pointnoob

Have a trip planned this summer for July with a 2 day/3night stop in London. I have been looking at Hilton & Radisson properties for a mostly award stay(will have to do points+cash or outright cash for a couple of room nights since I need more than 1 room). With my point balances, I can get more free nights out of Carlson than Hilton and I dont have as much use for Carlson in US.

Traveling with child so nightlife is low priority and shopping will be as well and traveling with mobile but elderly mother so want to avoid huge amounts of walking. After considering our needs and looking at comments on FT and trip advisor I am looking mostly at 4 hotels(but thoughts on other Hilton/Radisson hotels welcome) - Hilton Tower Bridge, Hilton Park Lane, Park Plaza Westminster and Park Plaza County Hall. Looking at hitting London Tower, St. Paul's, Westminster and environs and up around Buckingham and Hyde Park area. The Hilton Tower Bridge has lots of good reviews but I wonder about its location given the fact that there are very few hotels in that area.

I was leaning towards one of the Park Plazas for a more central location(and the inevitable County Hall vs Westminster question) but I was wondering about the immediate area of the Park Plazas as far as restaurants and ease of access to the areas of London we plan on seeing.

Any thoughts? Thanks.

chrisljo

Have you looked into the Radisson Edwardians? Several one them are along the Piccadilly line which is great if you're taking the underground from Heathrow.

I've stayed at both Mayfair and Hampshire and they're both in good ares. For you sights maybe a hop-on-hop-off option will get you around anyway.

KiwiRob

I'm with chrisljo, I'd look at the Edwardians, all very central, all within easy walking distance of the tube and very close to most of the places you want to see.

Firewind

Plus the hop on hop off idea. ^

You've very good advice here. With this much, turn next to TripAdvisor to figure out which hotel appeals most.

pointnoob

Tripadvisor is why I threw out the Mayfair. It has quite a few poor and terrible reviews compared to the other hotels on my list. I look at the edwardians but on a map they didnt seem as convienent. They are close to a bunch of museums that we didnt plan on seeing. I will have to take a close look at the subway map. I was figuring more on using taxis.

chrisljo

I believe the poor reviews are a result of wrong expectations. The Mayfair is a really great 4 star hotel with a great location, but with their rates people have higher expectations. If you're paying with points this shouldn't affect you as all the good London properties are the sam price. With that being said, the Park plaza Westminster looks very good and I'm planning to try it on my next Stalin London.

pointnoob

Point taken but the other Radissons I am talking about are expensive as well and seem to fare better. I am paying at least some cash btw. I need 6 room nights and at best I will get 5 free ones.

Yea the only issues I have seen with the Westminster is that award rooms are usually facing the atrium(no exterior view), a few complaints about the size of the hotel and hence service and I think there were comments about not a lot of restaurants being close by. Not sure what award rooms in the nearby County Hall hotel are like.

I looked at the subway map and looking at I dont see how one hotel whether in Mayfair, Westminster or Leicester is necessarily better than another. All require some transfers.

PeterT1953

It depends what you want to see in London. Mercer street and the may fair are the most central and best for getting around by tube, bus or walking. Make sure you get Oyster cards

pantanal

mayfair is actually better than mercer. tube goes straight from airport to greenpark station which is 2 min walk to mayfair hotel .also the tube at mercer (covent garden) is the busiest and crazy tube station in london

Hilton Park lane is in the same are as the mayfair and is an awesome hotel.

All the park plazas are are not as convenient to tube stations

pointnoob

I thought the Westminster/County Hall were close to Waterloo?

pantanal

about a 7-10 minute walk

mayfair is practically across from green park station.

tuscanyx

Have you though about park plaza on the river, the residence? I've never stayed there but did some reach for our summer trip. Unlike most of the London hotels, it allows kids stay for free so we dont need 2 rooms. It also has a kitchennett, which is handy for kids. Only thing is it is 5-10 min walk to tube.

terpfan101

Hi there. Thought I'd chime in as I recently went through this same debate. For Club Carlson properties I was choosing between Mercer St, Plaza on the River, and the two Park Plaza's that you mentioned. I also threw out the Mayfair because of poor tripadvisor reviews. While I'm sure it could be fine, I'd rather stick with a top 125 hotel with 4.5 stars on TA which those four are. In the end I went with the Mercer St location because it is most centralized location allowing you to walk to loads of places and being near numerous tube stations. Being south of the river isn't as ideal IMO. I'm not using the Hilton points since I'm going to try and book something with them prior to the devaluation for another trip but felt that the locations for the best Hilton properties weren't as great.

thegoderic

The Tower is at one end of the City and Westminster at the other so you'll have some travelling to do whichever hotel you choose.

As for the PPs, both are close to Waterloo and a short walk over Westminster Bridge to the Houses of Parliament.

I prefer CH to WB as it is much smaller. PP Westminster is huge, and can feel very impersonal. Breakfast at CH is slightly better as well and the dining room is much lighter and feels less cramped and crowded. Waterloo tube is a 5 minute walk away and there are a good few places to eat on South Bank, again 5 - 10 minutes away.

Hilton Park Lane is a bit away from most of the main tourist spots, albeit in a nice area. Another large hotel and the extras can be very expensive. If you have Hilton status, the lounge is not bad.

Hilton Tower Bridge is very nice, close to the Tower but a bit distant from other places. London Bridge tube is 3 minutes walk away. It is one of my preferred London Hotels.

If you want central with access to restaurants etc. then why not look at Hilton Trafalgar. Right on Trafalgar Square, nice rooms (typically larger than most London rooms), and a much more boutique hotel feel than any of the others.

spankytoes

It depends on what your objectives are. Both are on the Piccadilly Line, so that’s a wash. If you want to go to nice restaurants, a lot of them are in the Mayfair area. (Burger & Lobster, Hakksaan, etc.) If you don’t walk, which I wouldn’t when dressing up, you’ll save a little money on cabs by staying at the Mayfair. Mercer is closer to more of the sights if you want to hoof it. The quality of both hotels are pretty much the same. I think that people believe the Mayfair to be superior because of the posh neighborhood it’s located in.

I’d definitely use CC points over Hilton if you have no plans to use them in America. Makes more sense.