Why my London hotel stay went very wrong
I checked into The Dixon, but it ended up in the dock...
Hotels can have the loveliest interiors, a great back-story, comfortable beds and an excellent restaurant, but if your customer service isn’t there, then none of that counts.
I’ve stayed in many, many, hotels throughout my career – from five-star to backpacker hostels. And it doesn’t always follow that the higher the star-rating, the better the experience. What it comes down to, is great customer service.
Some of my most memorable stays have been the cheapest – a fabulous old hotel in Guatemala, overlooking a lake, full of history and wrap-around balconies. It was basic, but has stayed in my memory forever. Or the fun Ffolkes pub-hotel in Norfolk, I visited last year, which is super-reasonable and full of heart.
Conversely, higher-end hotels can sometimes disappoint, if the customer-service isn’t there. Take our recent experience in The Dixon, for example. We had booked for one night between Christmas and New Year, for our annual family theatre trip to London.
This four-star Marriott Autograph Collection hotel, is a gem. It is in a historic building, converted from the old Tower Bridge Magistrates Court, right next to Tower Bridge and a short walk from London Bridge station. The hotel has been sensitively restored and the foyer and hotel bar, in the old courtroom, are lovely.
Similarly, the rooms are comfortable and well-appointed, so our first impression was super-positive. I like Marriott hotels for family-travel, as they are usually comfortable and reliable, so I booked The Dixon directly with the hotel, arranging for a room to accommodate our family of four, all together. (Online booking often forces you to have two rooms, but when children are under 10, this isn’t what you want). The reservations team were super-accommodating of my request. Our family room was £495. Not insubstantial, but with high London prices and peak-time, not unusual.
However, on arrival, we seemed to surprise check-in it wasn’t just one person and the receptionist asked for my other guests’ names, which I supplied, not giving this anymore thought. I should have done, because it was going to have repercussions.
After our theatre trip, we had booked to eat in the hotel restaurant, Shakedown, so on our return, we went to the bar, for a pre-dinner drink. This is where things began to go wrong – the bartender brought over a tray of Coca-Colas and then proceeded to knock one of the full glasses all over me and my daughter. She offered some napkins to mop it up, but that was as far as the apology went and she still charged me £24.
Slightly annoyed, and wet, but letting it go, we went for dinner with other family members in Shakedown, which was great, if empty, then returned to our room to discover the sofa-bed hadn’t been made up into a bed for our daughters to sleep. There was no bed linen anywhere.
We called reception and explained our predicament to a very bewildered staff member, who took several attempts to understand what it was we wanted. Eventually she appeared holding a sheet and pillows and just handed them to us at the door. We had to pull the bed out and make it up ourselves. Where’s the duvet, we asked? She told us she couldn’t find one - housekeeping had gone home and she didn’t know where or how to get one. Sending her off again saying she had to find us a blanket, at least, she returned with a tiny little blanket that looked like the kind you throw over a chair in an outside bar. I do not know where she got this and didn’t want to ask.
This is what my daughters slept under, for £500.
On check-out the next day, we explained our disappointing experience, to be met, again, with bewilderment and not much more than an, “Oh dear.” Nothing was offered in the way of apology, until I got home and emailed the reservations manager. They then, to their credit, refunded my £24 bar bill and gave me 10,000 Marriott Bonvoy points for my loyalty account, which I appreciate.
But still, it wasn’t much of a stay, or the relaxing experience I had hoped and looked forward to. It felt more like camping, for our kids.
The Dixon is a good choice for those looking for somewhere with a bit of character, but I didn’t feel I had had much of a treat, for £500. It was no comparison to The Westin London City, for example – also part of the Marriott family – which we stayed in the same time last year, on the other side of the river, for the same price. Admittedly, The Westin is five-star and The Dixon, four-star, but the service there was exemplary and we had a wonderful stay. See review, here. I would definitely return.
As last week’s newsletter covered, there’s yet another influx of luxury hotels opening in London in 2024, meaning more and more competition. As a customer and travel-writer, the way to win this, in my opinion, is through your staff. Without decent customer service, you will put your hotel, like The Dixon, in the dock.
The Travel List
The Dixon, 211 Tooley St. Rooms from around £200. Visit thedixon.co.uk