DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in or near London, United Kingdom {GBR}
Apr 20, 2024, 5:05 am
#631
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
After reading through the thread, I am still indecisive. We stayed at the Waldorf 10 years (??!!) ago, and loved the location and the lounge. We are staying in London for 2-3 nights at the end of October, and our criteria:
1) Location: we tend to walk everywhere vs. public transport (e.g., we walked to War Rooms, Tower of London, etc from Waldorf)
2) Nice room (robes, etc): we are on vacation, like to have a nicer room with some character
3) Lounge and breakfast: we tend to eat a large breakfast at the hotel, then pub type food for dinner
The Waldorf and Park Lane are available on standard points, so we could use our free night certificate and points/pay another. Conrad isn't, so we would have to pay cash. We can get a similar rate on AmEx Hotel Collection that is showing on HH for the Conrad which would give us a $200 credit plus the $100 "experience" credit. If we did that, would we still get the Diamond lounge access and free breakfast? I would confirm with the hotel, but curious if anyone has experience? It is significantly higher that the PL or Waldorf
Tower Bridge photos make it look like a more non-descript Hilton: is that just poor photography?
Thank you for all the help: we had two horrible Hilton hotels lately that had good reviews on Trip Advisor, so this forum is very helpful.
1) Location: we tend to walk everywhere vs. public transport (e.g., we walked to War Rooms, Tower of London, etc from Waldorf)
2) Nice room (robes, etc): we are on vacation, like to have a nicer room with some character
3) Lounge and breakfast: we tend to eat a large breakfast at the hotel, then pub type food for dinner
The Waldorf and Park Lane are available on standard points, so we could use our free night certificate and points/pay another. Conrad isn't, so we would have to pay cash. We can get a similar rate on AmEx Hotel Collection that is showing on HH for the Conrad which would give us a $200 credit plus the $100 "experience" credit. If we did that, would we still get the Diamond lounge access and free breakfast? I would confirm with the hotel, but curious if anyone has experience? It is significantly higher that the PL or Waldorf
Tower Bridge photos make it look like a more non-descript Hilton: is that just poor photography?
Thank you for all the help: we had two horrible Hilton hotels lately that had good reviews on Trip Advisor, so this forum is very helpful.
It’s still a good hotel but no longer a great hotel…… I noticed the rates are quite high too.
Apr 20, 2024, 10:53 am
#632
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 362
The Waldorf used to be my favourite but just be aware it has gone downhill lately with many cutbacks ( no more afternoon tea in executive lounge, happy hour now 5-7 not 6 -8:30pm, no more self serve canapés, no more valet parking and the spa has permanently closed) .
It’s still a good hotel but no longer a great hotel…… I noticed the rates are quite high too.
It’s still a good hotel but no longer a great hotel…… I noticed the rates are quite high too.
Apr 20, 2024, 2:13 pm
#633
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
Thanks for these details Wizla, just made it much easier. The lounge really sold this hotel for us so sounds like we will skip (nothing gold can stay I suppose). The price ($) is about the same as Conrad averaged over 3 nights, but I was hoping to use our free night certificate for one. PL is the most expensive over the three nights. I hate to burn two nights of points, as we've previously made good use of the 5th night free. Time to also consider non-Hiltons for London...
You say you like to walk everywhere , have you considered Hilton Canary Wharf?, as a gold you are almost guaranteed to get upgraded to executive level to get lounge access, the breakfast is certainly filling ( diamonds and golds get breakfast in the restaurant) .
Yes the compromise is you will have to get into London via public transport but there is a clipper that leaves from Canary Wharf pier and you can be at the Tower of London in 10mins and it’s kinda fun going up the river fast..
Just a thought.
Apr 20, 2024, 5:52 pm
#634
Join Date: Apr 2011
Posts: 362
Ok…here’s a thought…
You say you like to walk everywhere , have you considered Hilton Canary Wharf?, as a gold you are almost guaranteed to get upgraded to executive level to get lounge access, the breakfast is certainly filling ( diamonds and golds get breakfast in the restaurant) .
Yes the compromise is you will have to get into London via public transport but there is a clipper that leaves from Canary Wharf pier and you can be at the Tower of London in 10mins and it’s kinda fun going up the river fast..
Just a thought.
You say you like to walk everywhere , have you considered Hilton Canary Wharf?, as a gold you are almost guaranteed to get upgraded to executive level to get lounge access, the breakfast is certainly filling ( diamonds and golds get breakfast in the restaurant) .
Yes the compromise is you will have to get into London via public transport but there is a clipper that leaves from Canary Wharf pier and you can be at the Tower of London in 10mins and it’s kinda fun going up the river fast..
Just a thought.
Apr 20, 2024, 6:00 pm
#635
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: SJC
Programs: AA EXP, BA Silver, Hyatt Globalist, Hilton diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 33,533
Cheers.
Apr 21, 2024, 2:53 am
#636
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: norwich, uk
Programs: hhonors diamond
Posts: 5,397
At Canary Wharf an upgrade is almost guaranteed, I’ve stayed over 100 times as a gold and diamond and only ever not got upgraded to executive level once.
The area is pleasant too around the old London docks, Greenwich is close by too and a great place to visit….its worth researching.
Apr 21, 2024, 8:24 pm
#637
Join Date: Apr 2002
Location: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Programs: United Global Services, Lifetime Hilton Diamond
Posts: 353
I really like the Doubletree West End (About a 15-20 minute walk to the heart of the West End). They have a great buffet breakfast available to Diamonds and will cook eggs to order too-- even have their own version of Afternoon Tea in their restaurant. Rooms can be a little small so you need to book in a room that you will be comfortable in if due to being sold out-- there are no upgrades available. A very short walk to the Holborn Tube for the Central and Piccadilly Lines and many bus lines outside of hotel of close by. I have stayed there 21 times and not long ago over 4 months of a collective stay for weeks at a time. I used to stay at the Waldorf (5 stays), Trafalgar (4 stays) and Hyde Park (10 stays), but did not like the consistency of room types and sizes and did not receive recognition and/or upgrades as a Diamond for frequent stays. The Doubletree has a small hotel feel, but has great staff (some have been with the property over 10 years) and every time I return, I always get a big hello from the staff, who seem to remember me even when it has been quite a few months.
Apr 22, 2024, 10:00 pm
#638
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: DEN
Programs: Hilton Diamond Hyatt Globalist Marriott Gold AA EXP
Posts: 1,012
Any recent recommendations for families? We will be in London for 3 nights in April with our 5 year old, so 3 to a room. That bumps us up to a premium room on points/"premium" cash rates as well at almost every location. I have stayed in the Conrad and Trafalgar in the past ~ 2 years, but those are probably out for this trip based on price. We would be fine staying out of the core tourist areas. And I'm not 100% committed to Hilton for this stay, but being Diamond that is my first choice.
What are the chances of booking a standard room w/5th night free at a core hotel then asking for a Cash upgrade to a room that allows a rollaway?