Hotel Balkan

Awful room, right at the front of the property and up several floors. Very noisy with street traffic. No Aircon just a fan in the room which only worked on high setting which was really noisy and could not sleep with it on but it was so hot we had to have the window open and of course got all the noise from the street. Condition of the room was poor with ripped headboards, brown stains on the carpet and the shower drain was disgusting. The shower stopped working halfway through my shower and was just a trickle. Went to reception (which was next door in a separate property over a road) and they said they'd send a plumber. Supposed plumber turned up 10 mins later with no tools (didn't look like a plumber to be honest, maybe a relative of the owners). All he said was it might be due to a screw loose (?!) . We put it down to everyone else in the property flushing toilets and having showers and the higher up the property you are the less pressure you get. TV did not work either in room. This room only price was not value for money or worth paying £110. Mattress and pillows were cheap and uncomfortable and bed bases weren't even connected properly. I would not recommend staying here , avoid at all costs. I feel I need some compensation or partial refund to be honest

I usually stay a bit more central when visiting London, but I needed to be somewhere between Wembley and the West End this time around. LOCATION Only around a 10-minute walk to the Shepherd’s Bush station, and from there a ~20-minute Tube to the centre. The road this hotel's on was fairly busy, but that didn’t stop us from sleeping. ROOM Rudimentary and compact, but we did have a fridge. The beds were perfectly fine. I have to say, though, that they look FAR nicer in the photographs provided by management. FACILITIES The ensuite smelled a bit sewer-y. Its shower worked alright, though the door was difficult to shut. We had access to free Wi-Fi as well as a telly. FINAL COMMENTS For £35 a night, I wouldn’t refuse to come back here.

I got bed bugs when I stayed here during a work trip and was refused a full refund because ‘they checked the room and didn’t see any’ and I also ‘took too long to report it’ - this was partly because I initially thought it was acne/allergies until I saw a bug crawling across the bed and notified management immediately. The fact that the reception is in a different building and not always manned makes it harder to report issues particularly when I have to be in an office early morning. This is a serious health and safety issue and they do not appear to be taking it seriously, which is extremely concerning. In addition to bed bugs, the rooms were not as clean as they appear in the photos (there was mould in the shower of at least 2 rooms), there is no breakfast despite this being advertised online and signage on the premises. They are also very inconsistent with the toiletries provided- the photos show full sets and multiple towels, however all I got on my first night was one stained towel and a tiny tube of shampoo/conditioner - I had to use this as soap as none was provided until the next day. I wouldn’t have complained about any of those things if it hadn’t been for the bed bugs but overall there is quite a large discrepancy between what’s advertised and the reality of staying here. Would strongly advise anyone thinking of staying here to reconsider.