Reviews of Marlin Apartments - Empire Square, London

Posted by David (2009-07-02)

Posted by Anonymous (2009-06-26)

We loved it and have been recommending it to everyone. It is great value for money and fantastic for families. The only thing I'd like to see if a reduced rate when you stay for longer. For example, if you stay for 7 days, it costs the same as 5 days. My fiance and I get married in August and have been scouring the web for a similar idea over in San Francisco. It was just lovely - thank you very much.

We chose the apartment because my fiance and I were traveling with my mum. We were just going to book two hotel rooms but realized we could get the apartment for the same price. It just meant that mum felt more comfortable and we had our own shared space to spend time together in as a family (rather than having to sit in a hotel bar). We were really pleasantly surprised when we got to the apartment as I'd thought it was just two bedrooms, shared bathroom and a sitting area. We weren't expecting an en suite or the fully-equipped kitchen. The kitchen meant we could make breakfast in the morning and we were really impressed with the crockery etc. You'd thought of everything.

We encountered two reception staff. One was excellent and couldn't do enough. The other was not very good at all. He was dealing with a problem with another customer's check-in, which left us standing around for at least 10 minutes before I had to be rude and interrupt and ask if we could check-in ahead of the problem people, otherwise we could have been there for much longer. I'd also say you need to flag up the requirement to have photo ID more prominently in your advance booking info. I've never experienced that before and it was only by chance that I saw the info. I luckily had my driver's license with me, but the problem people mentioned above had no ID and got turned away with nowhere else to go to. I felt really sorry for them, as people don't always read the booking info and it is not that common to require photo ID on check-in. The access code we were given for the building didn't work and caused loads of confusion as there were two keypads depending on your flat number which, obviously, we didn't yet know. Every new person we saw arrive had the same problem. My two complaints - and they are quite small - are that the fixed shower head makes it difficult to get properly washed (or to wash without getting your hair wet) and that there was no hairdryer. The combination of these two things meant that I looked awful the day after my stay there as I'd got my hair soaked in the shower and not been able to dry it. A hair dryer fixed to the wall in the hall, by the mirror, would be a good improvement.

Posted by Anonymous (2009-05-11)

Posted by Anonymous (2009-01-10)

Very comfortable and the welcome basket was very useful. We expected it to be noisy, but it wasn't.

Posted by Anonymous (2009-01-03)

We were highly impressed with the apartment. It was clean, stylish, convenient and first class. It is close to tube lines and also within walking distance to central London. Plus Molton Brown accessories, my girlfriend was most impressed. We will most certainly be coming back.

Stylish, modern and comfortable. Plus the neon top makes it easy to locate for visitors from wherever you are.

Even though we requested a non-smoking room, we could smell that someone had been smoking in there which was quite unpleasant.On check-in my girlfriend had to sit out in the car on double yellow lines because we couldn't get in the car park. I had to run around to the hotel and check in which took quite some time because the key fob couldn't be found.Maybe just saying the name of the person checking in through the car park intercom could be enough for the gates to the car park to be opened. If I was travelling alone I'm not sure how I would of managed to get checked in.

Posted by Anonymous (2008-12-22)

Far more space and better facilities than you would get in a reasonable quality hotel, for the same price. Great location. Spotlessly clean, well designed apartment with good quality furnishings and equipment.

Space. Quality of facilities and furniture. Location. Welcome basket.

Small points - no glasses, teatowels, washing up liquid (but there was a dishwasher and dishwasher tablets). No instructions for using tv/sky box etc. Batteries gone in one of the remote controls. Sky didn't seem to be working at all. I dont't want to make a big deal of these points - overall I was very happy with it.