I have stayed at the Strand Palace Hotel on many occasions over the years. The reason that I return so often is because the rooms are spotlessly clean with a comfortable bed. However, I shall not be returning ever again. The Strand Palace has degenerated in to a Central London Bed Factory; nothing more.
Over the years, I have come to accept that the food in the Hotel's Haxells' Restaurant is poor and the service very slow- so the restaurant is an experience that I avoid.
On this visit, the check in at reception was painful: inefficient, slow and under- resourced. The staff engage in lengthy converstaions with guests and are oblivious to the queue building up when each position at the counter is not open.
I was particularly irritated that guests with faulty keycards were allowed to queue jump and that arguments between receptionists and these guests played out at the expense of my time; not to mention the discomfort occasioned to my broken leg. When two people with faulty keycards were indulged by the receptionist and allowed to queue jump, I complained and asked to speak to the Reception Manager. The Receptionist failed to summon the
Reception Manager.
When I did make it to the counter, I aksed to speak to the Manager again and a Receptionist demanded to know "why?"
She then had the effrontery to say, "Do you want me to get the manager now or check you in?"
Two members of staff could not tell me the General Manager's name
