Apart from proximity to T5 what does everybody see in the Sofitel? I’ve stayed here twice, two years ago and in September this year.

The rates i paid via BA holidays were around £135 a bit more than I would usually pay for an overnight hotel of convenience. I didn’t REALLY need it as my flight was 11am and Imlive in East London I could have easily left home at 7am.

The first time they had had my name incorrect and it took what seemed an age to find the reservation and were almost accusing me of being wrong, I the. Went to have afternoon tea. The waiter in my section was feigning over a large group, I would have had more champagne had my existence been acknowledged and when told I could have 2 patisserie items I asked which ones and was told I could go up and choose from the display at the entrance to the lounge. Now I don’t think I’m a DYKWIA but I’d like to think in anhotel of thst caliber they would have a menu or explain to me what was on offer.

When ordering bar snacks and drinks late, there weren’t enough staff around to serve the guests and the food when brought from another are was paraded round to almost everybody until identified or claimed. Ocassiinally the server that took the order would interject.

I reported these observatins on ch3ck out when I was asked how my stay was and was met met by a genuinely concerned receptionist. I checked out around 7-30am on a Sunday morning and with much kudos to the hotel within an hour I’d had an email from guest relations apologising for my experience offering an upgrade to a Club Room next time,

With prices higher than I’d want to pay and a few very comfortable stays at the Premier Inn, Renaissance and Thistle hotels for not much more than £60 a night I didn’t take advantage of their offer.

Intreagued by this thread I sent them an email to ask if the upgrade offer was still available. They said it was so I booked a room at £130 via BA holidays. I emailed the hotel again and they confirmed my upgrade.

I didnt arrive intime for afternoon tea but tea but there was about an hour of the evening reception left. The receptionist kindly sent my bags to the room so I could head there directly.

There were a couple of nice wines and of course spirits and the nibbles were ok. After a quick refresh I went to the bar and asked for a menu. To my amazement there were still not enough staff, if yiu caught eye contact of a server you were lucky. One brought me my G&T then almost immediately after the bill. I said I wanted food and further drinks and he begrudgingly got a menu.

Once again when the food came out it it was paraded round the room by clueless servers from the area thst prepared the food.

After I retired to the bar area and asked what gins they had and a barman reached over his shoulder and said gestured at some bottles and said those. I saw Hendricks so ordered one.. I would have had more but it was impossible to see them so settled my bar tab.

On check out the receptionist asked asked me how my stay was and I was honest and said again it was disappointing. I said thst my extras would have been more than the cost of my original hotel stay plus dinner and breakfast and that I was difficult to get service and indeed many people walked out after not being served. I asked why it was so difficult still for food to be delivered to the people who ordered it and said my local Morrison’s could get my breakfast to me by giving me a wooden spoon with a number on it had they not thought of anything like that. I said and there’s a service charge added to each bill and I said to her i was disappointed in the service. She promised to remove than and some of the extras bill and took off nearly £50 in total, I wasn’t asking for any compensation and told her that and she said she wanted to do this as she could see I was unhappy, I did make a sizeable donation to Flying Start on my flight as I wasn’t looking for anything.

A couple of days later I had an email from their Food and Beverage manager thanking me for the feedback saying he would consider it,

Are my expectations too high and do other people stay here have similar issues/observations or am I a secret DYKWIA that is better off at the Premier Inn.

I have, on occasion, experienced some incredibly rude staff there - the worst being when I was accused of fraud by the woman at check-in (I’d lost my wallet some time between booking and check-in, so my credit card didn’t match). My “Excuse me?” was loud enough to draw the attention of a manager who apologised profusely and put us in a suite. Still left a bad taste though.

However, I generally stay there because I’m lazy and enjoy being able to stroll straight into the terminal, and the vast majority of the time it’s a very pleasant experience. Just treat it as what it is - a hotel where you pay for the convenience, not the experience

You’re essentially paying £100 over the odds for the benefit of having a 5 minute walk to the airport instead of a potentially stressful early morning drive.
I don’t mind that, others might.