Reform’s London mayoral hopeful co-owns ‘unsafe squat hotel plagued by bed bugs’
Laila Cunningham – who owns a £3.9million flat – has shares in firm behind £50-a-night New Dawn Hotel, which has attracted negative online reviews, the Mirror can reveal
Laila Cunningham has set out her stall to protect Londoners but a female guest raised concern over safety at New Dawn Hotel.(Image: Anadolu via Getty Images)
Reform’s new London Mayor candidate co-owns an unsafe “squat hotel” plagued by mould and bed bugs, guests have claimed.
Laila Cunningham is running an anti-crime campaign after being picked by Nigel Farage‘s party. But we can reveal her £50-a-night New Dawn Hotel has been swamped by negative reviews including complaints it has been the target of theft.
Tory defector Cunningham, who owns a £3.9million flat, has set out her stall to protect Londoners. Yet one female guest raised concern over safety at New Dawn Hotel, warning people not to stay there – especially women. The woman claimed she and a friend tied a hairdryer cable to the room door handle as the lock did not work.
A Mirror probe found the property is owned by Plaza Continental Hotels Ltd, with a Companies House filing showing Cunningham owns 5% of shares under her previous married name, Laila Dupuy.
Ex-CPS prosecutor Cunningham – who represents Westminster’s Lancaster Gate as a councillor – has boasted she will crack down on crime. However, guests have alleged being victims to a £2,000 theft.
The “family owned and run” hotel’s website boasts “we pride ourselves on going the extra mile to make your stay in London truly comfortable”. But some reviews paint an entirely different picture.
One woman complained on Google, where the hotel has an average 2.7 star rating: “Rooms stink… you cant open the door and not feel a really strong smell, not safe place for [women]… especially.”
Speaking to the Mirror, the guest — who showed us her three-night June 2023 booking — said she and her friend used a hairdryer cable to keep the bedroom door shut as the lock did not work properly. They did so because the man on reception made them feel uncomfortable, she said.
The woman, who did not wish to be named, explained: “I [was] staying there with my friend. And from the first time we walked in, we never felt safe. “We literally had to tied up our door of the room [with a hairdryer cable] to be able to fall asleep but it was nearly impossible.”
Another guest told us how he ended up paying for another hotel after getting locked in his room – and climbing out of a small ground floor window. The 27-year-old Brit, who lives in Australia, had booked in for a one-night stay in November 2024.
The man, who we are not naming, said: “I think what had me even more concerned was the fact… I could just be locked into the room so easily. If that was like another floor, or if there was a fire or something there’d literally be no way out.”
In a review on Google, he wrote: “Staff had to unscrew the door to let me back in. They refused to give me a new room, instead suggesting I wait for a cleaner and a locksmith (at 9 PM!)… No refund was offered after this disaster.”
One reviewer in May 2024 wrote on TripAdvisor: “Dirty looks like a squat hotel.The rooms are old and dirty, you can’t even sit in the bathroom.” Another guest wrote on the site, where the hotel has a 2.4 rating, in December 2023: “They kindly welcomed us with literal poop in the toilet…”
Meanwhile, in June 2022, a reviewer wrote: “We had a prostitute knocking on our door twice at roughly 4pm in the afternoon. Obviously they had the wrong room and was ushered upstairs.”
And six months ago, a guest wrote a Google review saying: “The smell of the bedroom and the bathroom is moldy, disgusting. We saw snails… coming out of the shower tub.” About a year ago, another guest wrote on Google: “Someone entered our room at night and stole from us.”
Writing about what appears to be the same incident, another guest said in a review the hotel was “unsafe”, adding: “We lost over £2,000.” About two years ago, a guest warned people against staying at the hotel, explaining they “got into bed… prepare yourself.. we came across bed bugs!”
Westminster City Council said it had received two complaints about “the condition of the hotel”, the most recent in 2024. “These were followed up with an inspection visit from the council,” the council said.
In a post on X, Cunningham, 49 accused the Mirror of being a “far-left outlet”, adding: “Every hotel faces its challenges.” She said: “I have no role whatsoever in the running or management of the business, a small B&B. But for my mother, it holds a special place in her heart. She came to Britain with nothing, grafted, saved, and eventually bought that building.”
A Reform UK spokesman said: “Laila neither runs nor manages the hotel. Focusing on isolated negative reviews to suggest wrongdoing on Ms Cunningham’s part is desperate.”
