Land-of-Miles

It is worth much more than 1K points per night. The basic rooms are hideous, the Studio/Suites are really rather nice.

stever500

Land-O-Miles - this information is extremely helpful. I like the idea of saving 5500 pts a night, so we'll go with the Studio Suites Park Lane hotel and cross our fingers that we get a good room with a view.

Now, the only thing we have left to decide is 10 nts in London (buy 8 on pts and get 2 free) or 7 nights and 3 somewhere else in England.

I guess if this is our hardest problem in life right now, it's all good .

Steve R

domirule

Am contemplating about staying at either the Sheraton Park Tower or the Great Eastern Hotel (Hyatt). Am top tier in both programs and am looking to redeem points. Has anybody stayed at both properties and which is the better property?

mauld

I have stayed at both, and it comes down to what are you looking for??
Great Eastern- not centrally located for tourist attractions, close to the business district. While the outside of the building is older, inside it is very modern and "W" ish. On weekends, there is not much to do within walking distance-- but you are right next to the train station. They had a good number and variety of restaurants connected to the hotel. As a top tier you'll be upgraded-- but there is no RC and many of the rooms face into an inner courtyard. Outside rooms have no real view.
Sheraton Park Tower- very centrally located, near major shopping, sights, Hyde Park etc. Comfortable rooms, and you'll most likely be upgrded-- but not to the Butler floors (unless you get very lucky). Not as many restaurants within the hotel-- but then again there are lots outside and within walking distance.

So, if this is your first time to London and you want to be in the midst of everything-- go with the Park Tower. OTOH, if you're going for business and want to be close to your office, and want a more 'cutting edge' hotel, stay at the GE

domirule

Thanks Mauld! I'll be going there as a tourist, so it'll probably be the Park Tower then. Am I correct in saying that the rooms at the Sheraton are bigger than the ones at they Hyatt?

When I visited London a few years back, I always stayed at the 2 Hyatt properties (Lowndes & Carlton Tower), and found the location quite good. So I'll be looking forward to staying in that area again... The Great Eastern area doesn't sound all that appealing for a tourist...

mauld

Remember the Park Tower is round and the rooms are somewhat pie shaped. I was given a large room at the Hyatt, but it had only one small window that faced into a partial wall/inner courtyard-- thus the room felt dark. I believe the rooms at the Park Tower are a bit smaller, but then again they could be the same size (as the GE), but with bulkier furnishings they feel more crowded. I'm sure if you do a search you'll find some pics posted for the Sheraton.
Here are pics of mine of the HGE:

http://www1.snapfish.com/thumbnailsh...609/t_=6397609

Dambus

... So all of the butler floor rooms and suites* are smoking rooms?! Is this for real? At least this is what the front desk claimed on a recent stay.

So, no point hoping for a Plat butler floor upgrade, let alone a suite,
unless you fancy smelling like an ash tray.


-- Dambus


* There is in fact one non smoking suite on the 14th floor which they said was occupied by a long stay guest

smat

I just stayed on a cah and points stay from Dec 12-17. My first time at this hotel, usually stay at Park Lane or occasionally Le Meridien. The hotel was OK, but the internet and mini bar prices were outrageous. I think it was 6 pounds for 1 hour of internet service.

I'm a Platinum, but didn't feel like I got any recognition during this stay. I arrived about 12:30pm and they first offered me a twin bedded room, that they said they could zip the beds together with a thick mattress pad, so it seemed just like a King. I said OK, partially because I was tired and just wanted to get into a room. When I went upstairs the room had a connecting door, which I HATE. So I called down to change rooms and of course they didn't have anything. I agreed to wait until later for a King without a connecting door.

I did get the type of room requested, but it was directly across from the elevator. At this point I felt like the less money you paid for a room the worse location they gave you......

My other major complaint was the TV, there was no BBC 1 or BBC 2 on my TV, yet a zillion of foreign channels.

The bed was comfy, room size decent, bathroom good.....but all in all, I'd go back and stay at Le Meridien or Park Lane for the location (since I tend to spend most of my time in the West End, they are more convenient and I've gotten better Platinum treatment there).

Keith009

I've updated my trip report with a short review of the Sheraton Park Tower, with pics:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showp...2&postcount=60

Cheers.

dabbagmm

The Sheraton Park Tower hotel is among my favorite hotels in London and I usually stay there about 4-5 times a year. However my seven-day stay of last week was extremely disappointing. Something seriously wrong is going on and hotel management seems to have lost it somehwere.
During my stay, I felt a noticeable downgrade in housekeeping; there was not a single day where there was no missing item in the room like toiletries, laundry bags & forms, the complementary bottle of water. The turndown service was redefined to be simply a chocolate and a breakfast order form placed on the bed. Room service also had it share as breakfast was delivered out of the specified 15min period and some items were confused although clearly ticked on the form. Not a big deal with breakfast, but all small things point to solid and visible trend of deteriorating standards.

While all of the above are merely small and “cosmetics” the real disaster was misplacing my laundry and the "cleaver" attempt to manage the situation. I sent some shirts and a suit for dry cleaning early in the morning and was expecting them back by 6PM on the same day. Surprisingly, my clothes did not quite make it on time and I had to follow up with hotel’s guest services at 7PM who failed to deliver my clothes. I got the duty manager involved by around 10pm as I needed to pack my clothes to catch my morning flight on the following morning. The hotel duty manager told me that my clothes did not make it back from dry cleaning and there is no way that I get my clothes as I will be leaving the hotel before the landromat opens.
While I was checking out at 6:30 in the morning, the hotel manager brought me my shirts which he found misplaced somewhere in the hotel. He told me that they don’t have my suit as there was no suit handed over with the shirts. All what they got was shirts and he showed me a laundry form (not the one I filled) showing only shirts marked and no suit and claiming that this is the form I filled!
I didn’t know what was he trying to prove by showing a fake form? I departed the hotel carrying a very negative impression of the hotel and its management management.

A couple of hours latter I was checking my email in the airport lounge and found an e-mail from the hotel duty manager saying that my suit was found! (MAGIC!!)
Unfortunately, I have already checked in for my flight and there was no way to go back to the hotel to get the suit. The hotel later on advised me that the suit will be sent (three days later on Tuesday due to weekend and bank holiday) by DHL to my home address. The hotel offered to cover the charges of the DHL delivery and to credit it my SPG account with 5,000 starpoints.

The impression I have now of the Sheraton Park Tower is not a good value for money, erratic service and unreliable staff. The hotel staff had over 12 hours to find my clothes and they did not. The duty manager got involved and could not resolve the issue. In addition to that, the hotel missed the point in offering a goodwill gesture. Problems do happen from time to time and this is a fact of life. The true standard of a hotel become visible when dealing with problems, rectifying them, and saying sorry.

Now, I need to research London hotel again and find a new home. I just wish the Lanesborough become part of SPG.

ralphgoodwin

I too have had the unfortunate experence to stay at the tower. Infact I list it as in my worst 5 stays I have ever had. I look forward to sharing the views of others on the best hotel in London as I have not found one yet .

abk

we were there for 4 nights with two rooms in march and i agree that it was not perfect. i guess you have to manage your expectations. it was fine but it was not the perfect 5 star experience. if you need something it may take two calls if you are in a hurry and if you are grading housekeeping it was probably not up to your expectations if you compare it to the oriental in bkk. on the other hand, it was a perfectly great stay. the wife and kids thought it was great and yelled at me when i complained that it was not perfect. they were probably the better judges.

dabbagmm

I guess my expectations were based on my over 10 years of history with this hotel. Service used to be top notch and offers a good value for money.
My reference point is usually the previous experience at the same hotel. There is a clear trend of the hotel going down the drain. Over the past two years, every stay is usually worse than the one before. My stay before the last (late March) was in a Butler room and was not as good as the stay I had last November in a Classic Room.

Very alarming trend... Unfortunately, hotel management and Starwood have not picked the signal yet!!

Dambus

Currently at the Park Tower and there is definitely something up. While staff are friendly/helpful etc. they seem somewhat weary/fragile.

Wonder if there has been a change of management or if there is some other change in the pipeline?

nologic

Don't you find the beds/linens/pillows among the best you have slept in?