Nox Kensington

The electronic door key to my room would not work. Nor would the replacement I was given by the (slightly embarrassed receptionist). Nor would the next one. He then became apologetic and said he would have to accompany me to my room (3rd floor) each time I needed to get into it. They were having problems with the keycard programming machine, but only for my room it appeared. However the room is packed with facilities for cooking, preparing food and eating. There is no table or chair, but hey that’s not a problem when you have a nice flat bed. TV was nice and big though. Later on that evening, I was aware of a lot of loud talking / shouting by other guests in the room opposite. Having been woken up, I decided to look at my watch - it was 2.30 a.m. —- not good! Is this a hotel’s responsibility to control, or just bad luck? Having said all this it was reasonable value at £52, in a fairly central part of London.

We went to Nox Hotels Kensinton in 2023. It was a so so experience. We were not able to use our credit card, so we had to pay our deposit in cash. When we left the hotel 3 days after, we were assured the deposit would be returned to our bank account. It is now 2 years later and after 3 attempts it is now clear that they are not willing return the deposit to us. The way Denis Anderson has treated this case is shockingly rude. So be advised: this hotel is not trustworthy. Clemens Huis in 't Veld from the Netherlands.

There was a leak from upstairs during the night and the receptionist promised to move us to another room the next day because that night the hotel was full, he refused to put this in writing but said that the next day, with people checking out, it would be possible to find another room. Next day they said they didn't have any rooms. The manager handled the situation aggressively, saying he wouldn't refund the 3-night stay and refused to put this in writing. We gave a phone call to the authorities explaining the situation and they advised what to do, having this conversation on the phone in front of the receptionist and the manager. They did give us in the end the full refund, probably because wanted to avoid any further problems for their side. Still no compensation occurred for the fact that we had to find an immediate solution for the remaining 2 nights, in high season, at a much higher cost.

TLDR: Beware!!! Nightmare hotel!!! Multiple MICE in disgusting room (see pictures)!!! Staff (night team member Ahm** and manager Den***) are horrendous and displayed incredibly ra*ist behavior, as an AfAm woman visiting the UK for the first time. Den*** specifically mocked me by snapping his fingers and rolling his neck around like a caricature (I speak with my hands) in our dispute over the quality of my room. A truly, deeply traumatizing experience that almost ruined the beginning of my vacation in London. Thank goodness for credit card purchase protection. Long Version: I checked into this hotel at around midnight and immediately experienced rude and dismissive behavior from Ahm**, the night team member. The hotel itself was in poor condition, with mold, dirty floors, exposed dishes in low cabinets, packing tape over the baseboards, sticky traps in kitchenette. By 1am, I saw a mouse run into my room. Let me tell you: this mouse was not scared and had been there before. Lights were on, noise was being made, water running…ran in like nothing was happening. Ran in the room like, “hey bunkie”. Finally ran back under the door to the hall when I stomped toward it with my foot. After notifying Ahm**, he literally said “right yeah, so what do you want me to do about that.” He refused to move me to a different room until the manager arrived in the morning. By 2am another mouse appeared, and despite multiple requests, Ahm** laughed off the situation, AND CALLED THE POLICE when i rightfully expressed frustration (I wasn't yelling or physical in any way). The police say to me, “I understand you don’t want to be here. He’s refusing to give your money back. There’s not much you can do other than go to a different room”. I tell them that’s what I asked for in the first place!!!!!! They asked Ahm**, “why don’t you just move her to a different room, it’s the least you can do”. He insists there aren’t any. They ask him to check again. MAgiCallY, a room appears, and we sleep there for the night. In the morning, I call the front desk looking for the manager. Front desk woman tells me, “you need to leave that upgraded room immediately. You didn’t pay for it, and there are guests that need to check in there. The manager isn’t here”. I go outside and ask the cleaning staff (who were truly the only polite, friendly employees at the hotel) is the manager here? The lady says, “who, Den*** ? Sure, he’s downstairs in his office.” Den*** says, “you've been reported by the night staff making a drama at reception, which we do not appreciate.” He told us that we would only get a room of identical quality in the same building infested with mice, and “zero refund of any kind”. He concludes “I will make it very very hard for you...your drama has not paid off”. This statement came after he cartoonishly waved his fingers around and twisted his neck in a circular motion, to mimic the archetype of a ghe*to Black woman. Needless to say, I had to make last minute alternative arrange

My phone was stolen from the bedside drawer, most likely the cleaning staff. The manager said they investigated and that they trust the cleaning staff; however there is no other explanation since I put it in there when I arrived and then it was no longer then when I was leaving.

Pros- Close to Olympia where we were exhibitors at a show. Great shower, really powerful and two heads. Blackout blinds Cons- Group of 6, all booked at the same time, under the same booking and paid for upfront, upon booking. A security deposit was demanded at check in. I don’t think I’ve ever paid a security deposit in a hotel before! Despite booking a long time ago, party has been split up across 2 buildings. Two are on one side of Holland Road and 4 on the other. The room was so small that two people could not pass each other in any part of the room. We had to get on the bed to let the other walk past. The bed is a small double. You physically could not fit a larger bed in the room. I am only 5’4 and my feet are dangling off the end of the bed. The duvet is even smaller! It doesn’t hang over the sides of the bed, in fact it only just about reaches each side. This was a nightmare to share. When we got back on the second night we asked at reception for a second duvet as we had been really cold (if one person was covered, the other was not). After some resistance from the member of staff to actually go and check, the best they could do was find us a sheet, as housekeeping weren’t there and the concierge didn’t know where the duvets were kept. This solution really didn’t help and one of us remained cold! We lit up a sign on the outside of our room asking for our room to be made up. When we got back, some things had been done, such as; our pyjamas were hidden under our pillows and a towel origami sculpture was on the bed. Other more useful things however were not… the coffee cups were not replaced, the coffee pods were not replaced, the rubbish was not emptied, the shower gel was not replaced, the room was not clean, the bathroom was not clean. The hand towel holder was broken and fell off the wall if you put a towel on it. Something was growing on the curtain! You had to have a few attempts at getting the toilet to flush. No plug socket near full length mirror. Mirror filthy. Towels stained, really grim. Hanging room - even t-shirts are too long. Nowhere to put luggage. Rude staff.