Novotel London Blackfriars
Oct 29, 2017, 1:12 am
Novotel London Blackfriars
46 Blackfriars Road London, GB SE1 8NZ
Novotel London Blackfriar (7 Photos)
Novotel London Blackfriars
I stayed here for 4 nights in October 2017. I reached at about 12 noon. They allowed an early check-in as typical check-in time was 2pm. Booked a superior room and got a executive room. Welcome drink coupon was also presented.
Room
In my opinion, the executive room is huge. Situated at the top 2 floors, it oversees the London Bridge area with some views of St Paul's Cathedral, Tate Muesem and a good view of the Shard.
Personally love the smart pillows which you can fold when sitting up and unfold for sleeping! Side beds feature wall sockets and USB ports to charge your phones.
Bathroom featured a rain shower and the typical glass partition in Novotels that turns from opaque to clear and vice versa with a touch of a button.
Nespresso, tea and 4 bottles (2 sparkling and 2 still) were complimentary.
Noise insulation between the rooms were very good.
Service
Friendly and casual service all over, but not over the top where makes you uncomfortable.
As a LCAH plat member, I received a gift (magnet) with a spelling error. So I emailed the GM (whose email was included in the welcome note) and he was on leave! So I forwarded it to the Operations Manager whose email was in the GM's Out of Office reply.
Apologies came via email. When I was back in the room later that day, a plate of brownies with an apology letter was on the table. Now, problem was that there was no cutlery to enjoy the brownie! Naturally, I used the teaspoon on the mini bar.
A replacement gift (Unexpected) was presented the next day. It was a nice multi connector USB cable with Novotel branding.
Personally, the slight hiccup of no cutlery and not changing the email on the welcome note was some slight blemishes to the overall pleasant service all around.
Location
2 minutes walk from Southwark Underground station, Jubilee Line.
10 minutes walk to Waterloo Underground station.
15 minutes walk to Borough Market and London Bridge
Approx 25 minutes walk to Tower of London, Shard, Tate and Millenium Bridge
It is about an hour train ride from Heathrow T2. Quite a pain if you just had a long flight, but bearable.
Dining
Breakfast was included in the rate. The restaurant is located at the on level 1. It turns into a bar later in the day. The atmosphere was great. It's a nice place to people watch as well.
Spread was the typical English breakfast and for 4 days, the spread didn't change one bit. However, the quality was great.
Overall
A 4 star experience at Novotel Blackfrairs and lived up to the reviews on TripAdvisor. I would say that it is one of the better Novotels. Stay here!
Oct 29, 2017, 1:49 am
But the best Novotel in London remains for me the Canary Wharf one.
Jan 7, 2018, 3:03 am
We booked an "executive premium" room with a queen bed. We were allocated an "executive" room with what was either a wide queen or narrow king bed, on a high floor.
A welcome note was waiting in our room, along with a second welcome note addressed to someone else. There was also a small jar of Christmas-themed chocolate balls, almost a week into the new year.
We were given a drinks voucher, which we redeemed for a couple of pints of beer in the bar. (There were a couple of decent UK beers hiding in a long list of mostly foreign industrial beer-like products.)
Sep 15, 2018, 9:03 am
The most substantial status benefit (a decent upgrade) was delivered: we booked the cheapest room and were allocated an "executive" king room on a high floor. There was no welcome note or gift, but a drinks voucher for two was given without us needing to ask.
Basic status recognition isn't hard, but so many Accor properties don't manage it. This hotel does. Add the fact that everyone was friendly and efficient and we'll be back. ^
Sep 15, 2018, 8:36 pm
The most substantial status benefit (a decent upgrade) was delivered: we booked the cheapest room and were allocated an "executive" king room on a high floor. There was no welcome note or gift, but a drinks voucher for two was given without us needing to ask.
Basic status recognition isn't hard, but so many Accor properties don't manage it. This hotel does. Add the fact that everyone was friendly and efficient and we'll be back. ^
I agree, get most of the things right and have a friendly crew and that makes a happy guest. But how hard is it to tick all the boxes?
Sep 16, 2018, 7:41 am
That said, I'll settle for a hotel that does most of what it should, most of the time, with a smile and no silly restrictions. One example would be drinks vouchers. Four times out of five I don't spend enough time in the hotel to use them, but when I do I really dislike discovering they're only good for a 'house' wine, or a small beer, or only one of the five brands of beer available to paying guests. The Novotel Blackfriars lets you order pints.
Oct 21, 2018, 1:09 am
Platinum welcome amenity, Novotel Blackfriars, October 2018
Everything else was great, as always. And, well, they're sort of trying. Aren't they?
Oct 22, 2018, 1:42 am
Platinum welcome amenity, Novotel Blackfriars, October 2018
Everything else was great, as always. And, well, they're sort of trying. Aren't they?
Dec 10, 2018, 12:08 am
We didn't use the drinks voucher -- even if we had not had better plans than the hotel bar, we'd have been driven away by the Christmas party that was happening that night. (We were invited to join in, both by email in advance and on the night, but were happy not to.)
Jan 18, 2019, 9:14 am
Mar 19, 2019, 10:28 am
A minor maintenance issue wasn't properly resolved at the first attempt. The wasbasin was draining very slowly. We reported this in the morning and when we returned things had improved, but not much. My guess is that someone made a quick plunger 'repair' rather than taking the time to empty the s-bend of whatever nastiness had accumulated there.
Overall, however, this was another pleasant stay, with much of the credit for that going to the friendly and efficient people on duty at reception and in the bar. ^