 It felt like I was staying in the edgy fancy garrett of a bunch of really sweet earnest creative art students with virtually no experience in hospitality There was no one waiting outside or even within sight of the door when we arrived so we had to lift our heavy bags up the four five steps no ramp either to even get in to this alleged 5 star hotel We had to ask for everything we wanted or needed Everyone was really sweet and eager to please but bewildered as if their last job was at an art studio and the had no familiarity whatsoever with hospitality No one asked us how they could help us plan our stay When I asked for help choosing where it made most sense to start our tour of the city they had no idea where to access the hop on hop off bus tours of London or any sense of reputable companies Same for the boat tour They also had no idea about hours or wait times for the London eye These are London tourist 101things a holiday inn would be expected to know that kind of information Forget asking them to book a table at a nice restaurant They didn t even know where things were located Not one person we encountered spoke English fluently and there were numerous miscommunications as a result I asked about a boat tour of the Thames the woman at the desk thought I wanted to go to Rotterdam I specified that I needed to have a cab to the airport that I could pay for by credit card They assured me that they would make a specification for that when they booked it and the guy had no credit card machine when I got to Heathrow I ended up counting out coins to pay for it and enduring a huge amount of added stress The room advertised as a discounted rate at 210 pounds looked cool with the oversize wacky chandeliers that hand spectacularly throughout the hotel and giant built in bed taking up the whole space but it had NOT been thought through beyond the performance art factor 
 The concept and design are spectacular cool incredibly chic and original The look is amazing interesting There is a revolving curated art exhibition downstairs The hotel is in an amazing location a block below the base of Exhibition Road intersecting with Cromwell Road right between the famed Victoria and Albert Museum and the amazing Natural History Museum On the corner there s the South Kensington station surrounded by a ton of restaurants in a sort of mini pedestrian mall A few more blocks to the right Harrods a few more blocks to the right the Knightsbridge station endlessly chic top drawer boutique department store Harvey Nichols and the top of super chic Sloan Street home of the Sloan Rangers 