Review: my £1 night at the new Qbic Hotel in London

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• Frenske says:

  30 Jan30 January 07:09

  Nowadays Shoreditch and Hoxton are considered trendy areas. It makes sense for a hotel to pick up on that. Shoreditch has become synomous to a cool East London area which is much larger than the historical boundaries of Shoreditch.

• squills says:

  30 Jan30 January 07:19

  £59 when you sign up for the newsletter.

  I wonder where they got the ‘local wool’ for the beds? 😉

• plastikman says:

  30 Jan30 January 07:49

  Stepney city farm?

  • andystock says:

    30 Jan30 January 08:47

    Whitechapel High Street

• nick says:

  30 Jan30 January 08:51

  I used my free room last week. I had a good night’s sleep, and at about £60 a night in London, is a bargain. The rooms are small, but you aren’t going to be spending a week there.

  The other huge plus for some will be the parking, which is only £12 a day

• pazza2000 says:

  30 Jan30 January 09:31

  What was the check in process like? I have gifted my res for next week to a friend, equipping him with just the res name / email on the confirmation. I stayed at the Hoxton a couple of years ago, seems very similar, even down to the basic breakfast. Won another £1 room in March that hopefully I’ll be able to use.

  • kirill says:

    30 Jan30 January 10:12

    They have self service screens as you go in, no problem for your friend to use the reservation.

    • Rob says:

      30 Jan30 January 10:22

      The email confirmation they sent you even says that you can give it to a friend, they are happy for you to do this

  • Nick says:

    30 Jan30 January 10:45

    There is no reception and no telephone number to call – the staff just wander about and help people. It works well…. although it is fair to say they are having some teething problems. When I was there, none of the room keys were working so the staff were escorting people to their room and coming to collect them again when they wanted to leave. The cleaning staff hadn’t been told we were using the room either, as they came in at about 8am and 9am! I’m sure it will be ironed out soon, they seemed a competent and pleasant bunch, and I’d happily recommend it as a good budget hotel in London.

• MagicByNature says:

  30 Jan30 January 10:12

  I had my free room last month. The room and hotel itself was nice, very comfortable bed. I know they have a range of rooms, including window-less ones, so considering I essentially get a free room, I expected I will get that. Instead, I got a corner room, which, judging by the fire evacuation plan, was one of the bigger rooms. Wifi and TV nice (although I wonder why was the TV not pre-configured to connect to wifi?). Bathroom looks very nice, although the water temperature was a bit low in my room. From what I’ve read, you are supposed to get a simple breakfast delivered to your room in the morning. I didn’t get that, but while checking out I noticed you’re supposed to take whatever you want from the lounge area (they have cereal bars, apples and some juice).

  What really surprised me was the check-in process. I showed my printed confirmation to the receptionist, she checked it in the system and I had my key. Now, I don’t spend much in hotels, but surely they must take some details like passport number or credit card in case the guest misbehaves. Someone evil could have easily put fake name and email when registering, and then just destroy the room or steal the tv.

  • Jenni says:

    30 Jan30 January 12:17

    I would destroy the room too if it had giant pictures of Diana and Justin Bieber on the walls!

    • Raffles says:

      30 Jan30 January 13:40

      Is that Bieber? I am too old for that. Although my 6 year old has started singing One Direction songs (as indeed has our 2 year old, but he is just copying his sister!).

      • Jenni says:

        30 Jan30 January 15:45

        Oh dear! I unfortunately am forcibly exposed to Chart Show TV every morning at my gym, you get to know these “pop sensations” pretty well.

    • Mark says:

      1 Feb1 February 18:56

      Do they have an option to request a “bland room” (similar to the options offered by airline catering) for those of us who don’t want to wake up with Justin Bieber.

      Choosing current celebrities for the wall pictures will require them to replace the paintings fairly often (otherwise they seem out of date).

      For a budget hotel they do not seem to have chosen easy maintenance fittings and surfaces, over time they will have a high maintenance bill (or the place will look tatty).

• Panka says:

  30 Jan30 January 11:48

  There were only 5 rooms per night for this price, you booked one of it, and did not sleep there? For me it sounds like you took the opportunity from someone else having a cheap room….

  • Rob says:

    30 Jan30 January 12:11

    But on the positive side, a few thousand people get to see what it is like (ie not bad, and surprisingly decent value for money). Overall, I think the sum of total human happiness is increased.

    Given that you had to commit to a specific night months in advance, with no ability to change, I think a lot will not be used. It was a Monday night in Janaury as well, not exactly peak time.

    Technically I did also use the room, because I spent the afternoon working on HFP in the lounge (and would have worked in the bedroom if there was a desk!) which saved me the cost of working somewhere else.

    • Janeyferr says:

      30 Jan30 January 20:34

      If you ever need some to review and photograph a hotel room you don’t want to stay in I’d be happy to oblige. And if you were more local I’d invite you to my workplace where the public are permitted to use our electricity and wifi all day for no fee.

      • The Other Steve says:

        31 Jan31 January 00:02

        Starbucks?

• MightyTravels says:

  30 Jan30 January 16:14

  So there are no beds? Where’s the pic?

  • Rob says:

    30 Jan30 January 17:07

    The bed is Princess Diana / Bieber if you look at the pillows underneath!

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