Royal Lancaster London

London, UK

View on Booking.com
Questionable
Mixed Service, Small Rooms
55%
Low confidence.
Based on 114 detailed reviews.
Score-only reviews are excluded.

This hotel presents a mixed picture with excellent location near Hyde Park and Lancaster Gate station, but significant concerns prevent a confident recommendation. While recent reviews show improved service quality, recurring issues include extremely small rooms (16% complaint rate), inconsistent staff professionalism, and concerning billing practices including unauthorized charges. The hotel appears to be addressing some service issues, but the fundamental space constraints and occasional operational problems may disappoint guests expecting true 5-star standards for the premium price point.

🚩 Red Flags

Unauthorized charges and billing issues
high
Mentioned 8 times, last 11 months ago
They charged me 280 pounds and I informed them about it and contacted the hotel manager Mr. Amir and informed him but to no avail

They charged me 280 pounds and I informed them about it and contacted the hotel manager Mr. Amir and informed him but to no avail and he tells me to wait after ten days and I have been waiting for two months and the amount has not been returned to me

11 months ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 1/10

I was surprised that sums of money were withdrawn even though I paid the full amount last night can you explain that to me?

2 years ago·United States·Score: 1/10

They took a deposit of 600 pounds from me and did not return the same amount, missing 300 pounds

2 years ago·Kuwait·Score: 1/10

They took some of the reserved amount to support their employees and I know they told me the full amount will be returned

1 year ago·Kuwait·Score: 5/10

They withdrew money from my bank card without my knowledge and without justification

2 years ago·Oman·Score: 1/10

One day i forgot my visa card in the room and now that i am back home i am receiving messages from my bank that someone is trying to use it in London. I am sure it's the housekeeper

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 4/10

They did not return the insurance

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 1/10

Also they add service surcharges at the end of the stay on top of what you've paid

1 year ago·United Kingdom·Score: 4/10
Extremely small rooms
medium
Mentioned 18 times, last 1 month ago
Room was the smallest room that we stayed in

Room was small

1 month ago·United Kingdom·Score: 10/10

I booked a double room which was TINY for a supposedly 5 star hotel

2 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 3/10

The room felt like an oven due to the high temperature, and the ventilation was so poor that it was almost suffocating

1 year ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 2/10

Room size is extremely small to an extend where I pumped my arm and head several times in the room ,and there's no space to place your luggage

2 years ago·United Arab Emirates·Score: 1/10

the rooms are small. You can barely walk around

2 years ago·Switzerland·Score: 3/10

We had a classic room and it was the smallest room that we stayed in

1 year ago·Canada·Score: 4/10

The normal rooms are tiny

3 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 5/10

The rooms are very, very, very small

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 4/10

The room was smaller than a premier Inn

1 year ago·United Kingdom·Score: 3/10

The room lacks space for luggage. Especially for international travelers like us, who usually have two suitcases, there is no proper place to put them

1 month ago·China·Score: 10/10
Fire alarm incidents
medium
Mentioned 3 times, last 4 months ago
Horrible night around 11:50 PM the fire/emergency alarm went off twice, we had to evacuate urgently via the stairs from the 11th floor

Horrible night around 11:50 PM the fire/emergency alarm went off twice, we had to evacuate urgently via the stairs from the 11th floor with an emergency exit on the London road with my 2-year-old child and my 3-month pregnant wife barefoot

4 months ago·France·Score: 1/10

Fire alarm went off for a few seconds at 6.30am waking everyone up and no apology given

1 year ago·United Kingdom·Score: 4/10

At 1.15 am when the fire alarm went off and nobody from staff came to floors to say all fine just someone smoking, people were need coming down to know this

1 year ago·United Arab Emirates·Score: 5/10
Maintenance and infrastructure problems
medium
Mentioned 7 times, last 9 months ago
No hot water which took over 24 hours to fix

In the morning there was no hot water which took over 24 hours to fix. we were informed only 2 maintenance people we're working on the issue

2 years ago·United Arab Emirates·Score: 5/10

The power was off in the room … had to use my phone light to use the toilet. Guest services confirmed to me twice that someone will come in few minutes to fix it but it never happened until the next morning

1 year ago·Kuwait·Score: 4/10

Air conditioners are broken in the rooms and there are specific rooms for booking, all of them are bad

9 months ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 1/10

They had a problem with the TV system and it did not work. The shower hose is broken and it splashes from the other side

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 4/10

Some switches in the room does not work

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 5/10

No hot water. Air con was not working and temperature outside was -1

2 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 1/10

Yet again, the air conditioning was turned off overnight, making this room and entire hotel totally unacceptable

2 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 1/10
Rude and unprofessional staff
medium
Mentioned 12 times, last 10 months ago
The staff were rude, unprofessional, and appeared untrained

The staff were rude, unprofessional, and appeared untrained, which only added to the overall frustration

1 year ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 2/10

So rude!! Went to the bar at 3pm in the afternoon, it wasn't very busy. Asked if it was table service and assured it was. Sat down and was ignored for 15 minutes then heard other guests complain they'd waited over 40 minutes for drinks, the bar man said 'be patient!'

2 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 5/10

Staff behavior is very bad this time and this is the third time I stay but this time the behavior is different and the service is very bad

1 year ago·Kuwait·Score: 3/10

Front office staff unhelpful with family emergency. No effort to try and help find a solution or show any empathy

10 months ago·United Arab Emirates·Score: 5/10

Staff are not very friendly when I check in and most of them were very arrogant

1 year ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 5/10

The staff need to be more personable and applying a service charge for booking my own hotel puts a bad taste in your mouth at point of checkin

2 years ago·United Kingdom·Score: 4/10

The personnel is not friendly and does not bother to explain basic information but does not forget to offer paid services like breakfast, hotel restaurant etc

2 years ago·France·Score: 5/10

Reception staff is asking many questions that aren't of their business

3 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 1/10

Some staff are rude. Manager supports rude staff

2 years ago·Saudi Arabia·Score: 5/10

Bad service. From A to Z except at the check in the receptionist was very kind. Beside of it everything else not worth it the money

2 years ago·United Arab Emirates·Score: 3/10

🙂‍↔️ Avoid if you're...

Seeking spacious accommodationsSensitive to service inconsistenciesConcerned about billing transparency