InterContinental Hotels: Priority Club & Inter-Continental Ambassador - London: Indigo or CP

I'm overnighting in London this May (arriving LHR, departing LGW, 23.9 h stopover), using my IC points (I'm platinum), and trying to decide between Indigo or one of the more central CP's - seems like CP London City is far removed from the tube, which then leaves me with CP St. James, CP Kensington, and Indigo Paddington. Previous threads have had decent reviews of the Indigo, albeit nothing recent, and no direct comparisons - wondering if anyone has had any recent experiences there.

Thanks!

I'm overnighting in London this May (arriving LHR, departing LGW, 23.9 h stopover), using my IC points (I'm platinum), and trying to decide between Indigo or one of the more central CP's - seems like CP London City is far removed from the tube, which then leaves me with CP St. James, CP Kensington, and Indigo Paddington. Previous threads have had decent reviews of the Indigo, albeit nothing recent, and no direct comparisons - wondering if anyone has had any recent experiences there.

Thanks!

Indigo paddington is great, brand new, (well 1 year old), anyway CP the city is convenient located to take the train to LGW from Blackfriars, cheaper than LGW Xpress, and normally platinums receive a club room with lounge access...

I love staying at the CP Kensington. It's a really great hotel and the service is always excellent. It's policy with them to always try to allocate Platinum's an upgrade and its worth calling or emailing them to confirm yours. It's located just 2 miles or £8-£10 by taxi or a couple of quid by bus to Victoria where you can jump on the Gatwick express.

CP City is your best bet for easy access to Gatwick as mentioned above - 30 seconds walk to the mainline station and straight on a direct train to Gatwick. CP City is also well regarded (although to be fair so is the Indigo - although its an odd place I believe in converted houses).

If you arriving from LHR after 2/3pm and so can check in immediately, CP Kensington is worth a look as its on the way into town from Heathrow by taxi and also good for Gloucester Road tube. No other reason to stay there, though.

The central one in St James is walkable to Victoria for a Gatwick Express train.

All much of a muchness, really!

CP he City is a decent property that is very convenient to Blackfriars tube station but that station is closed for renovations until late 2011. Try CP Kensington.

My preferred icgroup hotel in London is CP City at Blackfriars - I stay there very frequently. As already mentioned, they treat Platinums very well. (I'm a Platinum Ambassador).

On the few occasions I've stayed at CP Kensington I've found them not to be too interested in an upgrade or any other benefits... maybe they've changed since I was last there (about 6 months ago) but my preference is towards CP City due to better treatment.

CP St James is getting a bit tired, I feel, and there's no club lounge. They usually honour the upgrade and have had some spectacular results there in this regard over the years. That said, they can be a bit hit and miss on the upgrade policy.


A big factor for me also is that CP Kensington don't have any smoking rooms ! But that isn't an issue for most folks these days.

RB

I'm at the CP St. James right now and like it. Very close to St. James's park tube station and very nice rooms. I've been in the Paddington Inigo earlier this year and was very underwhelmed. Everything flashy and shiney but very small rooms and incompetent staff. Very good location right next to Paddington station, though.

I stayed at the St james this week too, got Plat upgrade and enjoyed a very comfortable stay. The far rooms are very convoluted to get to along meandering corridors but that is only a small niggle to do with the type of building. You could always ask for one near the lift if you wanted I suppose.

Thanks for everyone's thoughts. I'm still deciding between CP St. James vs. CP London City, and may be swayed towards the former having noticed that Southern Line has a 3 quid train fare from Victoria station to LGW, out to EOS for now (don't know whether it'd last till May though).

CP he City is a decent property that is very convenient to Blackfriars tube station but that station is closed for renovations until late 2011. Try CP Kensington.CP City is only about 10 minutes from three alternative tube stations, and of course next to the Blackfriars railway station when you want to catch the train to Gatwick

Using the Southern Website, http://www.southernrailway.com/
seems the prices outside of the promotion are
Blackfriars - Gatwick Airport £9
London Victoria - Gatwick Airport £12

Fares do normally go up on the 1st January though.