London is blessed to have some of the finest hotels in the world at varying price points to suit every persuasion.

And under the coronavirus pandemic the idea of a hotel break anywhere seems heavenly, however not every establishment in the capital can guarantee a good stay, at least according to some TripAdvisor reviewers.

The popular travel site allows users to leave reviews of the hotels they have stayed in, creating a ranking of the best and worse spots London has to offer.

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There are over 1,000 London hotels listed on the site and none score worse than the Lonsdale Hotel in Holborn which is ranked rock bottom in 1,105th place.

Staggeringly, of the 632 reviews the hotel has had, 466 are classed as 'terrible' with a further 75 being rated as 'poor'.

Common complaints around the hotel include the outdated furnishings, cramped room and poor cleanliness.

Frustrated by their stay, many people have taken to the comments under the listing to share their horror stories from their visit.

These are some of things they have said:

'One of the worst shacks on the globe'

Following his stay, a user named Vgnsuper was almost incredulous in his disdain for the establishment, and cast doubt over whether you could really call Lonsdale a hotel at all.

He wrote: "One of the worst hotels I have ever stayed at.

"To already call it 'hotel' is to compliment it. It is one of the worst shacks on the globe. It's dirty, old and not cheap!

"There was dust in the corners of the stairs and dirt everywhere, some of it I think is from the time of Queen Victoria and that stinks.

"At the reception I saw an attendant trying to vacuum something with an extractor fan that is worse than what I use for my car.

"The only thing is the convenient location, but for everything else it is to report to the Anglo-Saxon federal hotel.

"My mission is to make this massacre known to as many people as possible.

"I don't take photos so as not to disturb sensitive and susceptible people."

Have you had a horrible experience in a London hotel? Let us know in the comments here.

'Horrid horrid place'

Another reviewer named Lizzy D shared a similar tale of woe from her stay at Lonsdale.

In her review, titled 'abandoned', Lizzy claims the accommodation "isn't fit for a dog".

She writes: "Arrived to what we thought was a ‘beautiful’ property from the outside but to our horror it was far from that.

"Greeted by what we thought was an Indian woman, lying asleep on the couch in the lobby.

"The floor boards move every time you take a step. Entered the bedroom to see shocking horrible conditions, quite frankly I wouldn’t put my dog into this place!!!

"The bathroom was on another level- was like a portaloo placed into the bedroom on top of the terrible conditions!

"Staff do not care- they sit around and watch videos on their phone and do not even realise who is walking in and out of the building. There are also light bulbs missing from every room in the property.

"The only thing that was moderately clean was the linen.

"Horrid horrid place."

'Worst hotel ever'

Finally one reviewer named Andrea R begged other people to avoid the hotel following her own horrible stay.

Having not read any reviews of the hotel before her stay, Andrea checked in and was horrified by the basic amenities and dirty atmosphere of the hotel.

She said: "Please do not go there!

"I come often to London and this is the worst hotel I ever stayed in.

"The receptionist was very unfriendly and couldn't care less of the customers. The room was filthy and dump. No WIFI, no toilet soap, hairs in the shower, old and cheap furniture, less than basic (no wardrobe).

"I stayed for two nights and the room was not cleaned at all: when I get back in the evening it was like I left in the morning. I don't know how they can charge you £72 a night for an hotel like this (if we call it so).

"I will complain. I should have read the reviews, before coming, as I can see they are all like my experience."

'TripAdvisor is unreliable'

MyLondon approached Lonsdale Hotel for a response to their poor reviews.

The hotel claimed that TripAdvisor was an "unreliable" way to gauge customer satisfaction and poured water over some of the claims made by guests.

A spokesperson for the Lonsdale Hotel said: “These reviews do not represent the current state of the hotel as we have been refurbishing the hotel this past year during Covid-19.

“Unfortunately we are unable to verify some of these reviews as obviously there is no booking reference number.

“The 632 Trip advisor guests or purported guests (the first review being posted on Jan 9, 2003) who have left a review constitute only approximately 0.2 per cent of the total number of guests who have stayed at the hotel over the past 15 years.

“The vast majority of our guests are regular customers or through travel agents and they do not write reviews on TripAdvisor. Using TripAdvisor as a source is unreliable and unfair.

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"We have a high quality laundry service provider to collect and wash all the hotel's bed and bathroom linen so that it’s kept clean for guests.

“We also have a highly reputable housekeeping service provider who serve each room daily.

"A handyman is also on site daily.

“We have many guests who are repeat customers who are satisfied and stay with us regularly.”

Do you have a story you think we should be covering? If so, email mylondonnewsdesk@reachplc.com

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