Ghosts knocking on the door? Intercontinental Park Lane

A Sleepless night in London

Visited April 2015

After the brief visit of Paris (which I hope is recovering well from the Friday 13th attacks), we found ourselves in London.

For non-Singaporeans, Singapore was under British rule previously until 1963 (to become part of Malaysia) and declared independence in 1965. She celebrates her 50th year of Independence this year!

The hotel is located near Hyde Park and the Buckingham Palace, which was great to watch the Changing The Guards Ceremony as the palace is just a short walk away.

Checking into the hotel was a breeze and we soon found ourselves in a big room (by London standards).

I got a complimentary upgrade to a London Classic Room and welcome amenities (a bottle of water and some fruit) were already waiting in the room.

Welcome amenities

The bathroom was big enough to fit a bathtub and my favourite rain-shower.

The toiletries are the standard Intercontinental ones. Which I don't really like, but it's okay.

From my room I have a view of a corner of Hyde Park.

An interesting feature of the room is the presence of books on the shelves. Actual readable books!

I read quite a bit of Gulliver's Travels that night as I would detail later.

The corridors were very bright and well-furbished.

The lobby and restaurants exuded great charm and luxury.

Front Desk

Lobby and Concierge to the right

Lobby Lounge

Very nice decor!

In contrast to the glamorous look of the common areas, the room seem lackluster.

The spookiness of the hotel...

The hotel seems great and all until the night descended.

Whilst trying to get some rest, the door repeatedly knocked and shook while closed. Each episode lasted about 10 secs and about every 20 to 30 minutes.

I opened the door several times and no one was there and no one was walking past either.

I tried to ignore it and turned to the Gulliver's Travels available on the shelf.

Eventually I fell asleep and there was no more knocking that morning (I went to see the Changing The Guards Ceremony so I actually wouldn't know) until I checked out.

Here's a video to illustrate my experience.

On checking out of the hotel, I showed the video to the front desk and she was totally nonchalant.
There was no 'I'm sorry", "We will investigate", or "How can I make up for it?"

I did email the hotel about this later and this was the reply.

Dear Dr Ee

Thank you for taking the time to share your feedback with our colleagues at IHG Care following your recent stay with us at InterContinental London Park Lane.

Your feedback is important to us as one of our valued Platinum Ambassador's so that we can continually improve our services and our guest experience and I am truly sorry that the issue with the rattling door affected you during your stay. Whilst I understand that your time is always precious during your stays do please let us know when you identify any concerns in your room as we can immediately send a team member to get this rectified as your comfort is of paramount importance to us.

Whilst I apologise if our team came across as disinterested on departure with your feedback, please be assured that this was not the case and it was escalated for the necessary follow up with our Engineering team.

Dr Ee, thank you once again for taking the time to share your feedback and should you be travelling to London again in the near future please do not hesitate to let me know.

We hope that we have the opportunity to welcome you back to London again soon

Kind Regards

(Name withheld)Director of Rooms

The reply was fair, and there was nothing the hotel could do anymore. However, at the high rates this hotel charges, I would expect a good night's rest would be guaranteed. (within the limits of what the hotel can control, of course)

I do not foreseen going to London anytime soon and there are many other choices for hotels, so I guess this is the end of this story.


Happy and Healthy Travels to all,
fred