Ark Canary Wharf

“The Ark Canary Wharf is like a narcissist. Charismatic & Fun on the outside. Problematic & shallow on the inside.”

Detailed review coming up in 3, 2, 1... Everything outside of the rooms and elevator was great. The facilities, particularly the working space is fantastic!! There's so much room to get work done, and to lounge, it's great. There's a working space with a splendid view of London on the top floor t… more

Detailed review coming up in 3, 2, 1... Everything outside of the rooms and elevator was great. The facilities, particularly the working space is fantastic!! There's so much room to get work done, and to lounge, it's great. There's a working space with a splendid view of London on the top floor that's just gorgeous. With SO MANY ROOMS to work from, honestly your stupidly spoilt for choice. Plus there's also space in the café on the ground floor, and below ground as well. Plus a cinema room, mini golf etc, which is usually empty so you can mostly get it to yourself! The pool, sauna and steam room is fabulous!! The view from the pool of the area is worth it's weight in gold, it's beautiful! The check-in experience was... You'll see... I was checked in by a young south Asian lady in glasses. I first asked if I could quickly use the toilet just before I check in, as I was bursting. She said "Sure, there's a bathroom to your right, just leave your bags and go". I was hoping I heard her wrong, so I said "before your pardon", she then repeated "toilets to the right. Just leave your bags and go. I'm here, I'll watch it". Bare in mind, we're in EAST LONDON, it's past 10pm. About 5-6 young men are just standing around chatting outside, AND the doors are wide open, free for all. Rightfully so, I looked at her like she was lobotomised, and her colleague also looked at her like she was crazy. Unless I'm visiting a remote hotel in the middle of Switzerland, you'll never catch me being that stupidly trusting. Plus, she looked anything but action-packed and vigilant. She's about 5'3. Skinny and petite. Unless she was Jet Lee's protogé, who exactly was she guarding. Could she even guard herself?! Like please respect yourself. Thankfully her colleague stepped in and said "Here, we'll watch your bags whilst you go. Please don't leave them there. We'll leave it at the back". Thankfully common sense was still common. I looked at her as I was taking my stuff to the back and said, This is still East London, don't get it twisted". And she just sat there, clicking away whilst her colleague helped me put my luggage away. When I got back, I said if there was any chance to upgrade to a bigger room, and that I was happy to pay the difference. She said there was no rooms left, and I was lucky I was getting the last one. When she said this her colleague gave her a look then looked away. I then said, so you have no other rooms available at all, even the same room, but in a different location. She said no. I then nodded. When I got to my room, I was shocked to see that not only were the amenities broken, but the room itself hadn't been cleaned by housekeeping. Fastest U-turn in history. 1, I wasn't sleeping in an uncleaned room. 2. I wasn't staying in a room with any broken amenities where I'll be given the blame and made to pay the deposit fee for the damage. No way. I headed back to reception and told them about the room and showed a picture. The young south-asian lady who checked me in had put on her coat and worn her backpack ready to go home. She was visibly surprised to see me, and got nervous when she saw how upset I was. The other South Asian male colleague and the other African male colleague said they'll put me in a different room. Didn't offer an apology though, or have empathy towards the fact that it was around 10:30 ish. Or that the guest is very tired and hungry and fed up. Just okay we'll change rooms. The morning teams and the evening teams couldn't be more different. They evening team made up of these 3 were cold and unwelcoming. When they offered another room, I made sure to say very clearly "But she said that I had the only room left, and that I was lucky it was the last room". She couldn't have sprint walked out the hotel any faster like a toddler getting told off, with her head faced down. All they said was, "Yeah, sorry about that. There's one more, she didn't see it on her system". That was my apology for being given a used and broken room "yeah, sorry about that". Make it make sense, do you guys want to make money or not?! What sort of disheveled level of customer service is this?? Seriously! I had to even ask them twice for the front desk's number in case there were any more issues, and they kept hesitating to give me. This should be one of the first things they should offer for reassurance and peace to the customer, as well as a heartfelt apology!!! The rooms are incredibly small and tight! And my goodness, the horrid noise from the window. You have 2 choices: It's either too you get Air/ventilation, with too much noise or no air or ventilation but peace. Your choice. Your sacrifice, because you hear the whole of east London!! ESPECIALLY THE TRAINS! I felt as though they built the train tracks directly above us. It was that loud. It's a 5D experience!! The shower is stupidly small. It's actually laughable! If you don't laugh, you'll cry! You can't bend to wash your feet or lower thighs. It feels like anything below the premium studio or 1 bed apartment was built for a midget or 10 year old. Sorry to be harsh but it is what it is. Also, for a place with a lot of fabulous gems, the elevator could look less like an east London drug spot. My goodness, it's like they ran out of money to pay the interior designer, when it gets to the elevator, especially, then hallway design and most of the rooms. It's horrid. Every time I use the elevator I'm reminded of silent hill. And I know they were trying to be fancy with the elevator functional design where you just put your number and wait to be designated an elevator, but that only work in an environment with low-medium traffic at best. They have this same elevator in my old corporate office, but there was 8 of them, and everyone came and left typically around the same time, so there wasn't constant traffic or a long wait time. For a building of this size with very high traffic, 4 elevators is way too small, and much TOO SLOW! God help you if 2 of them break down, it's going to be absolutely manic!!! And if you order takeaway, make your way down no later than 7 minutes, to ensure the elevator arrives on time, especially if you were on a top floor like I was. This place confuses me because it can switch from 5* to 2* in an instant! The hallways could be a lot brighter too and less gloomy! Especially the one behind reception! If I could describe the ark in the best way, it's like being in a relationship with a covert narcissistic. Everywhere that is accessible to an outsider and guest, appears fabulous. Everywhere that is accessible only to the patron, needs a lot of work or redesign. Only book if you're getting the apartment or premium suite. And if you're going to be spending more time outside of your hotel room, than within. Also, the customer service from the young African ladies who do the morning shifts was amazing. They were so sweet and conversational. Especially a young lady called Oceane. She's super friendly, approachable and very kind and understanding. It was her service that sold me more on the place, and she has a great enthusiastic spirit! The rest of the customer service team members, particularly the men and the south Asian lady that works the evening shift, is rather subpar and lifeless. Like seriously, get your smiles up people! Gheeesszh!! No one held you people hostage to this job. You'd think they've been working back to back 12 hour shifts as a waitress in China town, or a nurse/doctor. Like get a grip. Your sat down for most of your job in a chill environment with cool facilities. Like be Chill. Be Cool. Or my goodness be Gone! It's not by force people. Anyway, this is the most detailed review you're going to get. Bare in mind, there's only about 3 flats available so it gets booked quickly! Best of luck! I hope you find this review thoroughly honest & useful so the hotel managers can see this and seriously do something about its cons!

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