Hilton HHonors - Hilton Paddington or Waldorf Hilton????

I will be in London over memorial day weekend and have read good things about both these hotels thru the search function. My choices are as follows:
1. Paid stay at Paddington Hilton
2. Priceline stay at Waldorf Hilton

Room size is important--Any input???

...Priceline stay at Waldorf Hilton...

Curious....what is the going rate there??

I think the choice will also depend very much on what you want to do when in London. They are in very different locations. The Waldorf is in an ideal location for many, very close to Covent garden and the theatres and is very central (as much as London actually has a centre).

Paddington doesn't have a huge amount going for it as an area, it is quite close to Notting Hill and Kensington, but this will involve frequent public transport/taxis.

I haven't stayed at either of these properties yet but the Waldorf would win purely on location alone for me.

For location : Waldorf (right in the middle of the Theater district)
For room size : Paddington (pending an upgrade)

I stayed at the Paddington and found it to be quite nice.
If you are flying into LHR, it's connected by train directly to Paddington station, which is next to the hotel.
Subway connects the hotel to most attractions, easy to access, and fast. I had even WALKED from the hotel to many attractions, and it's actually very enjoyable if weather is nice. London is such a wonderful walking town.
Rooms are good-sized, even compared to typical US rooms. Service is nice, and concierge is efficient.
Paddington station also has a drug store and supermarket inside, so you can easily get whatever you need.
I can't comment on the Waldorf, but the Paddington would be a good pick. Enjoy London in any event! :)

Thanks for all the feedback u guys. I think I'lll go with Paddington which is around 120+GBP..A lot cheaper than any of the other Hiltons. As an aside, I was checking out Heathrow Hilton for the night before my flight and Whoa!! It's 150+GBP. So, I guess it'll be Skyline for me.
kelly786

The Hilton Paddington does have large rooms and a great location-- and for the Tube, too, it's terrific.

The staff leaves something to be desired, the concierges in particular, and the front desk, I've found, tends to have really long lines.

Kelly786--If you are not into UG's there is a 80GBP (breakfast and tax included) for a single at Hilton Hyde Park. I didn't know if you were looking for a single or double.

How do you know what your priceline price would be and how do you know that it would be the Waldorf Hilton that you end up at? If I could be sure of this for 5/29 through 5/31, I'd jump at it. My fear with PL is that I'd end up in a swank hotel in a broom closet. Am I paranoid or just inexperienced or appropriately suspicious?

I heard terrible things about the Hyde Park on this forum. That said, for the price you're quoting for the same period I'm going, I'd jump at it if it seemed like I could get a decent room. AC777, where did you see this rate?

Janjanjan, I went to the Hilton website and got the quotes. It was on the rates quoted for bed, breakfast and tax and was not even an internet only rate. cancellation allowed!! I have stayed at the Green Park Hilton-- the bedroom was smaller than the bathroom--can the Hyde Park Hilton be worse? I will find out on 15th April when I stay there.

I stayed at the Waldorf a couple of weeks ago and was very pleased. I Pricelined it for $100 and was 95% sure that I would get that property based on my study of Bidding for Travel. It was hands-down a much better value (and risk) than paying 79 pounds at the Kensington the month prior.

For the weekend from 5/29 to 6/1 be careful bidding on pricleine as it appears that a rugby group has bid and gotten a number of rooms. My sister bid for this area on priceline, hoping to get the Waldorf but got the Kingston something or the other instead. She had bid $100.00 hoping to get the Waldorf. This is just a surmise from her experience and posts on bidding for travel. So take it for what it's worth.
kelly786

I travel to London on Business about every 6-8 weeks (with a somewhat limited budget) & have tried many of the Hiltons in town.

Paddington is a great location due to ability to get anywhere via tube & trains & a decent hotel, but I don't much like the neighborhood. Very much a "train station" area (i.e. busy, a bit noisy & impersonal). NOTE: if you stay here & fly in/out of Heathrow, don't bother moving to an airport hotel the night before you leave. Heathrow Express leaves right from Paddington every 15 minutes & is a 20-minute ride. You'll be at the airport less than 45 minutes from when you check out.

I haven't been to the Waldorf since Hilton acquired it a few months ago (had been owned by Le Meridien). It was nice, but my guess is a Priceline room would inded be tiny. The single I had there was definitely a "single" (3/4-sized bed)--although the bathroom was quite large. Location is right in the West End w/all the theatres etc, but I actually find that area a bit too noisy & touristy (kind of like staying in Times Square--although a bit more staid--it is London, after all).

Hilton Hyde Park is an okay hotel--but rooms are tiny, & although right across from the park & Kensington Gardens, the Bayswater neighborhood is a bit shabby.

Best locations with (relatively) reasonable prices are the Hilton Mews & Hilton Green Park. Green Park just went through a major renovation, so prices may have climbed, but I've always been able to get an upgrade there. A "deluxe double" is a regular-sized room by American Standards. Hilton Mews is a bit of an "odd duck" in the Hilton chain. It's a tiny property (about 80 rooms) tucked into a quiet street behind the Park Lane Hilton. It has a bit of a "Fawlty Towers"/family run feel to it--you check in by sitting down at a desk, there's a tiny lobby/lounge/self-service honor bar on a buffet server, etc. Rooms are fine--nothing special, nothing horrible--but clean & well-kept. You can use health club at Park Lane if you wish.

My favorite Hilton property by far in London is the Conrad, which is an all-suite hotel. They often have internet-only rates on the web site which are quite reasonable (I paid 132 pounds/night 2 weeks ago). It is an all-suite hotel. Very large rooms, very luxuriously appointed--each suite has 1 1/2 baths! (a bit of overkill when you're staying alone on business, but hey, it's still cool). Strenghth/Downfall (depending on your view) is location: Chelsea Harbour, which is along the river in the SW section of Chelsea. Very pretty area--cute pubs, shops, restaurants, etc. but a 10-15 minute walk to nearest tube station (Fulham Broadway).

There you have it. . .more than you ever wanted to know about Hiltons in London! Hope it's useful. . .

This is a very interesting thread as the Waldorf is so new.
Can people please post their upgrade or lack thereof stories asap??
I am book there in may and also the Langham.
I know the horror stories of the Lack of upgrade at Langham.
I understand that there is no exec floor at the Waldorf.

I did find the Metropole and the pAddington a little out of the way and dont like underground transport so I spose the L and the W are both more convenient to things(though Id be very happy at Knihtsbridge.)
But I think Ill loose a lot of weight cause of lack of food and french if in a non exec hotel(cheaper than a weight loss clinic I suppose)

as you can see Im quite torn!!!

Help appreciated.

I have stays planned at both hotels - but not until September...

If folks are patient I might be able to post a comparative report after then...

I stayed at the Waldorf in London this past February. As diamond they upgraded me to a junior suite (beautiful room, great bathroom--frosted doors make for an intimate experience, large plasma television, and very modern decor).

That was the only positive. Lounge was not open yet, I had to argue to get a free breakfast (it was an award stay). And they messed up the reservation and charged me for the room. Hilton later credited my account, but it took some phone calls and email (to my benefit, the dollar had improved and I earned $50 in the transaction). Fire alarms went off daily with the current construction (sometimes around 5-6 am).

Location was great. Several factors soured my stay, but it is a great property. I would expect things to improve as construction reaches completion.

BTW, the staff expect the lounge to open "sometime this summer."

I've just returned from a nice, three-night stay at the Hilton Waldorf. I enjoyed my stay booked through priceline.com at a rate of $100/night. The rate listed on my registration card was GBP54.

There are still some renovations going on at this hotel. It looks like it will be a wonderful hotel when everything is finished. The location is fabulous-- Covent Garden area. A short walk to the West End theatres, Leicester Square, Trafalgar Sqaure, etc. Within a comfortable walking distance is Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, British Museum, etc.

My room was a small, but comfortable room with two twin beds. The room had a nice desk with comfortable office chair, refrigerator (stocked with two complimentary bottles of Evian daily), coffee/tea setup, safe, flat panel plasma TV, nice linens, etc. The only problem I had with the room was that the rainfall showerhead was inadequate. They bathroom ceiling is low, so they have it mounted like a regular showerhead. This is a very bad idea. Rainfall showerheads should be mounted from the ceiling. Very low pressure.

I didn't dine in the restaurant-- breakfast was GBP19! There are many very good restaurants, cafes, and pubs in the immediate area. Since I had been in India before London, the Hamburger Union (http://www.hamburgerunion.co.uk/) on Garrick Rd. was a welcome sight. I quite enjoyed getting my beef fix there. There is also a Sainsbury's and TESCO (supermarkets) within a few blocks.

The hotel's ballroom apparently was the model for the Titanic. On the first floor, room 102 is available with a PC for complimentary internet access. Service interactions were pleasant, though I had no extraordinary requests. Housekeeping was OK.

Don't miss George Gershwin Alone (http://www.georgegershwinalone.com) just down the street from the hotel-- it's a great show (though it looks like it is only running through 17APR). See: The Guardian review (http://www.guardian.co.uk/arts/critic/review/0,1169,1151124,00.html).

For the weekend from 5/29 to 6/1 be careful bidding on pricleine as it appears that a rugby group has bid and gotten a number of rooms. My sister bid for this area on priceline, hoping to get the Waldorf but got the Kingston something or the other instead. She had bid $100.00 hoping to get the Waldorf. This is just a surmise from her experience and posts on bidding for travel. So take it for what it's worth.
kelly786

Kingsway Hall? That is an even better hotel than the Hilton Waldorf judging from the reviews so I'd say she got lucky. Enjoy your stay.

Cheap rates for heathrow hotels @ Holiday Extras (http://www.holidayextras.co.uk)

Our stay last week at the Hilton Paddington was very nice. They u/g us to a corner suite, could have parked a Zeppelin in the room! Extremely spacious, 12 foot ceilings, marble bath, the works, and all the amenities as well (bathrobes, slippers, etc.) ^

The entire hotel is recently (2002) renovated, in a Deco look consistent with its 150 year old origins as the Great Western Railway Hotel. A real knockout!

The Exec Lounge is in the basement, a bit odd, but decorated in the Deco train motif, even GRW logos inset into the wood. They served a creditable breakfast, luncheon snacks, English tea and afternoon / early evening hors d'oeuvres; variety of wines, beers, beverages stocked. Access is with your (electronic) room key, so it's there when it is not staffed, something like 6:30 to 10:00 PM. £20 for each guest, as I recall.

What's good (other than the gorgeous warm Deco decor): Paddington station has a variety of restaurants, a pub, a wine shop, markets and of course rail service to Cambridge, Bath, Heathrow, etc. and excellent tube (Underground) connections (figure your time on the tube by estimating three minutes between each station stop.) The neighborhood is bustling, with a variety of places to eat and drink, and you're around the corner from St. Mary's hospital, where Sir Alexander Fleming discovered a mold that would become useful - Penicillin (historical trivia.)

What's not: HHonors desk for check-in is hidden - it's around the desk to your right, when you are facing the Praed Street entrance. Desk personnel seem like they may be part of an endless gut of trainees, not the sharpest knives in the Hilton drawer. It can get crowded... even queues for the restaurant (which I won't comment on because we did not eat there.)

(We do not mind using the tube at all - we arm ourselves with a seven day visitor pass and use the heck out of public transportation in London. YMMV.)

We'd originally intended to stay at the LHR Hilton, as we were about to depart, but that property was 1) expensive! :eek: and 2) Apparently, it is virtually impossible to reserve a non-smoking room at LHR Hilton, at least using the website, which was confirmed by Hilton webmasters when I inquired. So, we used the speedy and comfortable, not subject to traffic delays, Heathrow Express (£14 and £21 one way for second or first class.)