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Bad Rate: Rudeness and Rip-offs at Chelsea Cloisters

Where: Sloane Avenue, Chelsea, London, United Kingdom, SW3 3DW

[Ed. Note: This is the Bad Rate in our Good Rate/Bad Rate feature. This rate was valid on January 30, 2006 and is subject to change. Enjoy.]

There are plenty of places in London for around $200 or less, but that just means you've got double the work in front of you figuring out which places are ratholes and which are decent.

Take the Chelsea Cloisters, where their web site says "Chelsea Cloisters provides an International Management Team devoted to ensure your enjoyment of our hospitality, in one of our attractively designed apartments." Oh, if only. Instead you'll pay 100 pounds and up--similar to our Good Rate this week, but if the customer reviews are any indication, you will find management to be anything but professional.

This one ranks near the bottom for London on TripAdvisor, #862 on the London list to be exact. One customer summed up the general sentiment of past guests when saying:

"We hope to one day see this establishment shut down or better yet that it just goes out of business."

And it gets worse:

· "My girlfriend noted that the entire hotel smelled like her 80 year old grandparents apartment in humid south Florida."

· "We found people pissing right outside our window, and we had our mobile phone stolen from our window sill."

One guy can't get anyone to fix the bathroom fan, so he does it himself with nail scissors after being refused a screwdriver. Another is still waiting for a $600 security deposit he had to pay up front. This case is a reminder to always be skeptical of the descriptions and photos you see on a hotel's official site--and be really skeptical if the copyright date is 2002! The Chelsea location pulls in the guests, but it's safe to say there are plenty of better choices for under 100 pounds a night.

Related Stories:
· Good Rate: $200 with Breakfast at B+B Belgravia [HotelChatter]