Not Worth the Risk
My relevant experience is at Westbourne Park.
Initially I was a longterm resident at the Bermondsey location, until one day they phoned to say that location is going into administration and they would like everyone to move out within 5 days. No official letter or email, and answers about what was going on were vague at best. One resident had to fly home early from a holiday to move out by their deadline. This is how they treat their residents. I was told we were lucky to have been given that much notice, and that other businesses would have given no notice at all. That’s Mason & Fifth hospitality.
They offered the option to relocate to the Westbourne Park location, which I had to accept because finding a flat and moving in 5 days was not realistic. This meant relocating to the opposite side of town, southeast to northwest.
The head of sales at WP handling the transfer was unsympathetic throughout. I was offered a basic room for the same rate I was paying at Bermondsey, £2,400. I requested a £200 deduction to offset the cost to commute back southeast every day because my brief cycle was now 1.5h of trains and transfers each way (she told me I would “get used to it”). She agreed to the reduction, but not without reminding me repeatedly and on multiple occasions that they were “losing money on me.” All because I was paying £95 less than their standard long-term rate.
I asked that my notice period be reduced from the standard 2 months so I could have the flexibility to find a flat in a more suitable part of town, which they kindly accommodated, or so I thought. In actuality, when my month-to-month contract was due for renewal just a few days after relocating, I was informed that any renewal would immediately reinstate the 2-month notice period.
I had heard from other residents that the walls are thin and they could hear their neighbours watching TV, sneezing, etc., which was my experience as well. The TVs are in hospitality mode, unlike the Roku-equipped TVs at Bermondsey, so they are pretty useless. You can only watch cable and chrome cast with a lag so severe that the TV warns you when you set it up.
The cherry on top: for my first bill they charged me for someone else’s bill; an overcharge and a breach of that resident’s privacy.
The front desk staff were always very kind and personable. The management, however, seem to only care about the commercial side of the business rather than hospitality, and it showed. I wouldn’t let anyone I know stay here for any length of time.
Prospective long-term residents will get more bang for their buck renting a proper flat, and now with Renters’ Rights in place, Mason & Fifth has little advantage over a tenancy. At least tenants have rights, unlike Mason & Fifth residents who are not tenants under their license agreement. What happened to the Bermondsey residents could happen again; it is, after all, the same director in charge at the top. Whether they run another business into the ground or simply decide they want you gone, you do not have tenant protections, and be warned of what they did to a building full of residents in the very recent past (March 2026).