Novotel London Canary Wharf

Generally happy with our stay. Very welcoming reception staff. Comfortable good-sized room, pristine clean so well done and a big thank you to housekeeping. Air conditioning that actually works and gets cold when told to do so. Shower was disappointingly low pressure - I'd describe it as a trickle. Bed nice and comfortable, with 4 large square pillows - great as I didn't have to make my customary request for more pillows as I do in any other hotel. Pool and gym: pool a bit on a small side and dimly lit but nice and warm. Gym also small but open 24 hrs, with 2 each of bikes and treadmills, free weights rack, one bench, and a pulley machine on which electronic tensioning wasn't working. Water, towels and tissues available. Changing rooms have lockers, towels and wet kit bags available. Again everything was spotlessly clean, which impressed me. We had a very quiet, comfortable and peaceful night sleep. Breakfast was a bit disappointing compared to other hotels of same rating. Breakfast room is situated under and around a staircase leading down to it, which creates a cramped air, although window tables have superbly beautiful London views. I was disappointed to find no porridge on the menu and only fried eggs on offer, no poached or even simply boiled ones. Most astoundingly there was no decaf coffee in the coffee machines and not even sachets. No decaf tea either apart from herbals. The most highly consumed foods kept running out, there was no orange juice at all (I was told, bizarrely, that it was because of the Bank Holiday), milk by the coffee machine was not replaced and I was told to go to the cereals bar to get it. The bowl of yogurt was empty and again I was told it had run out. This all accumulated to irritate me but the most unpleasant episode was when I noticed a hair in the fruit bowl, and staff member whose attention I tried to attract refused to deal with it and told me to "go and see the boy, he's responsible for the bar, it's not my job" - that's a verbatim quote so don't ask me what "boy" that was. I then felt that I couldn't step away from the fruit bowl as I worried someone else might not notice and help themselves to the contaminated food. I managed to attract attention to another staff member who took the bowl away without any further ado and had it replaced. Our plates were not cleared for the whole duration of breakfast and I had to ask for that so we could enjoy our drinks at a clean table. Tables staff seemed unfriendly and didn't speak good English so I wasn't sure at times if they understood me well, or were just rude. Front of house lady, Alexandra I think her name was, was very friendly but she was constantly either seating people or running in and out of kitchen. In summary, there are very good facilities and general service but definitely room for improvement at breakfast.
May 3rd, 2023

May 1st, 2023

Rooms: Nice room overlooking London with comfy bed and nice bathroom. For the price shame no extras like coffee machine, bathrobes or slippers Food & drinks: Would have preferred a coffee machine instead of sachets of instant coffee (decaf only!) Teas/hot chocolate and water were great. Breakfast was chaotic and noisy, sadly a lack of seating for the guests arriving for breakfast. Good choice of food but full English let it down a bit as was quite greasy and bacon overcooked and hard.
Apr 29th, 2023

Apr 29th, 2023

Apr 29th, 2023