Best Western Cumberland Hotel Harrow

Very Disappointing

From initial telephone enquiry from Ireland to the Cumberland Hotel was put through to a call centre in Austrailia who advised that there wasn't any availability for a triple/family room from Mon 5th-Sat 10th March 2012,having then tried another telephone number was advised that they did have availability for the above dates. Having previously lived and worked in Harrow the Cumberland Hotel seemed to be the ideal choice,however,having previously worked in the Hotel industry and striving to achieve the very best for all our customers 'found the attention to detail 'serverely lacking with this hotel.We found this hotel run down,dirty,the bar area was not in the least bit welcoming or relaxing,some members of bar staff were wearing inappropriate 'uniform' and our family room was located across the car park which had uneven surfaces to an annexe which was detached from the hotel,therefore did not feel very safe for a party of three ladies,after asking to view another room in the hotel,were shown a much smaller room, as one member of our party has osteoporosis and arthritis found the stairs incredibly difficult,how can this hotel possibly operate without a lift if there are rooms above the ground floor,so we opted to stay in the annexe. Our room was equiped with 1 double bed,1 single and a pullout bed which was so uncomfortable springs were sticking into my back on the first night,together with the noise from the people above us,the traffic on Sheepcote Road and the unbearable heat in the room made it impossible to sleep. The emergency door was partially blocked by a skip which had debris from it on the ground.Our key cards had not been activated which resulted in the first two nights having to return to the hotel,in the cold,to get someone to open our door. Breakfast had obviously been cooked early and left under warm lights,some of the 'supposedly'fresh fruit option was tinned fruit,tea was luke warm and when a particular member of staff was asked for another pot of tea,we were made feel very uncomfortable with arms folded etc,the third day we arrived for breakfast at 9.45am to find the toast machine switched off even though breakfast was meant to be served until 10.00am we felt that the staff were 'annoyed' that we had not come for breakfast earlier. Having stayed in numerous hotels found hotel facilities totally unacceptable. Would not recommend this hotel to anyone who would like to visit Harrow. 'Word of mouth' is a huge advertising tool and could be postitive or negative which unfortunately in this case is definately negative.Whilst we were in the hotel,noticed upon arrival people who had originally checked into the hotel,immediately changed their minds and opted to stay elsewhere.

Unique Quality: Bathroom was clean,we found front of house staff pleasant and duty manager Lillian? helpful. Good location.