Horace

Sharon, thank you for calling the GH JW Marriott!

Based on your explanation, and that you assumed it to be a smoke-free hotel when you've stayed there, I think it's safe to say it's unlikely we'll have to deal with unwanted smoke or its lingering smell.

I'm going to assume it's the same story the Marriott Park Lane.

My wife and I are using a 7-night Category 9 certificate, so we have a number of choices. Of course, I want to pick the hotel that meets our needs well and maximizes the value of the certificate.

Last time, we stayed at the Renaissance Chancery Court, which was a Category 6 at the time (!). I wish we could stay there again (even if it had moved up to category 9), but it left Marriott.

Our plans are to spend our days visiting some of London's many attractions and seeing West End plays most evenings. In-between, it would be nice to relax in a pleasant executive lounge for an hour or so, with hors d'oeuvres and a cup of tea or glass of wine. Thus, a central location, good transportation, and a nice lounge are important.

My first choice would be County Hall, but I can only get it if I pay an extra 50 GBP per night. Other hotels are available without an uncharge.

I like the location of St. Ermin's, but it has no lounge.

As a Platinum, we would have access to the Chambers Club lounge at St. Pancras, but otherwise the hotel seems to have less to recommend itself.

Marble Arch seems to be a lesser hotel than the others.

So that leaves Park Lane, Grosvenor Square, GH JW Marriott. From this short list, I picked GH JW Marriott. Although it requires a longer walk to a tube station than the other two, it seems to be the most elegant and possibly has the nicest lounge. Also it has the highest room rate if we were paying with money instead of points, so it seems to maximize the value of our points.

Does anyone have any thoughts about whether I made the right choice?

HookEm

[QUOTE=Horace;25638112

My wife and I are using a 7-night Category 9 certificate, so we have a number of choices. [/QUOTE]

There is a special 5-night cert (buy 4 nts, get 1 free) but I'm not aware of a 7-nt cert. Or is it just the 5-nt cert plus 2 more nts?

You have rejected it, but the RSP is fantastic. The Chambers Club is outstanding, and the hotel is by Regent's Canal, so you can walk or jog for miles in the city by a canal -pretty cool.

SkiAdcock

He's probably using a travel package which is 7-nights.

Cheers.

LELCW

It may or may not apply to your dates, but when I started looking for my trip County Hall was showing with a per-night cash upcharge, too. But I noticed that if I just kept checking it over a few days, I managed to happen onto it when it didn't. The rates change all the time, as I'm sure you know, so you may yet see County Hall without the additional cash fee. If that's really your top choice, keep checking on it.

Horace

Thank you for all the responses!

As Sharon surmised, we have a travel package for 7 nights in a Category 9, 120,000 AAdvantage points, and 24,000 bonus AAdvantage points.

I'll have to take another look at the Renaissance St. Pancras. The regular Barlow rooms seem ordinary (and it seems that upgrades are rare) compared to the Chambers rooms and the Marriott hotels in Mayfair. It's in an area of train stations (which would be great if I were planning day trips from those stations, but not as great for central London attractions and West End theaters). My wife was not impressed when I showed her a photo of a room with a view of train platforms under the huge train shed. I was not aware of Regent's Canal, and I should probably study tube service from St. Pancras to the places we want to go. Maybe I dismissed St. Pancras too quickly.

I'll keep looking. I like the location of the Marriott County Hall. With its current renovations, it should be in great shape in summer 2016. We would probably be giving up an additional level of luxury at places like the GH JW Marriott, but there's so much within a reasonable walk or a quick tube trip.

HookEm

The Master Thread sticky on Executive Lounges states that the lounge is "OPEN for brekkie only on weekends".

However, when I bring up rates for an upcoming weekend night, the hotel's website states that the executive lounge is "Open Sun-Sat, 6am-12pm". This implies there is no difference in the evening snacks/refreshments for a weekend night.

So what gives? Is the website misleading?

ohmark

Seems to me that the sticky and what you read on the website are consistent.

HookEm

I don't know how you come to that conclusion. If the sticky says there is a difference between service in the Lounge on weekends vs. weekdays, and the hotel website indicates service is exactly the same from Sunday to Saturday, then that is certainly not consistent.

So, since there were no other responses to my question, I contacted the hotel, and they told me service is exactly the same every day. So the sticky is incorrect and the website is correct.

ohmark

I see the Maida Vale site also mentions an honor bar and hors d'oeuvres. So, if the website is accurate, as you were told, get ready to do your wine drinking and hors d'oeuvreing in the morning. I assumed the poorly written lounge language on the website was attempting to convey that the lounge was open on the weekend (it says "Sun-Sat"), and that the hours on the weekend were "6 am-12:00 pm" (which to most of us would mean it closes at noon). One might further assume that since the website specifically mentions the bar and hors d'oeuvres, that during the rest of the week the lounge remains open late afternoon and evening hours, like most Marriotts and Rens. But if you directly contacted the hotel and they told you different, so be it. I've never been there.
On another subject, you are absolutely right about RSP. We were exhausted our first night there, and it was heaven to have dinner served to us in the wonderful Club.

HookEm

Indeed, the Maida Vale should have attached 'am' rather than 'pm' to the 12. But I assumed they had just made a minor typo. Anyway, I was assured that the Lounge is open all day every day of the week, including for afternoon tea as well as evening hors d'oeuvres and drinks.

I find the Chambers Club at RSP to be exceptionally grand. If you are a Platinum, you need to try it for at least one night. I did not pay for an upgrade and so my room was in the newer section. It had a contemporary decor and was quite nice. The only negative was that the food and beverage amenity was very poor. I opted for the red wine and nuts. The half bottle of wine was ghastly - simply undrinkable. By contrast, the wine in the Chambers Club was quite good. Also, I thought the food amenity would be some mixed nuts, but it only consisted of some peanuts, which aren't really nuts and were quite cheap. So go with the points instead.

SkiAdcock

As always with the exec lounge sticky it's correct as of the last time a FTer updated it w/ info on properties or I contacted the various properties personally to get an update.

So when someone posted an update in July of this year for Maida Vale (open for brekkie only), it was accurate as of 07/15. If it's changed since then (and based on your conversation w/ the property it has), then I'll update it based on your input w/ a new 11/15 date. FWIW - Maida Vale has flip-flopped on being open/closed over the years on the weekends.

Cheers.

nobbyclark

Maida Vale is not an honour system - at least it wasn't as recently as last week. Food and drink is freely available.

ohmark

Apparently, one more instance of poor or inaccurate verbiage on its website, which is worded thusly:
•This room features Executive lounge access
•Open: Sun-Sat, Open: 6am - 12pm
•Closed: May be closed during holidays
•Complimentary food:
•- Continental breakfast
•- hors d'oeuvres
•Complimentary non-alcoholic beverages
•Honor bar

SkiAdcock

I've found that most of the London properties say honour bar when indeed the booze is free. Maybe they're just using general copy from other property websites.

Cheers.

catocony

I'm heading over the London next week, and am bringing the girlfriend along. It will be her first trip, so she wants to do all of the touristy stuff. We'll be using the Tube a lot to get around.

I'm a life Plat, and using points (200k - 225k). The ones around Marble Arch and Park Lane are all open. Park Lane, Grosvenor House, Grosvenor Square. Marble Arch Marriott is 25k points less, but not a major factor.

What's the current ranking of these properties, taking into account Tube access, concierge lounge, general room size and bed quality, chance of upgrade etc?