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Great Eastern Hotel Website

nologic

I wan't a big fan of the Churchill, so I think this is good news.

grumbler

The Great Eastern is a great hotel and one of the few good options in the City. If Hyatt can make this happen, then the chain is a real option for my business travel in London. Though I still love One Aldwych.

Dakota

More like £250 +. However, it is a very stylish hotel indeed. I haven't stayed there - I live a stone's throw from it - but have used the restaurants, bars and club often and they're very good. The building is beautiful and very stylishly refurbished, and the food, drinks and service very good too.

Threy

But probably not high end enough to be a Park Hyatt , I guess !

Considering the latest two Park Hyatt properties in Milan and Zurich, we are really talking about hotels that are Top 3 in their city by all means.

The new London property looks nice, however not as nice as some famous hotels in London.

So I assume Hyatt saves the Park Hyatt designation for a real high end property. ( as a logical conclusion they should certainly rebrand some other hotels as well... )

aa4ever

I too am surprised that it is Regency. Also, the "Top 3" in a city means almost nothing: witness Raleigh, NC: Marriott, Sheraton, Hilton! Now, which of those do you really want to sta in?

ozzie

The location is fantastic though. It's one of very few hotels in the city of London.

777 global mile hound

Global Hyatt Corporation and JER Partners announced the joint acquisition of London's Great Eastern Hotel from Conran Holdings and the Blackstone Group for an undisclosed price. The transaction is expected to close in March.

The hotel will continue to operate as the Great Eastern through December 31, 2006 and,
in January 2007, will be rebranded under the Hyatt Regency name.

It is anticipated that Conran Holdings will continue to provide advisory services on all restaurant and private dining operations following the acquisition.

Located in the City of London, the capital's financial hub, the historic, 267-room Great Eastern Hotel sits adjacent to Liverpool Street Station. Originally opened in two phases in 1884 and 1901 respectively, the stunning Victorian hotel was fully renovated and reopened in February 2000. Today, it boasts four restaurants, five bars and 12 private dining and event rooms.

Two Hyatt Regency properties in the same city

aa4ever

Oh, definately. Just pointing out that having "a top 3 hotel" in a city may not be such a great thing. Also, I would argue that in most US cities, Park Hyatt is definately NOT one of the top three hotels (PHL, DC, and SFO just off the top of my head).

RichardInSF

Liverpool Street station isn't a convenient enough location to justify me going there just for an HR, especially since I invariably fly into Heathrow. If they had upgraded the hotel to the PH level, maybe, but I guess they aren't going to do that.

Threy

It will be very interesting to see where they position the new Park Hyatt in Washington now.

After Hyatt International took over the management of the US Park Hyatts, I actually expect them to really upgrade those facilities to be able to compete within the group slightly below the very best.

Quite frankly, there are only a few dozen AAA 5 Diamond properties in the US anyway and those hotels are really setting a certain standard.

A Park Hyatt is normally playing in the 4 Diamond league and on par with the best hotels in town, certainly minus a FS or RC, the occasional MO or even independant hotel

sfvoyage

I stayed at the Great Eastern a few months ago and had expected a great trendy boutique hotel from their website. However, I was quite disappointed.

The first main problem is the room size - it's tiny. I had the second category, and I doubt the higher categories are much bigger. The rooms are cramped, and it's hard to navigate around the furniture. Had to change rooms due to outside street noise - the outside window couldn't shut properly.

The other main problem is the consistently subpar service throughout, from front desk to housekeeping to engineering. The staff appeared to be rather young and inexperienced, didn't seem to be empowered to make the right decisions or trained to handle adverse situations or correct the numerous problems I encountered throughout my 4-night stay.

The decor is fine and modern. Trendy in a way that's commonplace these days. Their gym is not bad and affords a decent workout. The other positive is that they offer Ren toiletries (like the Grand Hyatt Tokyo for their suites). In fact, this is supposedly ground zero for the Ren retail store chain, and they have a retail store on premise.

Overall, I'd say it's style over substance, and I wouldn't stay there again. Glad it's not branded Park Hyatt!

777 global mile hound

I believe we have to give the good folks from Hyatt the time to make the transition over to their management style. It is wise they are taking their time before rebranding the property.
They have proven to me over at the Hyatt Regency The Churchill that with excellent service anything is possible.
It is apparent from the lobby to the Regency Club Hyatt is firmly in control and knows exactly what it is doing in choosing the right staff and undertaking excellent renovation plans.
Let us see a year from now where it all lands.
Thank you for your trip report SFvoage it was quite interesting to read ^
Cheers

screwjack

I have stayed about 40 nights at the Great Eastern in the past year. I am not at all suprised that it will not be a Park, but not because it isn't a great place to stay.

It is in an historic building (an old hospital). (Before Terrance Conran bought the place, it was most recently an "hourly rate" hotel, frequented by City bankers and their.....um....."dates"). The vast majority of rooms are cramped, and very likely couldn't be expanded to Park-average sizes. Many face internal atria, or have very small windows (likely non-expandable due to 5 foot thick brick walls and historic facade protections).

Infrequent guests are likely unaware that the hotel has many very sizeable "junior suite" rooms that are, apparently, reserved for people who spend 40 nights a year in the hotel. Since I started getting those rooms I like the place a whole lot better. But I don't think there are enough of these to make a full gut and refit to Park-style worthwhile.

The main reason to stay at the GE is location. It is the only fine hotel in the City proper, and makes a commute to any office in Broadgate a 5 minute walk, as opposed to a 30 minute Tube ride. Tourists won't like the location, unless they enjoy slogging through a million suits on their way to the Tube to get to any of the main tourist areas. With such a unique location, there is really no need to distinguish itself to Park status. They could dumb it down to a Howard Johnsons and I, and my colleagues, would probably still stay there. (I hope Hyatt Int'l doesn't read this forum.....)

All the positives/superlatives I could list (the quality of the restaurants, the service level, the amenities), are moot, since new Hyatt management may improve or ruin any or all of them. Suffice it to say it is a great business hotel and I hope it will remain so.

Who knows? Maybe they will refit the Churchill to a Park instead.

RTH

777 global mile hound

Welcome to Flyertalk and the Hyatt forum Screwjack ^ ^
Thank you for your excellent report and feedback
Regarding some of your comments

[I]All the positives/superlatives I could list (the quality of the restaurants, the service level, the amenities), are moot, since new Hyatt management may improve or ruin any or all of them. Suffice it to say it is a great business hotel and I hope it will remain so.[/I]

The Hyatt Regency The Churchill has proven to me that the Hyatt folks more then ever before know what International guests are seeking in an International city.
Now more then ever before. I have decades of watching Hyatt rising and growing through the years
They have created a great place for business and leisure in an environment that will only be made better as rooms get renovated and updated
In fact I give Hyatt 9 out 10 in most markets they enter when the true Hyatt touch is applied.
My only complaint and off topic actually is the Grand Bed
More limited to select US properties
Mind you it's a great bed ruined by a cement box spring with no give.
After the Heavenly bed and others I am surprised they overlooked such a vital element in the final attention to detail in the finished product.
Some of the hotels have overcome most of the problem by adding feather duvets under the top sheet thankfully.
Some of us thought it was the beds fault early on. With some more investigation it
has nothing to do with the excellent bed mattress making for the very overly firm nights sleep.Mind you there are some that actually like that.


All the positives/superlatives I could list (the quality of the restaurants, the service level, the amenities), are moot, since new Hyatt management may improve or ruin any or all of them. Suffice it to say it is a great business hotel and I hope it will remain so.

Tastes can be so different so my comments may not be on target
But IMO Hyatt has taken the former InterContinental and turned the lobby and former restaurant into one of the most successful f&b operations I have seen in many years.
It is now a world class upscale casual dining venue in an elegant setting. Where very good food and beverage service can be enjoyed in a calming and inviting setting.

It is also of my opinion that the best is yet to come with Hyatt onboard.
My advice would be to eventually obtain Diamond elite status in Gold Passport if you are not already for the arrival of the Hyatt brand.
It is my belief with you’re past demonstrated business history they would more then likely comp you Daimond status for the first year.You sound like a very valuable customer. It will all be interesting down the road that is for sure


(I hope Hyatt Int'l doesn't read this forum.....)
You can bet your sweet bippy they do!
That's a fact jack