The Rockwell in London

I stayed at The Rockwell from 15 to 22 February 2026. I was in Room 301 on the night of 15 February and was moved to Room 103 from 16 February to 22 February 2026.

Please take note that this hotel has a very strange and unreasonable policy: whenever guests leave the hotel (even if they are not checking out), they must return their room key card to the front desk, and collect it back from the front desk when they return. Of all the hotels I have stayed at in my lifetime, this is the only one that has ever required this. I asked about the safety and security of my belongings if I handed over my room key card, since staff would then have access to my room. The staff member assured me, “We will not enter your room”. It is not as if someone with bad intentions would openly admit to stealing our stuff.

15 February 2026:
At around 9 PM during check-in, I was assisted by a male front desk staff member who had difficulty communicating in English, which made the process challenging. The room, room 301, assigned to me did not meet the special requests I had emailed the hotel about in advance.

Room 301 was dirty and dusty, and the kettle was broken with a visible hole in it. The shower was another major issue. It took 1–2 minutes to warm up, which was very uncomfortable during winter. Even after it became warm, the temperature would suddenly drop without adjusting the temperature. The water pressure was also inconsistent, constantly fluctuating between strong and weak.

When I reported these issues immediately to the front desk, I was told that the maintenance team was not available 24 hours (unlike other 4 star hotels) and would only be present during working hours. I requested to speak to the manager, and I was initially told there was no manager. Later, the staff admitted that there was a manager, but that he was only available during the day. Despite my repeated requests throughout my 7-night stay, the manager never met with me, claiming that he had a “very busy schedule.”

16 February 2026:
It was only after Trip.com intervened that the hotel upgraded me from Room 301 to Room 103 on a complimentary basis. However, problems continued in the new room, the bedside lamps were not working, the fridge was not functioning, and the shower handle was faulty. I contacted Trip.com again, and they intervened once more. Shockingly, the hotel duty manager Csaba Sarkadi told Trip.com that the issues I surfaced in my new Room 103 were from my previous room 301, and they even claimed that I said that there was no issues with my new room.

To clarify the situation, I conducted a live call with Trip.com and provided evidence showing that the new room also had multiple defects. After that, repairs were silently carried out behind my back while I was out of the hotel, without any proper communication.

I have attached photos showing the dirty sofa and the condition of the complimentary glass bottled water in my new room, which is very unclean and unsafe to drink. I did not drink the water, or I will get water-borne diseases such as cholera. On my last night, 21 February, one of the lamps became faulty again.

In addition, the housekeeping service was highly inconsistent. On some days, amenities such as shampoo and other toiletries were replenished; on other days, they were not replaced at all. The shampoo provided comes in very small bottles and is difficult to squeeze out, which made it very inconvenient to use.

Throughout my stay, the overall condition of the hotel and the service standard were extremely disappointing. In recognition of the poor hotel experience I had, Trip.com even provided me with goodwill cash compensation out of their own expenses.

This hotel is highly unprofessional and does not meet the standards it advertised. I strongly advise travelers against booking at this failing 1 star hotel.