Royal Norfolk Hotel, London

The only good thing about this hotel is its location. Thank God there are more than 20 other hotels in that area, so don't bother to pick this one! I found it on the internet and a 3star rating seemed quite promising. I don't know who gave this rating to this hotel, but they were either blind or crazy! I went with my mother on the 3rd of February and stayed for 7 nights. Here's our experience: Upon arrival, we were informed that someone reserved for us a double room although our reservation was for a TWIN -and as promised by the manager- SPACIOUS room. They managed to get us a twin room, which was probably the smallest hotel room in history ever! (Not to mention the condition of the bathroom: there were FLAKES OF PAINT COMING OUT OF THE BATHTUB!) There wasn't even space to put our luggage. When we complained about that, they said that usually people don't bring two suitcases with them! If you ask me, there wasn't space for not even one suitcase but according to the guy at the reception that's what the nightstand between the beds is for! And if we made a little rearrangement with the chair and the TV, we would manage to fit the second suitcase, although then we wouldn't be able to open the door... Eventually they discovered that there was a larger room available from the next day and we were so happy to hear about that, that we managed to overcome the fact that our room had no heating and that we had to wait for the porter to switch it on THE NEXT MORNING! The new room was almost what the website was promising, but I must say that having to spend FIVE nights on the same sheets and FIVE days on a carpet that was never vacuumed wasn't that comfortable! The next surprise was when we found out that WE HAD TO PAY TO GET A REMOTE FOR THE TV. Fortunately, we brought our own adaptors, or we had had to pay for them also! And that wasn't hardly all... Most of the staff was almost UNABLE TO COMMUNICATE IN PROPER ENGLISH and -apart from two young ladies who were attending reception in the mornings- they were also RUDE! Every evening, when I entered the hotel and said "hello" I didn't even get one smile as a reply! Smiles were also missing from the breakfast room, as well as orange juice! In fact it was probably replaced with water with sugar and orange colour! Not to mention the continental breakfast, oh my God! Plastic cheese and plastic ham! Last, but not at all least, when we unpacked we found out that we forgot in our room two adaptors and two rucksacks. Although we returned to the hotel 3 hours after we checked out (to get our luggage) and although my phone number and e-mail are known to the hotel staff, no one bothered to contact us. Someone would expect a little more attention to the guests' belongings from a hotel that practically rents its own (remote controls and adaptors)! If, in spite of all of the above, you decide to stay at this hotel make sure to ask for one of the refurbished rooms, bring extra cash to pay for the remote, buy some orange juice from one of the mini markets across the street, better starve than eat the continental breakfast and don't forget anything in your room because you will instantly kiss it goodbye!