Travel Network

So I had high hopes at this property in August having walked past it hundreds of times when I lived in London or I visited Canary Wharf. The hotel was near London City Airport so also made for an easy location as I flew in late in the evening and didn’t want to have to face travelling across London with my luggage. When I checked into the hotel the Marriott staff were friendly and welcoming on check-in which is always a good start to a stay. The location across from Canary Wharf looked a wonderful view so when I checked into room 709 with a view of West India Quay DLR I was quite happy. I thought this looks to be a wonderful start to two days in London.

The room was fairly spacious and overall while the room was slightly dated I looked forward to seeing the sunrise and sunset reflecting on the glass towers of Canary Wharf. It was surprisingly quiet considering it was in central London and opposite a DLR train station.

The room had a Chaise lounge and work desk and a decent sized TV with a good sized slight dated bathroom with decent water pressure for the shower. The towels were ok nothing that triggered a thought these are terrible or amazing… often I’ve found Marriott hotels have wonderfully soft towels.

I wanted to start with the negative experience first of 16+ bed bug bites I encountered when staying in my room. I went to bed late in the evening after returning from dinner at Big Easy Canary Wharf Restaurants and lay in bed to watch a bit of TV. I felt a few stings but didn’t think much of it as was tired and guessed maybe a minor or something insignificant. In the morning they felt itchy but i put some moisturizer on them and got dressed and went about my day.

But when I returned home my wife was able to check and notice 16+ inflamed bites on my lower back/butt so I raised the issue to the hotel via email and phone call. The hotel advised the new guest in the room had not complained about any issues but after sending photos of the bites they advised they had blocked the room from further guests and scheduled a visit from Ecolab their pest protection company.

I did not want to rush to leave a review before I knew more about the serious nature of my bites and if the property pest inspection found more bed bugs. Below is the final correspondence from the Marriott London Marriott Canary Wharf Hotel & Executive Apartments front office team. The impact of the bites lasted more than a few weeks and were extremely itchy even with bite cream applied multiple times a day.

The hotel staff were kind about the situation and showed empathy for the bed bug bites but seemed based on their response it wasn’t a big deal not what I would expect from a 5 star hotel. I know bed bugs are everywhere but I’ve only known people have experienced them staying in hostels not in 5 star hotels.

I’ve had more proactive steps from hotel staff from finding a handful of peanut M&Ms from a previous guest staying at DoubleTree by Hilton Royal Parc Soestduinen.

The downstairs GYM was ok not the best I’ve seen in a Marriott hotel and they had the uncomfortable road bike style cycling machines instead of the normal exercise bikes. Maybe it was tailored to their usual Canary Wharf audience?

The room didn’t have any bottles of water but instead a refillable glass water bottle to save on plastic waste which was a good step forward for the hotel. There was also plenty of wardrobe space, and a iron and ironing board.

There was a tiny fridge and tea & coffee making facilities and a in-room safe that was bolted to the wardrobe unlike at Inhabit Southwick Street where the in-room safe could be lifted out and carried away.

The good point was plenty of powerpoints around the room with USB ports and plugs on both sides of the bed as too often powerpoints are only on one side of the bed. Overall the noise levels were very low considering the hotel was in London and next to a DLR train station but not as quite as the hub by Premier Inn London King’s Cross hotel rooms.

The value wasn’t the best considering the age of the hotel as many recent reviews have highlighted but breakfast was not included and I recall them saying it was £55 if you pay in the morning or £45 if you pre-book.

Would I stay at this hotel again? No it’s unlikely based on the value for money but more so because of the bed bug experience and there are plenty of other hotel options around London. I’d even consider one of the Canary Wharf Hotels nearby such as Europa House, Litsa’s Central Studios or KIP hotel.

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