Originally Posted by NickW
I did see a guy get turned away from the Four Seasons Canary Wharf after turning up without any method of payment other than cash. He had a large wad of notes, but they would not let him check in without a card.
I can only guess that he didn't want to/couldn't pay for the deposit. Many luxury hotels will want up to twice the nightly rate as a depsit for "incidentals".