I recently booked a one week stay in an apartment in London with a couple of my mates through…read morewww.roompaddy.com. I've not used a vacation rentals site before, so I was a bit nervous beforehand. The company explained everything very clearly and everything worked as it should. The apartment was fab and we ended up having a great break. Would recommend them to anyone looking for cheap accommodation in London

LONG overdue review. So, I booked thru RCI & that was easy. The location was easy to find & just a…read moreshort trip from the train station. From the very start of the trip (despite even my captain not showing up.) The staff was 110% accommodating. Jodi & Mandi went above & beyond to make the trip amazing. They spend their day off taking me out in the canal boat & even brought lunch snacks. Along with a full British girl crew to have a fun day out. Also, helped with personal lessons on locks along with navigating and steering. I even was able to park it in the marina & given a lesson on that as well. Office staff was helpful thru the entire week. Would 100% rent from again. Any time I had a little bit of trouble figuring something out with the boat they had been able to assist or answer the questions. I can't say how happy & pleased I was with everyone at the location. Only improvement or suggestion might be the WiFi onsite, but that was never an intended inclusion at this location or having the boat in marina most of the week.

Great place to park your boat or hire one!…read more The staff and Gayton Marina are wonderful, from the shop staff through to the engineers I can't fault the service they provide. We have our boat 'Hannah' moored here and enjoy every moment spent on the marina and surrounding waterways network. I would not say the moorings are cheap, but it's not extortionate and feel it's just about worth the money due to the security of the location. I have never worried about whether or not my boat will still be there the next time I travel up! There are a few small issues which may not make it ideal for everyone. The marina is very close to the A43 and you hear the constant drone of traffic which does spoil the tranquility of the place but I have got used to it now. It would benefit by having some kind of club house for socialising as seen in many other marinas and a small shop for groceries and wine would be great. The staff keep the marina very tidy and go out of their way to ensure that your stay is a pleasant one. I have just chosen to stay another year which speaks volumes in my opinion. Unlike many other marinas there is no snobbery and everyone on site including the other boaters are a friendly bunch. The marina is run by ABC leisure and they run a fleet of hire boats which can make the Northampton arm of the canal a bit busy as you make your way to the main canal and take in to account most of the people on these boats have no idea on how to pilot them! I would highly recommend this marina if you are looking for a nice chilled out approach to boating rather than the snobbery that can sometimes be found elsewhere.

If you book a flat through Paris London Apartments, be prepared for your vacation to be ruined…read more The flat we booked was on Shaftesbury Ave in Covent Garden, London. Ten minutes after the check-in host left we noticed that both sets of keys she had given us wouldn't open the front door of the building. This was a problem because we couldn't leave the flat without knowing whether we could reenter. This was unacceptable from a standpoint of not only convenience but safety. And it was dinner time and we couldn't even leave to get food or explore London! We immediately called and texted the check-in host as well as the customer service number on the welcome materials and in our confirmation messages, but we received no reply whatsoever for two hours. I emailed the company owner and he told me to call a number through WhatsApp. I did so and he declined EVERY ONE OF MY CALLS. Finally he texted me and said he'd send someone to help us. When he did, this person had no replacement keys and struggled himself to open the door. He said that he'd heard this complaint a lot, and both he and his boss (whom we also spoke with) suggested that we try to get a refund. Otherwise they couldn't do anything more for us. There were other problems as well: 1) A non-functioning stove (the igniters for the gas burners were not working). 2) A television set that was unable to receive any channels. 3) Dirty carpeting throughout the apartment. 4) A large hole (about 10 inches across) in the hall ceiling. 5) A mattress in one of the bedrooms that seemed to have lost all padding over the springs. 6) The Wifi password in the welcoming materials was inaccurate. We left the apartment a few hours after checking in and found a hotel. The owner was not understanding and is refusing to do anything for us to compensate for his failure to provide a service we could reasonably expect. There's one more detail worth noting. After the deadline for cancelling and getting a refund passed, this company asked us for scanned photos of the passports of each guest staying at the flat. We thought this was odd but we complied. In retrospect, we've never had to do with this Airbnb or hotels in Europe or anywhere else. We're wondering why they needed this information. All in all, this was the worst customer service and lodging experience I've ever had in my life. This company clearly does not care about treating people decently, let alone providing a quality service.

I'll add to the chorus: I'm posting here because I did not have a chance to post the review under…read moreExpedia where I booked of which there were just two reviews which were decent. The location and the "Inside of the unit" was clean. The price per night was very reasonable for the location. I paid $339/night for my family of four for four nights. In comparison, I stayed at a regular traditional hotel the night before which was much,much nicer, great location but I paid $518/night. (You get what you pay for). What I didn't like: 1) run like a airbnb - You have to meet someone at a specific time to get into the apartment, 2) a charge of 30 british pounds was assessed to me. I checked in between 7-8pm. I paid since this was written in the agreement. I should have read closely of any charges. 3) you have to carry a set of 3 bulky keys to get in/out. 4) although pre-written (I did not read this closely) - they will charge a 400 british pounds damage deposit when you check in. This will be charged against the credit card originally used. In my case $503 usd went onto my credit card, my refund came back as $484 credit. So I lost $19 on the exchange. The worst thing is after 2.5 weeks I had to formally request this refund to get this deposit back. To my knowledge, this charge process is unusual even for a Airbnb! 5) I had to reboot their router 2-3 times because it would quit working. 6) Their TV hardly worked and was pixelated due to antennae. 7) The stairways were filthy, mouse traps, with old mail and dirt and just not vacuumed. I have pictures but I don't see how I can attach here. 8) The location is central and very noisy with wake ups at 3-5am for the trash guys to haul away all the beer bottle glass from the pubs (yeah really noisy). The unit had no AC and no fan - so you need to keep the window open with all the street noise. This experience hammers home I need to do more diligence when selecting a place. Not Happy - and one could say - I got what I paid for.

Lovely stay at Lamington Serviced Apartment (117 Hammersmith Grove) on the top floor. Was with my…read morehusband and two teenaged kids ages 16 and 12. 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment on two levels. Enter into living/dining and kitchen level. Lower level had 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. Apartment was modern, nicely furnished and very clean. Restaurants and Tesco market were all within walking distance. Apartment was in a nice residential area away from all the hustle and bustle of the tourist attractions. Located in West Kensington area of London. Very close to the Hammersmith Train station (10 min walk away) which was convenient for catching the District and Picadilly train lines. Liked the location but please note that most attractions like the Tower of London, London Eye, Globe Theatre, British Museums and the City Center are about a 45 min train ride away. Buckingham Palace, Kensington Palace, Victoria and Albert/Natural History/Science Museums are about 20 mins away. Was nice to have more space to spread out. Stayed here for 6 days so was happy to have more space than standard hotel room. Booking office was two doors down and they gladly printed vouchers and boarding passes for us. One star knocked off because the drying in our unit did not work. The office was nice enough to dry our clothes in their machine. We enjoyed our stay and would not hesitate to stay here again in the future.

Me and my other half where booked in for Friday the 21st of September but the night before…read more(Thursday) we received a email stating our trains have been cancelled due to the storm so we could not make our reservation. I called the hotel and asked if there was anyway we could get a refund if we where unable to attend they told me to call back the next day to talk to management or contact booking.com direct, I decided to wait and emailed the manger next day to be told we could not get a refund and we would be put down as a no show and we wouldn't be able to turn up on the Saturday/Sunday of our booking if we could find our way to London. We are very disappointed in the way we have been treated.