Raffles
May 5, 09, 4:02 am
The little known CP Marlow sits just outside London (30 miles from Knightsbridge) on the edge of the Thames, close to Henley and of course Marlow itself. Is it a success or not?! There are two sides to the story.
The case for the defence:
This is one of most impressive bargains available in the UK. For £90 a night (less a further 7% Quidco!) using the 2-4-1 link on the hotels own webpage (crowneplazamarlow.co.uk), we got a two-room SUITE with balcony in a very modern hotel, with an impressive breakfast for two, club access and full access to the on-site health club with its adult pool, childrens pool and indoor and outdoor jacuzzis.
The hotel is in a lovely spot just 60 seconds walk from the River Thames and the Thames Path, and is set around an artificial lake with an impressive Lake Geneva-style ‘jet d’eau’. For a four star, the food is surprisingly accomplished – nothing flash, but the basics are done extremely well. There is a 'posh' restaurant and a separate bar-brasserie, which also takes in an attractive conservatory and a number of outdoor tables facing the lake. They have a nice collection of childrens toys which are placed around the lawn in front of the lake and will keep your little one amused.
Decent 'White Company' toiletries in the suites plus robes (no slippers), and a separate shower as well as a bath. Plenty of free Telegraphs and Independents knocking around the hotel every day.
The case for the prosecution:
This is a hotel run by idiots which should be avoided if you value your sanity. When we checked in, we were given the key to a suite which was already occupied (and physically occupied at that!). When we told reception, we got another set of keys without an apology. They coded the club access wrong THREE times, and only on the fourth recut did the key open the lounge door. The lounge was the same size as our suite and at weekends offers nothing apart from beer, wine and 1 tray of canapes, and then only between 6-8. The 1 PC runs Windows 2000 and is incredibly slow.
When we ordered room service on day 1, our organic salmon salad arrived as salmon risotto – a dish not even on the room service menu. On Day 2, we got the right food but only 1 fork – so I had to eat my meal with a spoon and knife instead of a fork and knife. Our two attempts on consecutive nights to watch a pay TV film were ruined when the system crashed 45 minutes in and could not be reset by the staff. Our room was not cleaned when we returned at 5.15pm on the first day and was only done after we complained. Three separate members of staff told us that is was impossible to walk along the river into Marlow town itself, which is complete nonsense – you cannot walk it 100% on the river bank (more like 90%) but you can certainly do it. The 'Sunday Times' I ordered never appeared, either outside our room or indeed the original already-occupied room.
Whilst a decent modern building, the approach is not appealing - the hotel is accessed through an industrial estate!
Verdict:
So, a disaster or not? Overall, we were happy. £90 a night for a suite at weekends is a fantastic deal if you use the 2-4-1 rate. You automatically get Club access with a suite, and as the Club does not serve breakfast at weekends you automatically get a free restaurant breakfast, usual price £17 per person. (Note that the website does not tell you about club access or indeed about the automatic restaurant breakfast at weekends for club rooms, so don’t book a B&B rate). Our total bill for 2 nights in a suite, 2 full breakfasts for two, 2 room service dinners for two (drinks taken from the club lounge!), 1 lunch for two and a few drinks was well under £300 and the quidco.com cashback will take it down to almost £250.
The pool complex is not bad at all and the childrens pool is kept warmer than the adjacent adult one. The lawn in front of the lake is as pretty on a sunny day as the photos on the website show it. The whole complex was only opened in 2003 and is well maintained, especially the suites which are clearly not used often.
At the end of the day, admittedly, this is a conference hotel which plays to families at weekends to fill what would otherwise be empty rooms. This has led to some awkward compromises, such as the fact that the suites overlook the car park instead of the lake because the lake side is taken up with meeting rooms.
If you want a break from London and want to see Marlow, Henley, Cliveden, Windsor etc then this is a good place to base yourself and we are considering going again - we normally go to Four Seasons Hampshire at literally 3x the price, but our toddler is at a funny ages where she's too young to be in a fine dining room and too unpredictable to be trusted to sleep happily for a babysitter! Next time, though, we’ll be bringing our own DVD’s and cutlery ….!
(PS. Despite my RA status, I stayed here a PC Blue on an account in Ms Raffles' name because I wanted to pick up the various Welcome Back bonuses again. The lounge access was therefore certainly not status related and seems to be an automatic suite benefit.)
The case for the defence:
This is one of most impressive bargains available in the UK. For £90 a night (less a further 7% Quidco!) using the 2-4-1 link on the hotels own webpage (crowneplazamarlow.co.uk), we got a two-room SUITE with balcony in a very modern hotel, with an impressive breakfast for two, club access and full access to the on-site health club with its adult pool, childrens pool and indoor and outdoor jacuzzis.
The hotel is in a lovely spot just 60 seconds walk from the River Thames and the Thames Path, and is set around an artificial lake with an impressive Lake Geneva-style ‘jet d’eau’. For a four star, the food is surprisingly accomplished – nothing flash, but the basics are done extremely well. There is a 'posh' restaurant and a separate bar-brasserie, which also takes in an attractive conservatory and a number of outdoor tables facing the lake. They have a nice collection of childrens toys which are placed around the lawn in front of the lake and will keep your little one amused.
Decent 'White Company' toiletries in the suites plus robes (no slippers), and a separate shower as well as a bath. Plenty of free Telegraphs and Independents knocking around the hotel every day.
The case for the prosecution:
This is a hotel run by idiots which should be avoided if you value your sanity. When we checked in, we were given the key to a suite which was already occupied (and physically occupied at that!). When we told reception, we got another set of keys without an apology. They coded the club access wrong THREE times, and only on the fourth recut did the key open the lounge door. The lounge was the same size as our suite and at weekends offers nothing apart from beer, wine and 1 tray of canapes, and then only between 6-8. The 1 PC runs Windows 2000 and is incredibly slow.
When we ordered room service on day 1, our organic salmon salad arrived as salmon risotto – a dish not even on the room service menu. On Day 2, we got the right food but only 1 fork – so I had to eat my meal with a spoon and knife instead of a fork and knife. Our two attempts on consecutive nights to watch a pay TV film were ruined when the system crashed 45 minutes in and could not be reset by the staff. Our room was not cleaned when we returned at 5.15pm on the first day and was only done after we complained. Three separate members of staff told us that is was impossible to walk along the river into Marlow town itself, which is complete nonsense – you cannot walk it 100% on the river bank (more like 90%) but you can certainly do it. The 'Sunday Times' I ordered never appeared, either outside our room or indeed the original already-occupied room.
Whilst a decent modern building, the approach is not appealing - the hotel is accessed through an industrial estate!
Verdict:
So, a disaster or not? Overall, we were happy. £90 a night for a suite at weekends is a fantastic deal if you use the 2-4-1 rate. You automatically get Club access with a suite, and as the Club does not serve breakfast at weekends you automatically get a free restaurant breakfast, usual price £17 per person. (Note that the website does not tell you about club access or indeed about the automatic restaurant breakfast at weekends for club rooms, so don’t book a B&B rate). Our total bill for 2 nights in a suite, 2 full breakfasts for two, 2 room service dinners for two (drinks taken from the club lounge!), 1 lunch for two and a few drinks was well under £300 and the quidco.com cashback will take it down to almost £250.
The pool complex is not bad at all and the childrens pool is kept warmer than the adjacent adult one. The lawn in front of the lake is as pretty on a sunny day as the photos on the website show it. The whole complex was only opened in 2003 and is well maintained, especially the suites which are clearly not used often.
At the end of the day, admittedly, this is a conference hotel which plays to families at weekends to fill what would otherwise be empty rooms. This has led to some awkward compromises, such as the fact that the suites overlook the car park instead of the lake because the lake side is taken up with meeting rooms.
If you want a break from London and want to see Marlow, Henley, Cliveden, Windsor etc then this is a good place to base yourself and we are considering going again - we normally go to Four Seasons Hampshire at literally 3x the price, but our toddler is at a funny ages where she's too young to be in a fine dining room and too unpredictable to be trusted to sleep happily for a babysitter! Next time, though, we’ll be bringing our own DVD’s and cutlery ….!
(PS. Despite my RA status, I stayed here a PC Blue on an account in Ms Raffles' name because I wanted to pick up the various Welcome Back bonuses again. The lounge access was therefore certainly not status related and seems to be an automatic suite benefit.)