Swinton Hotel, London

...hotel in King's Cross: the Swinton Hotel. When I first came onto their website, it looked quite good. The homepage had a basic white colour, with a picture of the block hotel door on a sunny day. Across the top there were several tabs, one which was entitled 'Booking'. Clicking this various prices and room types came up. At one end, you had the family room for five which was £139 a night. At the opposite end I checked the price of a single wet room ...
...boxes as much as the Swinton did. Thankfully the Swinton was available for the dates that I needed it (!), so I booked six night in a single wet room. It cost me a total of £270, with no booking fee that I was aware of, so I was indeed quite pleased with that, as I had hoped to spend no more than £300! After the confirmation email replied, I printed it out and felt settled with my booking and left it at that. It was only about seven weeks until I ... more

In my life, I had stayed in, to my knowledge...three hotels. When I made plans to go to London for a week over Easter, naturally I had to work out some sort of accommodation! I didn't have any preferences, apart from the fact that it had to have free wireless connection. I had stayed in just the one hotel in London prior to this trip, and that was the Travelodge. That was just a little trip with the school Campaigns and Fundraising group to claim an award, so I had no involvement with booking. So when I went to check the price, I discovered it was going to cost me around £80 for a night! I really didn't want to pay that, so further rummaged around the internet to see what I could find...

After quite a bit of research I came across a hotel in King's Cross: the Swinton Hotel. When I first came onto their website, it looked quite good. The homepage had a basic white colour, with a picture of the block hotel door on a sunny day. Across the top there were several tabs, one which was entitled 'Booking'. Clicking this various prices and room types came up. At one end, you had the family room for five which was £139 a night. At the opposite end I checked the price of a single wet room (shower same level as rest), and that was just £45. That didn't seem too bad, and most certainly less than Travelodge!

Quite impressed with the price I had a look at the facilities the hotel was offering. Okay so it had a twenty four reception and a secluded garden (never did see this), with continental breakfast included. Each room had a colour TV and kettle, a safe deposit box at reception, and a hair-dryer, cot and ironing board available on request. It also had wifi connection – perfect! It seemed to offer quite a bit, and there were a few pictures of what the rooms were to look like, and it seemed okay. Not five star, but good! Nowhere on the site actually mentioned any star rating, which wasn't very positive!

I checked a few more hotels, but nothing seemed to tick all the right boxes as much as the Swinton did. Thankfully the Swinton was available for the dates that I needed it (!), so I booked six night in a single wet room. It cost me a total of £270, with no booking fee that I was aware of, so I was indeed quite pleased with that, as I had hoped to spend no more than £300! After the confirmation email replied, I printed it out and felt settled with my booking and left it at that. It was only about seven weeks until I went to London, I simply had to play the waiting game...

A few days later I noticed the £270 was pending out of my bank account, which was fie. My bank doesn't let me take money out if I have a payment pending, so that meant I had no chance of spending it and not being able to pay for the hotel, which I quite like! However another week or so later, and I discovered another £100 or so was pending. I had made plans to go to the bank and enquire about it, but didn't find the time. Though a few days after this, I received a letter through the post saying the bank thought my bank account had been suffered from fraud. The fact that the bank had noticed made me die inside, it was one of the most terrifying things ever ~ I'd never experienced anything like that! It's like losing that shiny pound coin you've been gripping onto for an entire bus journey when you're only five (yes, it happened to me twice in one day!). So I went into the bank and it turned out that it was a single pending transaction for just under £400...that could only be the hotel, I thought. As I didn't have enough in my account for that £400, and then the £270 from the hotel! Ok, great! I was going down to the opposite end of the country and was going to be staying in a fraudulent hotel, what a great first trip alone!

My bank card was cancelled and a new one was sent out. This meant I was supposed to inform the hotel of my new details, as instructed on the website. Instead though I just cancelled my other booking. Once that was done with, I rebooked the same nights and same room type, and to my surprise it had dropped from £45 down to £42 a night, bringing the total for six nights up to just £252 ~ a saving of £18! I wasn't really keen on rebooking accommodation with the same hotel, but I checked around again and couldn't find anything that offered the same service. The Swinton, it had to be!

Thankfully, it was time to go to London and over the five weeks or so after I had booked the second time, there had been no problems with my account, so I felt a little safer with it now. I half expected it to be like Bate's Motel, but fingers crossed that it wasn't! So after a seven hour long train journey from Aberdeen to Newcastle, I arrived in King's Cross, ready to find the hotel...

I had drawn up a little map prior to the journey, so had a rough idea of where to go. Thankfully, it wasn't too much of a challenge! From King's Cross station, you simply turn left along Euston Road, and then when you see a McDonald's on this road (McDonald's are everywhere in London!), turn the second left and walk down Gray's Inn Road. Once you have walked past a visible Ears, Nose ad Throat Clinic, you turn the first left onto Swinton Street. Carry on walking down and near the bottom you will find a lit up sign informing you that the building is the Swinton Hotel...

The hotel is open twenty four hours so the main door is always wide open Above it there is a sign that is lit up when there are vacancies. Unsurprisingly this was always switched on! To enter the hotel itself though, which is surrounded by similar looking flat buildings, you need to push a button which buzzes in the reception. I was always let in straight away, as there was always somebody there. Walking in, the reception room is actually tiny! There are sofas and a little coffee table at one side, and a glass window at the other. There is always somebody sitting behind the reception which is quite welcoming! Though on my first day the guy there reminded me of the creepy vampire person from The Transylvanian Pet Shop!

After I checked in I received my key. I had always thought all hotels did not have proper keys, but swipe cards. Instead I was handed a little key on the end of a long keyring, with my number on the end. Okay so it wasn't very attractive, but it would do! I took the lift up to the second floor, and I must say I wasn't keen on it! The lift was tiny and smelled a little, but there was a mirror on the wall so it wasn't too bad! When it stopped at the top, I pushed the door open and entered into a very narrow corridor. My door was directly opposite the lift, just about, so I didn't have far to walk!

Pushing the key into the lock and turning it slowly, it clicked and the door was open (much easier that faffing about with cards!). I didn't know what to expect from the room, so I can't say I was surprised with what I saw, though it was in some ways not what I had imagined, as I was just basing it on other rooms I had stayed in. The carpet was a very pale beige colour, but didn't seem too dirty! The walls were not too dissimilar either! However there was very limited floor space. The bed was a standard single size, with a reasonably clean cover on it. To the left of the room I found a little wardrobe which had a few coat hangers in it, but nothing special! Next to it was a chest of drawers with four drawers in it. And then, piled high on that was a selection of things. There was a colour TV with the five main channels, and thankfully this worked well with very clear images. There was a kettle too, and a tea-tray. On this tray there was a bottle of water, which had apparently been filtered. There was also a selection of sugars, tea bags and coffees, as well as two little plastic cups of milk. A tea cup was turned upside down on top of a saucer with a little teaspoon next to it. I was also quite surprised to see two packs of biscuits: three custard creams and three digestive biscuits! It all looked quite nice and generous, but I suppose it was just all part of the service!

I spotted three beige towels of different sizes on the bed, which mad me wonder where the bathroom was. I turned round and found a brown wooden slatted door, that looked like the door to a linen closet. Surly that couldn't be the bathroom? I opened the door to see what was inside. To my surprise, it was in fact the bathroom! It had a black and white checked pattern, and was very enclosed! The toilet had been bleached inside but was not overly clean on the outside. Th sink didn't seem too bad, with a mirror above it too, but the shower? Okay so it was a wet room, I didn't expect anything amazing! Though it was in a tiny space right next to the toilet. That evening I used the shower for the first time, and it was not a pleasant experience! The water was freezing, and was not very powerful either! I think that was probably one of the quickest showers I ever had!

Apart from the shower, everything seemed fine, so I left my bags and went out...I think each day I was out by eight and back by about eleven, so I never had to really spend much time there. As the website had claimed, a free breakfast was indeed available! I never did venture down to try what thy had on offer, but you could certainly smell the toast! It was quite a nice smell and a little tempting, but something held me back.

There was a slight problem with the hotel. Okay, slight for some people, but for me, a pyrophob, it was quite frightening! On my second night the fire alarm rang out, a horrifically loud and terrifying noise! I went downstairs, as did a few of the others staying in the hotel, and apparently somebody was smoking in their room on the third floor, which had triggered off the sensitive alarms. Again on the fourth or fifth day the alarms went off again, and I don't know what it was that time, but the building was not evacuated and it is still standing (!). Okay so it wasn't a life threatening time, but it still petrified me!

When I went to check out on the Sunday morning, I was hoping for a stress-free time. Unfortunately that is not what I received! At first they asked me to pay £270 – the price of my first booking. I explained that there had been “a problem with my card” so I had to cancel my original booking and rebook, where the price had then gone down. It was explained to me that this should not have happened – it is always a set price of £45 a night! I showed my printed out order confirmation and they agreed to charge me the £252, with the understanding that the manager may wish to charge me more. Okay, fair enough. I paid with my card and left. I was not happy!

So that was that. I had a reasonably pleasant stay, but would I go back? If I am honest, I don't think I will. I'd rather pay the extra £5 or £10 a night for a better service. It was not even worth the wireless connection, as it was slow and always cut m off! Now I feel more confident about making my own way around London, I am not restricting myself to accommodating just in King's Cross, and will look for something elsewhere.

If it is your first time away on your own, as it was for me, and do not plan to spend much time actually in the hotel, then this may b worth a try as it is close to the station and not too expensive. However if you are looking for a more luxurious, pleasant stay and do not mind spending a little more, then there are plenty more hotels in London! Stay if you dare!

© Amy 2009 

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