The Corner London City

My family and I stayed at The Corner London City for our first post pandemic summer vacation. The stay was fine but there were a few somewhat frustrating issues. 1. There is not always a dedicated staff member at front of the hotel (check in and checkout is done via screen) so if you have a need or question, you will need to talk to the bartender who is busy being a bartender. 2. We stayed in the deluxe king room as a family of 3. We thought deluxe would include couch b/c we indicated the age of our child, but it is only a king bed. The cot can be purchased for $25 a night - not a lot, but not trivial if your vacation is over a week. 3. There are automated coffee machines on all of the floors. Ours worked once. The remainder of our stay we would walk up or down the stairs hoping that floor's would work. There is one on the ground floor that was the most reliable.

We booked two rooms as we travelled as a family of five. The Hotel was marketed as a contemporary stylish modern airy hotel but in reality the place had drab, dark, stuffy rooms. House keeping was not up to standard having to ask each day for fresh towels, floors of rooms never vacuumed and had not been cleaned for a while, half the room lights not working, surfaces never cleaned and in general overall long term dirt. The toilet within the bathroom was so tightly squeezed between the shower and the sink unit that one could hardly use it. Corridors very dark and depressing. Coffee machines which were sited on each floor rather than in each room where always out of order. In general Not anywhere close to what was expected for the price paid.

The hotel itself is funky and evo-friendly, both of which align with us as a family. The decor is cool and the rooms were functional. Everything was hands off, self check in and so forth. There was a couple of staff at the bar. In the room were two phone numbers to call if you needed help 24/7. On day one the hair dryer in the room stopped working. Neither of the phone numbers picked up: the landline permanently said they were busy, and the mobile rang then hung up. So next morning I told someone at the bar. That evening, atill not working. You could send a whatsapp so I did. Got a reply 2 hours later saying they would bring one up. Nothing. Sent coyple more messages that were read but no action. Other issue was as a gold member I was told we would get a free room upgrade and two free drinks a day. As there was no reception and no-one to check you in, there was no way of sorting this out. Technology is fine and the values of the hotel are great. It was clean and comfortable. But everyone needs a personal touch. Closest we got was as we left and a great guy spoke to us and welcomed new arrivals.

The room was cold and there was no heater. There was no assistance and when I called no one picked up and the number was just going to the IVR. I went down and asked in the bar, there was a guy in the bar who asked me to use the AC as the heater. My 1 month old was feeling cold and we had difficulty getting the baby to sleep. There was also no fridge in the room, I had to come to the bar and request to keep the baby milk in the bar. Poor service was provided for such a costly room.