Review of Cromwell International Hotel 3*

I stayed in the Cromwell International for 3 nights (Friday — Monday) in order to attend an event at the Olympia. It was interesting to say the least Pros *Easy walking distance of tube and bus stops for transport to event. Cons *Check in — was a bit of a nightmare. Spent 10 minutes with a staff member who didn't really know what they were doing. Someone else eventually came over and finished check in. Was given overly complicated instructions to find room. Told there was a lift. Whilst waiting for lift I was told by another member of staff that it was broken. After spending a good 10 minutes attempting to find my room — please label your corridors properly! — I find the key doesn't work. Back down I go, with all my luggage, to get the key fixed. *The room — I honestly felt like Harry Potter in the cupboard under the stairs. The room was like a sauna. The air con was useless. The curtain didn't open properly. The smallest of rooms was dominated by a gigantic wardrobe, which I saw no real need for. The wardrobe doors also didn't shut properly. The bedside lamp was hanging off. The cable for the TV had pretty much totally disintegrated, and the TV was stuck on one volume with only one channel. The bed felt like lying on springs with two terrible pillows. The flush on the toilet had fall off leaving a hole in the wall. Every time I used the towel holder it fell apart. There were several interesting stains on the carpet. *My friend was also staying in the same hotel. When she checked in she was told that the lift did work it is just temperamental. She was on the fifth floor and the lift only went to floor four. We decided to leave her suitcase in my room on floor three, a slight mistake as this then meant there was barely any floor space or room to move. When walking up to floor 5 we noticed a pretty strong smell that just seemed to be getting worse. By the time we opened the door to the fifth floor the smell of sewage was vile. It was just as bad in her room. We opened the windows and left pretty much straight away and informed a staff member at reception about the problem. We stayed in my minature room most of the evening, and I woke up to texts asking if she could come down and use my shower as the smell in her room was too bad and she felt ill. *Communication — my friend checked out before me and asked me to check at reception for something she'd left behind. After waiting at reception and being ignored for 10 minutes I finally enquired. I said I didn't remember her room number but told it what floor it was on and which numbers I thought it might be. He didn't bother to properly double check to find out the room info. Looked in a drawer and said there was nothing for a room I didn't even know was the right one. I also mentioned she'd tried ringing but had got no answer — the response was the phones were broken. *The lift — was a genuinely terrifying experience. This seriously needs modernising and updating. This downstairs lift corridor also smelt of wee. Overall, with the bad room, uncomfortable bed, terrible stench, and unhelpful staff not a place I would ever return to or recommend.