WARNING: do not stay here
I had a disappointing and stressful experience at Southall &Soul which is a shame as I loved the concept of the place but the reality of some basic issues really overshadowed the positives.
On the plus side, the community is friendly, the facilities all under one roof is great (eg the coworking space and spacious and comfy common areas) The sauna and cold plunge + events such as the free dinners, pilates and yoga etc were good.
However, the basic broken amenities made it a generally negative experience at the end of the day, particularly the dismissive and gaslight-y way it was handled by management
My first room’s air con and vents did not work in 35+ degrees in summer in a small space.Eventually someone checked and confirmed that wasn’t working but there was nothing they could do about it at night or until 8.30am. I asked for other solutions eg. changing rooms for the night, getting a fan but was told no. The windows don’t open so I couldn’t get fresh air either. I could not breathe properly in that room, had a headache and felt dizzy and like I was going to pass out even after trying to do things like have a cold shower, draping a cold wet towel over myself, opening the door (a safety issue too tbh) and drinking water. I honestly thought I was going to pass out if I stayed in there. So I hung out in the common rooms until 5.30am.
Then when I spoke to the day team (while incredibly sleep deprived), they told me I couldn’t move rooms until Mon because I had a fridge (it was Friday) and I almost cried because I was so tired and sick and being told I had no where to sleep for several days. I didnt even have a fridge in my room then so that made no sense.
There was also many broken basic amenities eg ovens, malfunctioning lift ( I saw multiple people get stuck), air con and vents etc
I thought the air con issue was a one-off (it wasnt) and I did enjoy the other stuff,so i extended my stay and gave an ok review via Airbnb. I massively regret this. In my 2nd room, the electricity kept tripping randomly after using the outlets for 20ish minutes. In the various times I flagged this and asked for an electrician to come look at it, i was told “it’s fine” (it wasn’t), “you have too many things plugged in” (I only had my phone charger and laptop charger plugged in, never at the same time and they worked everywhere else), “stop using international phone chargers” (my phone charger was a UK one). I was continually brushed off when asking for an electrician update. I also found out the room next to me also previously had a similar issue, but I was told “It’s not helpful to speculate.” After 1 week I was moved rooms and an electrician came but it took me flagging the issue via text, emails and in person 12+ times which was so unnecessarily stressful and time-consuming. I wanted to leave but was told “contracts are binding and you never went without electricity for an extended time.”
The final room I was moved into was dirty ( black marks all over the shower walls + black smudges, a hole in the wall, dust build up on the air con). Again, the air con and ventilation units kept conking out and making me ill. I was treated more like I was annoyance for raising it than with actual genuine concern that their rooms were making me sick.
Other minor issues left a bad taste Eg.At check in, the person at the front desk greeted me with “No one told me you were coming” and walked off, which didn’t feel super welcoming. Also, I found this place via Airbnb. The contract I was asked to sign had a different price on it than what I had paid via Airbnb so I questioned it as I am uncomfortable signing a contract that clearly doesnt match. I was told there was a gap due to me paying in AUD and “it’s the exchange rate” which was incorrect. After more pressing, I found out it’s due to fees, but it made me uncomfortable to be misled when I asked about a contract discrepancy
One day I also turned on the shower tap in my room, only to see brown murky water come out.
Shuttle buses were tricky to book and apparently for commuters only (I was discouraged from using it on my last day because I had 1 x suitcase that I wanted to bring)
Don't expect any help or normal resolutions if/when you have issues -- they made it as difficult as possible to leave despite me not being able to a) breathe b) sleep or c) use electricity in multiple rooms. Guest health and safety is irrelevant to this company, they only care about revenue and profit. They pretend the issues have gotten better via ChatGPT responses but thats not true.
TLDR version: Community living is a great idea and I’d consider other places but there is no way I would return to this one specifically because it made me sick.
IT IS THE WORST ACCOMMODATION EXPERIENCE IVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.
DO NOT STAY HERE.
8. August 2025
Bewertung ohne vorherige Einladung