I try not to let my curiosity get better of me when I see a
hidden post.
I guess a rate of £48 is hard to resist and perhaps for that reason, this hotel seems to be weirdly popular on other forums too... I find Romford to be a truly awful place and I say that as a former resident of Croydon.
Once I was driving past a local primary school at the end of the school day and watched kids under 10 lighting cigarettes and vaping as they set off home, including some with their parents(!)
If you do need to be there for work it sounds OK (a photo of the room would have been nice to see exactly how small it is, but never mind) and the building is probably far enough from the ring road to avoid the noise from car owners who need to overcompensate for something...
I agree you can't beat the location if you want a destination served by the Elizabeth line. Bear in mind the direct service to Heathrow is only half-hourly although you can easily get off and wait for the next train once you are in the Crossrail core.
I believe this hotel was only ever used for irregular migrants and never open to the public, until it became a Spark. If Spark is meant to be "premium economy" as described by Hilton, what does that make Hampton?
For me it was the first time I visited Romford, and as a tourist, so apart from South Street and the restaurants, pubs and shops close to the hotel I didn't have the opportunity to get to know the place (and any critical issues).
However, I agree that a rate of £48 a night in the area around London is hard to beat. If it hadn't been that the Heathrow Doubletree originally booked canceled my reservation two weeks before my arrival in London perhaps I wouldn't have found this hotel, which in any case in the case of rates at these levels, but as previously written also of 60-80 pounds, I would consider again for future stays.
I read that you were a former resident of Croydon, and it reminds me that for many years, during my 80 or so trips to London over about 30 years, the Hilton Croydon was my back-up choice when hotels in London had crazy prices. I remember that about 15 years ago at the Hilton in Croydon it was not uncommon to find rates under £30.
In terms of accessibility to central London, I now find the Spark in Romford more advantageous than the Hilton Croydon, which is also penalized by the 20-minute journey on bus 119 to reach East Croydon station.
If you do need to be there for work it sounds OK (a photo of the room would have been nice to see exactly how small it is, but never mind) and the building is probably far enough from the ring road to avoid the noise from car owners who need to overcompensate for something...
If Spark is meant to be "premium economy" as described by Hilton, what does that make Hampton?
Unfortunately I didn't have time to take photos of the room, but the photos on the hotel website or other sites still give a good idea of what the rooms are like.
In my opinion, the Spark brand is positioned one step lower than the Hampton brand, but I am curious to make more representative comparisons when there are also other Spark facilities in Europe.