Anchor Hotel Golder's Green

Reason for using:

I was attending a friend’s birthday in London and as I didn’t want to have to leave early to get the last train I looked for a hotel in London. Many were very expensive for the one night, apparently someone called Harry Styles (nope mystery to me too), was performing in London so the prices went up to cash in on this event. However, I did find this hotel (well it calls its self a hotel) for a reasonable price so booked it. I think the price should have told me something.

The location is about a 2 min walk from Golders Green underground station so it is on the northern line and the night tube. But even the location couldn’t save it.

Checking in

OK well arriving at the hotel there is a sign saying to ring a number the check in rather odd for a hotel but OK. However, before seeing this I had rung the bell, door was opened and in I went. The check in desk was a small table at the end of a hallway with a rather tatty chair behind it which bore no relation to the long desk check in shown in the pictures on their own website. The check in was quick enough. The person at the desk was friendly. So getting my key (actual key not a key card) off I went to the room. 

The Room (room 5)

OH DEAR.

OK I had booked a quadruple room as it was the cheapest option available at the time of booking but the room was FAR too small for the 3 beds (one double and 2 single)  in there. The floor was fake laminate and uneven some bits coming up giving sharp edges so not a good start. Then the real horror. There was no key hole on the inside of the door to lock it, just an old-fashioned public toilet type turn lock. The type which can be opened from the outside simply by using a screwdriver. That is in NO WAY secure. Even as a reasonably fit middle-aged man I did not consider this safe so imagine how a vulnerable person would have felt or a lady traveling alone. So I would have to put my case behind it and wedge it against one of the beds for extra (well the only) security.

The room was obviously added as a bedroom at a later date as it had an external door with an emergency exit sign above it. Well it would be an emergency exit – if it wasn’t locked and no key to open it was available. The edges of the door covered in sicky tape to cut down the drafts. This had a thin blind covering the glass section. Then the décor – a mish mash. The wall with the more highly patterned paper well the patten had NOT been matched from strip to strip which gave a very jarring effect. 

The room at least had a kettle mugs tea coffee but no teaspoons. There was a small fridge which was in need of being defrosted. There was also a fan in the room and at least the windows opened. The double bed was comfy enough but lacked a head board but at least the bedding was clean. There was no chair or desk in the room. Frankly having this as a double room with sofa bed would have been far better. The towels provided had seen better days. They were thin and did not dry you very well. Now you could ask for extra towels but there was a charge for it – I have never known a hotel charge for an extra towel. Then again looking at the list of extra charges the hotel made – charge for extra pillow, for an extra blanket, charge for checking in after 8pm (sorry but what??). There were no curtains at the windows just a thin roller blind which caused issues but more about that later. It is evident from the photos on their own website that the curtains were just moved round the different rooms for the photo as the room I had bore no relation to any of the photos.

There were some power points, one oddly had been installed upside down but it worked. However, these were a distance from the double bed in the room so charging the phone and using it at the same time, if in the double bed, was not possible – unless you have a long charging cable. 

Now the shower room….ok not big enough to swing a cat in but at least it is a private one. There was clear yellowing and mould on the silicone round the shower base and with my first use of the shower it was clear the drain bit of it had NOT been cleaned very well and there was a terrible smell from it. Sorry but this type has a trap below the silvery bit which needs removing and cleaning properly regularly. From the smell emanating from it this has not been done in weeks. However, at least it had a glass door and not my pet hate of shower cubicles – the shower curtain. I always take my own shower gel and shampoo with me when I travel so can’t comment on what was provided in the dispensers in the shower. Then we have the extractor fan which was caked in dust and the ducting was visible.

Looking at the site photos and my actual visit it is clear the photos were staged to make the hotel look better than it is. I know this is a common trick but here it is bordering on false advertising.

Had I booked for longer than one night it is very likely I would have left but for one night I thought I could grin and bare it.

Getting back, sleeping and check out.

Well I was out at my friend’s birthday so got back close to midnight. The external door is worked by a coded keypad. OK simple enough but how often is this code changed? If someone used the hotel a few weeks ago wanted to get back in would that code still be the same? Sill code put in the door unlocked and back to my room. 

I slept OK, well until I was woken up at about 5 by the sunlight coming into the room as the blinds were as effective as a cat flap in an elephant house at keeping the light out. This did NOT impress me. So up, make a coffee, pack and get ready to check out to go home.

No breakfast is provided – or at least not that I was told about.

Check out was ok handed key back and departed.

Value for money – you must be joking! I would have expected at the very least to have felt safe in the room – but the toilet cubical style lock in no way provided this. The bathroom was not cleaned to a good enough standard and the lack of sleep caused by the lack of curtains did not help either. 

Score:

Checking in/out  3/5

The room 1/5 (the room was NOT secure enough)

Facilities 2/5 

Night’s sleep 2/5

Value for money 1/5

Total 9/25