually
do the check out. This falls far short of what I expect from a hotel.
Value for money
Now I don’t often put this in my review but here it is seriously needed.
No coffee facilities, no dressing table, nowhere to hang more than a
coat an arduous check in system that take 3 times longer than a standard sign a
sheet of paper check in that almost every other hotel uses, having to download
an app for your key, a ‘bot’ answering questions on WhatsApp a room no bigger
than a prison cell and over £100 a night excluding breakfast? Sorry, but no. I
would price this at £70 a night tops. If this was anywhere else but London they
would NEVER get away with this price.
Summary and score
This awful excuse of a hotel is simply not good enough, no room
facilities, awful check in system, digital key access only, inattentive
checkout staff, tiny rooms with nowhere to hang clothes this is simply not good
enough. It is not a hotel I will inflict on myself again.
Check in: 0/5
Check out: 1/5
Room and sleep quality: 3/5
Room facilities: 1/5 (not even a kettle but the lights worked)
Value for money: 2/5
Total: 7/25
Right to Reply
After sending the review to Zedwell, before I published it on here, they
have replied, naturally by Whatsapp as replying by email is clearly too much
effort for them. They did, sort of, apologise for the god awful check in
system, well more that they were sorry that I found the time consuming double
check in and the idea of only having the key on the phone app inconvenient.
They defended the total lack of amenities as it being their design of
minimalism to aid restful sleep, make of that what you will.
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