Arlo Apartments

It was absolutely terrible. The air-conditioning work manager and staff are rude and after you paid 500 and something you have to pay a deposit of 75 quid if you damage to place or leave it in a mess, it’s not good with people on benefits. They had a skip outside. People are still working there

My pregnant wife and I had what can only be described as the worst accommodation experience of our lives last Saturday evening with Duke Apartments. My pregnant wife and I were left in a situation where we had spent our last funds booking overnight accommodation with Duke Apartments and were told that we cannot stay because we didn’t have money for a security deposit that was only mentioned at the very bottom of the small print of their *********** webpage. When attempting to plead our case the receptionist actually told us to leave the premises and called the police referring to us as troublesome guests. With my wife being heavily pregnant we were in no situation to be standing around awaiting police within a hostile environment so we left the property and returned to London that same night in the dark and without rest that our booked accommodation would have afforded us. Duke Apartments management promised that we would receive a refund after contacting *********** but are now refusing to refund the £92 that I paid for the night. I have detailed the entire ordeal below as a warning to others who are considering staying with Duke apartments. We were unsure about Duke Apartments initially due to their no repayment clause so we drove to the property to check that it’s a legitimate business before proceeding with *********** payment. I parked outside and found the phone number on their signage then spoke with the manager to ask if there was room for the night and where I could park. He told me where to park but at no point mentioned anything about a security deposit. After parking my car I booked via *********** due to the good reviews and feeling assured from my conversation with the manager. Within 10 minutes of booking online my heavily pregnant wife and I were at the reception desk ready to check in for what we expected to be a delightful stay but we were woefully mistaken. The receptionist informed us that there is a £75 security deposit in addition to the accommodation fee which I had already paid only minutes earlier. I explained pleasantly to the receptionist that we were unaware of this security deposit and do not have the funds to pay for this. She then told me that it’s written in the ‘small print’ and that I should have read this properly before booking. I pleaded with her that we have no other option for a place to stay that night as I had spent my last funds booking accommodation with Duke Apartments and she once again told me that the security deposit is their hotel policy and that if I can’t pay the security deposit we will have to leave (after already paying £92 to stay for the night). I then called the manager back (who I had spoken to earlier) asking for them to either kindly make an exception to their security deposit policy for this one night or to refund us the £92 so that we could book alternative accommodation for the night. The manager informed us that because we booked via *********** that *********** has our

When we arrived we were shown to a nice apartment but it had very little natural light. When we mentioned this to the very helpful members of staff, they consulted with the management and we were offered a much nicer apartment with views over a garden and lots of natural light. It was very well appointed and clean with the most comfortable bed. We were really happy and had an excellent stay. Our deposit was returned to our account within a couple of days so this didn't present an issue.