Given its proximity to Piccadilly and Central London, this Company should be sitting pretty with these central apartments. But they really work hard - at making sure their customers (their idea of hospitality doesn't seem to manage the notion that the folks who pay the money over might fall to be treated as guests) have a truly terrible time with them.Looking through some of the reviews (which I wish I'd done before booking) my experience was not unique and prompts me to post this review and secondly makes me want to warn off other unsuspecting visitors. It was a classic example (thankfully unusual these days) of all the problems with online booking.
I booked online and the confirmation voucher told me I had to pick up keys from Jubilee Court Hotel, Queensway. On arriving, I began to feel a bit uneasy. I had expected some WooGo office or at least some representative. The hotel looked like a low rental hostel. You haul your luggage up a very narrow stained stairway to the first floor reception which doubles as a hair salon. A bored receptionist (bored only I think by the frequency with which this happened) told me WooGo "no longer operated" from that address. Not the happiest of things to hear when you've trekked in 30 degrees to pick up keys for an apartment you know is a tube trip away. I called the number given on the voucher to be told....WooGo "no longer operated" from that number! I began to suspect some scam but on my saying I thought I would call the police the receptionist discovered another number and put me through. Bear with me, it gets worse. I wait an age being deafened by Muzak and finally get through to a very heavily accented (I think Israeli)telephonist. After various incoherent exchanges I finally wriggle out from her that, despite the address and the telephone number given, I should in fact pick up the keys over at an address in Kensington - another tube trip. I set off as instructed but thinking this is not great and wondering how I get my money back. Arriving at the address given, there again is no sign of WooGo. It is a terraced block of flats in a garbage-strewn sidestreet with no-one in sight. No one picks up the phone when I call. A good 15 minutes later, I finally get through. I have to go through my story from the beginning to be berated for turning up before 3pm. When I explain that I did so at their instruction - more yelling (and I mean yelling) ensues. I say I'm very unhappy about this and I cannot hang about as I have a 2pm appointment. The response? I couldn't believe it - but the telephonist again yells at me , asking what was I doing fixing a 2pm appointment when I had to collect keys at 3pm. Hey WooGo maybe I should just keep you posted on all my movements! I bad temperedly set off AGAIN for another unnecessary tube trip. I reach the tube only to get another call asking me to go back to the address as they have located the keys (of course it transpires on my questioning that they were there all the time). Incidentally, all these calls are on my cellphone at my expense. I return - but no one picks up the phone when I call, as instructed. Finally, I get through.It's maybe indicative that I got into the central hallway with some guys making a delivery who, when they overheard my frustrated exchanges, said " Not WooGo again!". Turns out I am collecting the keys from a wall-mounted safe deposit box with instructions given over my phone. Despite there being no mention of it at booking nor on my voucher, the telephonist tells me I need to return and repeat this procedure at check-out.Must be first instance of a check-out involving two Tube trips! I head wearily to the apartment having had to adjourn my appointment. Well the building is central and, blissfully, not far from the tube station. It looks like a converted office block. There is a concierge desk but no one is there throughout my stay. Which is a bit annoying - as the apartment door won't work despite trying umpteen variations on the unmarked keys and two locks. Again, long delays in getting through to WooGo not helped by the fact that the telephonist I dealt with clearly had no idea where Piccadilly was never mind the apartment. I finally get into the apartment by pulling the door towards me while turning the key -why, of course! Silly me! The apartment is fine - bit spartan but I kind of like that. I head for a shower -not helped by the fact I find the showerhead lying in the bath. Cheap toiletries but thankfully I've brought my own. Bit of amateur plumbing and one tired sucker gets his shower. The apartment does bear a passing resemblance to the web photos posted -though no plasma TV. Bit scuffed but hey it's central London. I need a sleep but it's not helped by the street-noise (well Ok, my fault and price you pay for being central and I had packed ear-plugs) but I waken about 4am as the broken wooden slats in the bedroom area are letting the sunlight stream in. Oh Bliss! Very cheap towels and linens (were there the slightest chance I'd be back I'd pack my own) and a stained mattress (no protector -yeeeuucchhh) but generally apartment was fine. But for a "special" internet price of £140/$260 a night not my idea of a good deal! I can truthfully say -as someone who travels a lot - WooGo are possibly the WORST service (ha!) company I ever have dealt with over many years. Trust me, had I read a review like this - I'd have moved on to another provider. And on investigation, turns out they are a re-incarnation of the infamous YourStay who messed so many folks about they had to rebrand. You have been warned! And hey WooGo, the keys are on the worktop -where any sane renter would have asked that they should be left.
This review is the subjective opinion of a TripAdvisor member and not of TripAdvisor LLC
