I stayed at the Umi Hotel London for 2 nights in June 2010, on a complimentary basis arranged by Gekko, the hotel recommendation engine which helps you find your ideal hotel.  The hotel is located in Bayswater in an attractive square opposite a garden.  It takes around 10 minutes to walk to the hotel from Bayswater tube station or 12 minutes from Queensway tube station (which is opposite Hyde Park). The exterior of the hotel is very smart, recently painted with plenty of flower boxes.

Umi Hotel London Bayswater exterior

The public areas of the hotel are welcoming with a pleasant lounge area with leather sofas and a selection of newspapers and magazines.  There are several computers for guests to use.  Wifi available in the public areas and bedroom is pretty pricey at £1 for 20 minutes. When I checked in  the receptionist was really friendly, helpful and chatty.

Umi Hotel London Bayswater lounge

However as soon as I opened the door to my bedroom an unpleasant odour hit me.    I reckoned that the smell was probably coming either from the sink in the bedroom or the tiny shower room.  The bedroom windows were shut and it was a pretty warm afternoon.  Fortunately two windows did open but wouldn’t stay open without being wedged in position.  The hotel describes itself as “fresh and fun” which may be true for the public areas but my room was  “smelly and shabby”.  The odour did dissipate after a good airing of the room.

The self coloured dark beige carpet had many stains and was grey in colour close to the skirting boards.  There were a lot of chips on the paintwork.  It looked as though the shower room tiles had been given a coat of paint and the paint had already started to peel in some spots.

On the positive side my room was a good size for a single. The view over the garden square was lovely. However, facing the front of the hotel did mean there was quite a bit of noise from passing pedestrians and smokers congregating by the hotel entrance.

View from my room

The inclusive continental breakfast only allows you to select four items from the menu.  On my first morning I had cereal, a cappuccino, a glass of orange juice and two croissants.  The next day I had a cup of tea (literally, no teapot just a cup with teabag floating therein), fruit salad,  orange juice and two slices of toast. You could order additional items costing around £2 each and a cooked breakfast cost £10.  The cafe wasn’t large enough for the number of guests and on my first morning several guests were turned away due to lack of free tables.

Continental breakfast at the Umi Hotel London

In summary, the Umi London is a hotel of two halves, the public area and some of the bedrooms (which I’ve seen photos) are of a good standard.  However my room was in urgent need of attention and a refit.  It’s all very well to have trendy public areas but most guests spend more time in their rooms.  In my opinion, it’s unacceptable for a three star hotel to be offering any rooms of this poor standard to guests.

You can see all my Umi Hotel London photos on Flickr.

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