Melia White House

I had a very good stay. Reception staff were very helpful and accommodating with my luggage, which made a huge difference. Herbert in thr Arado reception recommended and served a delightful meal for me :)

We were very happy with the service from Hossain at the restaurant. One of our guests is coeliac, and he always went out of his way to find suitable options for us. We’re very grateful.

Wonderful service and steak done to perfection! Special thanks to Hossain and Shelton.

Excellent food, stylish setting, good service in central London at the right price. What’s not to like. Hossain and his team will look after you really well.

Extremely disappointing experience, especially as this was a special occasion for my wife and me. I had high expectations because someone who had stayed here previously had spoken very highly of the hotel. We arrived at 10:00 AM and, as expected, our room was not ready. We left our luggage and went on with our day. At 7:30 PM we returned and asked for our room key and luggage. We were sent to the concierge and had to wait several minutes, explain the situation twice, and eventually were shown the wrong luggage. We then had to go and find our bags ourselves, which were stored in a high corner together with my jacket. We then carried everything to our room ourselves. What made this more frustrating was that there had been a bellboy with a luggage trolley when we arrived. I cannot say whether porter service is reserved for The Level guests, but the difference in treatment was noticeable. Porter assistance is hardly an extraordinary service; I have experienced it even in three-star hotels in Rome. The room itself was very nice, although the hairdryer had a UK plug and there was no compatible socket in the bathroom, so we had to use it in the bedroom. We also asked to borrow two travel adapters. None were available, which I understand. We asked whether two could be set aside for us later, but were told this was not possible. Instead, we could buy them from the hotel pantry for £20 each. Even if I were the Sheikh of Bahrain, I would think twice before paying £20 for a travel adapter. We bought them elsewhere. We asked the concierge where we could find them. He simply told us there were stores on Oxford Street, with no directions or further assistance. My last visit to London had been 16 years ago, so I would have expected a little more from a concierge. He then repeated that we could buy them in the pantry. At that point it felt like a broken record: unavailable to borrow, impossible to reserve, but available for £20 each. Dinner brought further surprises. I ordered two rum and cokes and was asked twice what I meant. Perhaps "Cuba Libre" would have been easier. They eventually arrived as two glasses of rum with two small bottles of Coca-Cola served separately, at £17.50 each. When leaving the restaurant, the waiter selected the discretionary charge on the payment terminal and asked me to sign without really giving me the opportunity to decide whether I wanted to add it. The amount itself was not the issue, but the service difference between half-board and à la carte guests made this particularly difficult to understand. Housekeeping was another problem. On the second day, the room was cleaned but the towels were not replaced. We waited more than 50 minutes for new ones and eventually had to wait until the following day to have a proper shower. On the third day, the room was not cleaned despite the illuminated "Please Make Up Room" sign being activated. At around 5:30 PM, a staff member entered without knocking, even though I had already switched the sign off. Shortly afterwards, someone knocked repeatedly asking whether we wanted housekeeping service at 6:30 PM. There was also no Chromecast in the room. After my negative post-stay survey, I was told by email that Reception could have explained the different room categories. After paying £599 for the stay, I found it rather difficult to understand why the solution was apparently to spend another £200-£300 simply to have Chromecast. Breakfast was good, as was the food at dinner. The main issue was the service. The two genuinely positive aspects were the room itself and Tania at Reception, who was extremely kind and tried to make things better by offering us complimentary drinks. I really appreciated her gesture. Overall, I left genuinely disappointed. There were simply too many things that went wrong during what was supposed to be a special occasion. I would not choose the Meliá White House again. Fortunately, there are other Meliá hotels in London, so I will try one of those next time, hopefully with a very different experience.