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Hilton London Euston hotel Trip Reports and Reviews
After reading bad things about this hotel I was faced with a dilemma this week. I stayed at the London Metropole on the night of the 8th March, but the rate jumped to an astounding £350++ per night for the 9th.
I looked at other options for a London stay and thought about the Euston Hilton. Unlike many of the other Hiltons in London I have not tried this hotel so I thought "what the hell" let's give it a go how bad can it be? I looked at the web site and noted that some rooms had sofas, a particularly appealing feature of a hotel IMHO. I booked a standard room on a RO basis expecting my Diamond upgrade and free breakfast.
I was very pleasantly surprised. My GF checked in as I was on my way back to London from a short business meeting in Scotland and got delayed at Glasgow Airport for a little while. Upon arrival I was disappointed not to have a room with a sofa, and mentioned this to the front desk. They changed my room with barely a quibble (despite me hearing them make a remark to another guest that they were fully booked). The ambience of the lobby area is quite good. This seems to be a relatively small hotel and seems cosy (and a little old fashioned) but with lots of modern touches. The bar area and main restaurant (neither of which we used on this stay) looked clean tidy and classy with a mix of traditional and modern furnishings.
The room was easy to find and of a reasonable size. It faced inwards to a courtyard type area and was very quiet for the overall location. The furnishings were a little odd for a Hilton (My GF remarked that they reminded her a lot of a Holiday Inn) but the bed was very comfortable, the TV was a great size the sofa was very useful and comfortable and overall the room was far more practical than the East Wing room of the Metropole we left the night before.
The bathroom had been completely refitted in a modern style with lots of tile and granite. The bath was small and there was no seperate shower, but the fittings were of high quality and the shower worked very well (again much better than the separate shower in the Metropole). The only notably poor feature was the cheap (and somewhat shoddy) suspended ceiling throughout the room as a whole.
Breakfast in the basement restaraunt was also good and notably quieter than other London Hiltons I have stayed in. The furniture and design of the basement dining room was of good quality and the food was good too. Normal Hilton staffing issues (absent or disinterested staff) were noted however. I also found the sweetener at breakfast to be heavy and granulated (in its Splenda pack) indicating that it had got damp and been dried out, luckily I had my own sweetener tablets in my briefcase.
Upon check out I was billed for breakfast but when I mentioned that I should not have to pay for this as a HH DIA, it was removed from the bill.
Overall I was very impressed (perhaps partly because of my low expectations) and I would definitely stay again (if I could guarantee a room with sofa). I do think that £153 (tax inclusive) was a little expensive for a hotel with no Exec Lounge (given that I normally pay less than £130 at the Metropole), but for the cost I would say I was totally satisfied with my stay experience (a rarity for me in a UK Hilton).
I know this particular hotel has had a bad rap on this forum, but it seemed worthwhile detailing my own experience.
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I take back some of my positive comments.
I checked my Amex bill online today and found that I had been charged 2 items @ £16 each for what I assume to be breakfast at this property for my other half and I. I am furious about this given that they removed the charge and seem to have surreptitiously recharged my credit card for the same items they removed when I checked out.
I have emailed the GM (who I know is on holiday this week) and Diamond Desk and will post an update. I have never experienced anything like this in 8 years staying at Hiltons or in my 4 years as a HH Diamond.
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Posts: 783
Euston Questions
Quote:
Originally Posted by Land-of-Miles
I take back some of my positive comments.
I checked my Amex bill online today and found that I had been charged 2 items @ £16 each for what I assume to be breakfast at this property for my other half and I. I am furious about this given that they removed the charge and seem to have surreptitiously recharged my credit card for the same items they removed when I checked out.
I have emailed the GM (who I know is on holiday this week) and Diamond Desk and will post an update. I have never experienced anything like this in 8 years staying at Hiltons or in my 4 years as a HH Diamond.
I'm trying to stay in a central London Hilton for ten days in mid-September. The only one that seems to fit my business budget is the Euston. A couple of questions:
1) How far a walk is it from the hotel to the tube (Euston I guess)? Trying to get to Canada Square so it looks like Metropolitan line to London Bridge then transfer to Jubilee?
2) Is there an exec lounge?
3) Is there air conditioning - that works
4) What is the GM email's address?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by milesmilesmiles
I'm trying to stay in a central London Hilton for ten days in mid-September. The only one that seems to fit my business budget is the Euston. A couple of questions:
1) How far a walk is it from the hotel to the tube (Euston I guess)? Trying to get to Canada Square so it looks like Metropolitan line to London Bridge then transfer to Jubilee?
2) Is there an exec lounge?
3) Is there air conditioning - that works
4) What is the GM email's address?
Thanks
Ok here goes
1) A short walk to either Russell Square (piccadilly) or Euston (northern) also Euston Square (circle & hammersmith & city). IMHO a bit of a PITA to et to Canary wharf from there have you thought about the Hilton Docklands?
2) No
3) Not noticeable, I had the window opne and that was in a really good room
4) PM me and I will give it to you
All in if you are looking for value, try the Islington Hilton. It is 2 stops further down the Northern Line (so is closer to Docklands and the City). It is also an infinitely superior hotel.
I've stayed at this hotel many times (it's very handy for BMA House just a couple doors down) including in its pre-Hilton days (used to be a privately-owned hotel until about 2-3y ago I think). It has definitely improved since then but unfortunately the underlying size and shape of the building does cause some problems.
In particular - rooms at the front tend to be pretty noisy, and also a bit on the small side. Particularly bad are the top-floor rooms which have sloping roofs. Last time I was checking-in I heard another guest say that if they couldn't move him he was leaving. Compared to the price that the nearby Travel Inn charge you really shouldn't put up with a small room.
A couple of stays ago I complained about the room I was given (and lack of Gold VIP upgrade) - the GM wrote back and apologised saying that my account had been updated so that I shouldn't get that size of room again in the future.
As a nice touch they often have a letter waiting for Gold VIPs inviting them to complimentary drinks/canapes in the evening at the bar - perhaps this is due to them not having an exec floor? I've also found that I tend to only get charged the £3.50 tray charge for room service breakfast, not the full extra 'upgrade' price from the breakfast included with the room rate.
I've found the temperature in the rooms to be pretty reasonable. There are air conditioning controls throughout although they only seem to let you increase or decrease the temperature by 3 degrees!
Overall - reasonable-enough place to stay, just make sure you get a decent room! Perhaps even worth phoning earlier in the day if you're going to be late checking in. I also tend to book via the call centre rather than the web as this seems to ensure that the 'upgrade if avail' phrase makes it on to the booking confirmation.
The temperature in London is not bad by mid September. I am sure that the average UK ac will be fine by then. That is not the same as if you were there today when the temperature was in the 80's (F).
Euston Hilton is just about 2 - 3 min walk to Euston Station and about 5 min to Russell Square station. It is on a main road to central London (therefore plenty of traffic noise).
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I have to say I found this Hotel to be nothing short of awful! Service was appalling and things one would expect in a UK Hilton (such as BT Openzone Wi-fi access) were not available. Wi-fi access was provided instead by another partner (with an excessive fee). No LAN access working in the rooms. Management did not seem too concerned. And to top it all off? Well had to scream shout and make a fuss before they 'eventually' posted the points for the stay. Certainly not a property I would ever stay at again. For the sake of a few stops on the tube; consider the London Metropole.
I just finished a 4 night stay at this property. We were meeting friends who were staying a a nearby B&B and wanted to burn off some HH points for 2 nights, and found a great rate on ba.com for the remaining two nights.
The first night they had us in a front room on the 3rd floor and it was really noisy. In fact, the window latch was broken and the top sash wouldn't close all the way, so we were essentially open to the street. They had no more nonsmoking rooms and couldn't move us, and engineering was afraid to try to fix the window for fear the top sash would completely fall down and then not go back up. The room was also just really uncomfortable, despite the queen sized bed and ok overall size.
The next day they moved us to a second floor room at the back and it was like night and day. Though the room was smaller and had only a double bed, the ceiling was at least 12 fee high and an entire wall was windows, with doors that opened onto a "juliet" balcony. This room faced the terrace off the gym, so there was a little noise in the morning from hardy exercisers, but it was much more pleasant and quiet compared to the first room. Among other things, the furniture was in much better shape.
There are some serious maintenance issues at this hotel. As I said, many of the windows are nearing (or past) the end of their useful life - the engineer told us they are slated to be replaced. I looks like they did a partial renovation pretty recently, but they did it really cheaply and it looks it. For example, we had one halogen light in the bath that burned out while we were there and was never replaced. It looked like it had overheated repeatedly - the fixture was all warped.
Also, the breakfast (which was included in our BA rate) was dreadful, and the breakfast room in the basement was sweltering hot.
In sum, this hotel might be ok at a good price if you have need to be in the neighborhood, but otherwise I'd look elsewhere. I wouldn't go back.
I did get a followup email survey about my stay for this property and replied truthfully. I received a personalized email followup from the property manager several hours later. Kudos where kudos are due, though I still wouldn't stay there again if I had other alternatives.
...The first night they had us in a front room on the 3rd floor and it was really noisy. In fact, the window latch was broken and the top sash wouldn't close all the way, so we were essentially open to the street...
I think I might have gotten the same room -- which hasn't been fixed!
I'd concur with earlier statements about this hotel being noisy. There are essentially two issues -- wood floors that creak, which you can hear upstairs and down, as well as in the hallway, and the street noise. I'd strongly recommend asking for a room away from the street, which I moved to and then was able to sleep soundly.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chazas
...this hotel might be ok at a good price if you have need to be in the neighborhood, but otherwise I'd look elsewhere. I wouldn't go back.
My take was that I'd stay there again if I need to take the train from Euston early in the morning, but only for a single night's stay. This is not someplace I'd want to spend a lot of time, but if you get a room in the back it is minimally acceptable -- although certainly not luxurious by any means.
__________________ "The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page." - Saint Augustine
I stayed at the Hilton Euston last week and I found it to be a reasonably good value London Hilton. I was upgraded to a deluxe room which was at the front of the hotel but didn't find it too noisy. The room was very large and clean, the only problem I had was that the AC didn't seem to work properly.
The bar was very busy - football game on TV - and lots of smokers. The restaurant is an impressive room and the food and service were both good. Breakfast was OK with a good selection of hot and cold food.
Most of the London Hilton's are outside of my employer's budget so I'll be staying at the Hilton Euston again soon.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BAGoldBoy
I stayed at the Hilton Euston last week and I found it to be a reasonably good value London Hilton. I was upgraded to a deluxe room which was at the front of the hotel but didn't find it too noisy. The room was very large and clean, the only problem I had was that the AC didn't seem to work properly.
The bar was very busy - football game on TV - and lots of smokers. The restaurant is an impressive room and the food and service were both good. Breakfast was OK with a good selection of hot and cold food.
Most of the London Hilton's are outside of my employer's budget so I'll be staying at the Hilton Euston again soon.
The strange thing is this hotel is often significantly more expensive than better properties. It is a rarity that the Euston is cheaper than one of the other better properties. Quite often the Metropole or London Bridge work out significantly cheaper and they at least have proper Executive Floors and lounges.
Of the other London Hiltons, the Islington is consistently cheaper than the Euston and considering it has no Exec Floor has pretty consistent HH DIA recognition.
The Euston can sometimes be a little cheaper (which led to my first and last stay) but even then it tends not to be significantly cheaper. Given the lack of Diamond benefits at this property (apart perhaps from a room with a sofa), I really don't see why anyone would choose it in preference to another property (one off pricing exceptions aside).
I did approximately 50 nights in various London Hiltons last year (either 1 or 2 night stays) and on only 1 occasion did I notice a price at the Euston >£10 less than the Metropole or equivalent.
The bar was very busy - football game on TV - and lots of smokers. The restaurant is an impressive room and the food and service were both good. Breakfast was OK with a good selection of hot and cold food.
Yep I can't wait for the smoking ban to come into effect in England - I really notice the difference when I'm down travelling!
In general I think the Euston Hilton is OK if you get an upgraded room but the 'standard' rooms are pretty dreadful.
