I usually set my expectations realistically for Travelodges as they are by and large, very basic hotels. However the Covent Garden hotel surpassed itself.
I booked a “super room” for 2 nights - super rooms are essentially what other hotels plus call normal rooms. They have plasma TVs, hairdryers and a coffee machine (but only one coffee capsule per person per night). Don’t be fooled into thinking you’re getting anything other than a bog standard hotel room.
In summary, the reasons for my low rating are-
- The queues at check in are insane. And not due to lack of staff - there’ll be 4 staff behind the desk with just one checking people in/out. I think this wasn’t helped by the fact that I picked the 2 nights where every man and his wife decided to be veeeeery slow in speaking to staff or told them their life story. Not the hotel’s fault obviously but there is absolutely no urgency in getting people through check in
- 2 slow lifts serve 9 floors. There’s no rhyme or reason to their direction. They could go up to floor 5, then down to 3, up to 9, down to 7, up to 8, before going back down to the ground floor where people have been waiting 10 minutes. Easier to take the stairs.
- there were random wet patches all over my room floor
- my towels weren’t changed on day 2. They took my dirty towels but left none. Because there’s no phones on the room, I had to go down, wait 10 minutes while some bloke regaled the desk staff with story of his train journey, tell them about it and they said they would send someone up with some. 45 minutes later I had to go down again and ask if I could just take some as I had a table booked and needed to shower. No apology, no acknowledgement that they’d messed up, nothing
- the soap/shampoo in the shower smelled of rotten eggs - I have no idea what was in it but the whole room stank when I went to use it. Just pleased I never got as far as putting it in my hair!
- the location isn’t great - a little off the beaten track of Covent Garden, a bit of a dodgy street to get to it
Seriously spend a bit more on another more central hotel that will have the courtesy of giving you towels and where you won’t spend half your trip waiting for things that should come easily
