"Checking in... Was a pleasant experience; the member of staff was helpful, friendly and asked us about ourselves and our reason for staying which felt like a very warm welcome. We booked for dinner, asked for somewhere quiet and was given a small booth...which was very cute and intimate, and appreciated. The room... We stayed in the Market Suite. On first appearances the room was beautiful; the bathroom, with its large tin bath and large walk in shower was very appealing and inviting. The lounge area was small but has everything one could want for an overnight stay including a sofa bed that we'd asked to have made up for our teenage daughter to sleep on (it wasn't made up sadly although they did come and make it up whilst we were at dinner). We noticed the bedroom was dark and that there was a quiet but distinct hum which we realised was coming from outside, we assumed it was the extractor fan from the kitchen. We were pleasantly surprised to find a small outdoor area which in Summer would have been very welcome (although it was a shame the white cushion covers on the outdoor furniture was so green and dirty.. The Market Suite could be a great hotel room but there were a few small things that spoiled it for us fundamentally the grubbiness' of the room. I don't think it had been vacuumed before our use... bits of fluff etc. on the floor, water and soap marks around the sink, a dirty mark on the carpet in the living room, a white stain on the sofa bed, dust on the furniture (in the toilet there was noticeably dust on the wooden lip that runs around the wall), pubic hair on the duvet cover... these are the sort of things that put us off returning again and on reflection, made us feel a little angry after we left. It's just a lack of care that lets them down... and a lack of care for their rooms, feels like a lack of care for customers. The right hand bedside lamp didn't turn off unless unplugged; when we mentioned this to staff on checking out we felt as if they didn't believe us. The underfloor heating is the bathroom though was a very welcome feature. The big thing that let us down was the inability to take a shower. I stood in the shower for minutes without the water warming up, and only half of the very large shower head letting water out. Whilst this happened I had to stand in up to inches of dirty water as it wasn't draining away and it became clear the shower hadn't been cleaned as there was scum on the top of the standing water). I phoned reception and two members of staff promptly came to have a look. They managed to get the water to warm up (I was informed that it takes some time for warm water to come through, but minutes plus is ridiculous .. they apologised that they couldn't get the water pressure higher. When I finally got in the shower, it was impossible the pressure was so low that water was trickling out... I couldn't even wash the soap off my skin adequately and spent the day sightseeing around London with soap residue on my skin. I appreciate this is central London and there's always an element of imperfection and one can expect expense, but I believe we should have been offered a partial refund for the room but wasn't even offered a sincere apology... it felt as if staff tried to minimise, or brush off', the things we mentioned to them. A clean room, a bed and a shower is the baseline of service that one should expect in a hotel whatever the price we didn't get a clean room (although we didn't mention this to the staff), we got the bed (which was actually very hard.. but none of us could shower and I spent the day itching because of the soap residue on my skin! This is very poor service for an expensive room. I must add that the room snacks my husband ate: a packet of crisps and a bag of chocolates were removed from our bill but really, not enough to excuse the poor service. The food... Again, this could be an amazing place to eat, but its just small things that let it down. The thrice cooked chips there's no way they are cooked three times, some of them were hard. for a very small, poorly cooked ribeye is poor value wherever you are in the country (I was a chef in my previous career, the fat should melt on rib eye). My husband ordered a burger and said it was amazing; it definitely looked delicious. The sauces that came with the food: barnaise with the steak, garlic with the chips, pesto with the salad were particularly delicious amazing. The under-ripe tomato with the salad though was disappointing especially as Smithfield market is steps away and it was the main ingredient in a tomato and mozzarella salad... things like this make it a mediocre place to eat rather than a true gastro-pub'. I acknowledge we could have caught them on a bad day... The location... Very good especially if, like us, you are visiting the Barbican. It is also well placed for the Barbican tube station for general sightseeing. There is an NCP car park within minutes, we drove into the city and were very pleased with how easy it was to park. Overall it's a lovely hotel and pub; full of character. They have the potential to be an amazing place to spend a few nights or eat a meal, but the lack of care and attention to detail lets them down. I hope they really do work on the cleanliness of the rooms because that is unacceptable, and fix that shower because that really spoiled our stay."
