LH630

Hello fellow people. Long time lurker here on FT but now it's time for me to start write some to and not just read. I hope my English writing will be readable for you without any problems. This is my first report so please don't expect it to be a fancy 5 star report like some people put here but I´ll do my best. I also want to say that I am a Club Carlson Gold member very close to Concierge level so my expectations might be a little higher than someone just staying without any status.

Earlier this week I was in Manchester and London in UK to watch football and this report is a little comparison between the 5* Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester and the 3.5-4* Park Inn by Radisson London Heathrow.

I´ll first talk about the hotels apart from each other and then compare them in the end of the report on a few dots.

Lets begin with the first stay in Manchester.

Hotel: Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester
Stay: 18-19 February
Price: 50.000 CC points

After an early departure from Sweden with Blue1 (SAS) I landed in Manchester at around 9.30 am. I went straight to the trains and made my way to central parts of Manchester.

Around 40-45 minutes after landing I found myself in the middle of Manchester around Piccadilly station and had no idea where to go but since I was in UK and not Tokyo, finding the way would not pose a problem so I just asked a lady for the way and started walking.

Took me around 15 minutes of walking through the city and then I found myself standing outside the building that is Radisson Blu Edwardian.
I went inside and was met by a smell that could be compared to a bathroom after a lady have been there and used way to much perfume. It really stung in the nose and I felt quite annoyed by it actually.
I tried to ignore the smell the best I could while walking to the reception.

After a few minutes I was called to the desk and met the most cold, ignorant person I have met in the last 5 years.
Kindly handed over my passport (with the gold card in it) and asked the guy if they had any rooms available for early check-in (also had it requested before hand) and he did not even check the computer and just said - come back at 1 pm and he didn't even look at me. Ignorance at a high level. At least I want people to look at me when I talk to them.

I'm not a person that argues or anything like that so I just said OK and went to find a seat in the lobby feeling quite frustrated inside since I was warm and just wanted to take a shower more than anything in the world right then.

At this point I had to wait for more than 2 hours before I could check-in. Obviously disappointed by the arrogance of the staff. 5* hotel? Seemed more like a 2* to me at that time but of course I can understand that early check-in sometimes isn't just possible but it was more the way he spoke to me and the ignorance that annoyed me. I am sure I would have been treated better if I would have had a suit on me which is quite sad since people should be treated the same way, no matter what they wear. I was wearing decent clothes, dark clean Jeans and a Tommy Hilfiger sweater so I wasn't looking like a hippie If my writing might paint you that picture.

However. I met a nice guy from Israel in the lobby and we talked football for about an hour before he left with a friend but since I had more than an hour left of the waiting time I decided to go out an find something to eat.

I walked around 50 meters on Peter Street and found a place called Pizza Express. Heck, why not. I am not doing the Vasaloppet this year so I might as well eat something less healthy for a change. (Vasaloppet is a 90 km cross-country ski race that runs every year in Sweden.)
The pizza was far from the standards we have here in Sweden but was eatable and the important part was that time went faster than just sitting in the stinking perfume lobby at Radisson Blu.

Time went and finally I could check-in so I took my bags and walked back to the hotel. Went to the reception and I got the same arrogant person this time to..

In the booking I had stated during requests that I wanted a room at the highest possible level with a nice view. The result? Given a room on the 3rd level with probably the hotels worse possible view. Since this was a one-night stay only I never bothered to complain but I felt so irritated inside my body that I wanted to explode because overall I have had so excellent experiences/stays with Club Carlson hotels.

Also asked if breakfast was included for Gold members? Of course it wasn't. At this time I started to wonder for myself if I were to pay for toilet paper and TV usage to. My expectations had gone from pretty high to super-low before even entering the room. Did not even ask for an upgrade to the next category in rooms since I already knew what the answer would be...
Anyway, he gave me the key and I went to my room via the elevators.

The room:

If we ignore the fact that the room had the worse possible view ever I was quite impressed by the room. It's fresh, modern and have a pretty comfy bed with nice pillows.
Here is a list of a few thing that the room had to offer:

• Hypo-allergenic bedding available on request
• Cots are available
• Trouser Press
• Free WiFi
• Coffee and tea
• In-room safe (Fits laptop)
• Climate control
• Soundproof rooms
• Air conditioning
• Mini-bar
• Flat Screen Digital TV (Samsung)
• Premium bedding
• Separate bathtub and shower

The only problem I had with the room (except the view) was the sink. I could not find out how to empty it. No sign of a handle, button or anything. Looked everywhere but it didn't pose that much of a problem since I was only there for a day though.

One thing that was absolutely fantastic was the TV. I don't have the exact number of channels offered but I think there were almost 400 working channels. They had all kinds - American, Arabic, Italian, Spanish and so on. I have never stayed at a hotel that offers that amount of TV channels so it's a plus if you like watching TV.

Also, the bathroom was terrific. It had a separate shower and a bathtub if you are looking for something more relaxing than just a shower.

Some pictures I took inside my room below. Please have in mind that the bed was not looking like this when I first entered the room. I messed it up a bit while resting for 2-3 hours. It was a properly made bed at first sight.

Pictures of the room:













What do I think? Do I recommend this hotel to others?

I only stayed for 1 night as I've mentioned already so I barely gave the hotel a chance to prove It's best side and I know for example that they have a nice relaxing area with a pool and a spa section. Never had the time to try it out during my short stay and neither did I try the restaurants.

I am very happy with the comfort of the room. It had pretty much anything you need for a good night stay, however I am very disappointed by the staff overall. No smiles and to much arrogance and not very helpful which is strange because I've always found British people to be extremely helpful.

I will not stay at this hotel in the future. I am sure it's better than "this" but as a Gold Member I felt nothing special about it. No breakfast included. Both my early check-in and top floor requests denied totally.
Rude ignorant staff. I'll be looking for other options if I ever visit Manchester again in the future but maybe I was just unlucky and visited on a bad day. Who knows? I am quite sure as I've mentioned that this hotel can deliver on a higher level but sadly for me my stay was not worth the 50.000 CC points so I can't help feeling robbed of my points.

My recommendation: Spend you points/money somewhere else. Maybe The Lowry or Hilton?

Bonus pictures from city of Manchester and Manchester City - FC Barcelona

LH630

After checking out at Radisson Blu Edwardian in Manchester I took the train to London Euston and then the tube to get all the way out to Heathrow. Used the free local bus to the Park Inn from T5 and arrived around 3 pm on the 19th of February.

Second stay @ Park Inn London Heathrow.

Hotel: Park Inn by Radisson London Heathrow
Stay: 19-21 February
Price: 62.50Ł (first night) & 5.000 CC points + 41.40Ł (second night)

Upon check-in I was called to the desk and greeted by a nice smile from the receptionist Natasha. I was almost chocked to see a smile since the experience from last day where everybody looked like they were on a funeral.

Gave my passport to Natasha and were assigned a room straight away. I had requested a room facing the airport and far from the elevators and even though it wasn't possible to give me a room facing the airport she at least gave me a room as far away from the elevators are possible.

The room:

Entered the room and I was a little bit surprised by it's size. The room was bigger than I thought it would be. Also had a nice bathroom with lots of space.
Rooms also offered:

Cots are available
Trouser Press
Free WiFi
In-room safe
Coffee and tea
Climate control
Refrigerator
Soundproof rooms
Air conditioning
Satellite TV (Flat Screen)
Iron / ironing board Sewing kit

Everything worked flawlessly in the room. My expectations are never high regarding airport hotels so I was quite happy that this hotel seemed to be more than just a bed.
And while talking about beds. The bed on this property was OK. Not the best but not bad either.

This airport hotel has more to offer than you might think. The location is ideal. You can take the shuttle bus called Hotel Hoppa and pay 4-5Ł one-way straight outside the hotel doors or you can walk 200 meters and take the free local buses. Almost all buses go to Heathrow Central which basically is Terminal 1, 2, 3. There are also free buses to Terminals 4 & 5. Taxi and other chauffeur services are of course available to.

Hotel has a gym, a heated indoor swimming pool, lots of conference rooms, a restaurant and free WiFi.
The connection to the WiFi from my room was poor. It worked quite slow but then again, I was located in the end of the corridor far away from the main area.

Breakfast was included for me as a Gold Member and it was a lot to eat. I missed a few things like some yogurt but overall a great breakfast with plenty to choose from.

Pictures of the room:















What do I think? Do I recommend this hotel to others?

Absolutely. This was a great property with friendly staff. I spoke to around 10-15 members of staff and I felt like only 1 of them was a little bit arrogant and stressed out so great staff, OK rooms with huge bathrooms, free WiFi and free breakfast.
The bed and pillows were as I've mentioned OK but nothing more or less.

This is a perfect stay if you want a short stay before flying to your next destination. It can of course be used as a hotel during your visit in London to but have in mind that you will have to spend around 1 1/2 hours to get into the city center by first using the free local bus and then the tube but if you are okay with that it's a cheap hotel with terrific rates so it leaves more money for you to spend on other things during your vacation.

I didn't feel robbed here at all. I'd say the hotel gives very much bang for your buck especially when these rates sometimes include breakfast even for non-status holders. The rooms have lots of space and the staff is very much helpful and friendly.

My recommendation: I'd recommend this hotel for anyone having a layover at London Heathrow. It's easy to find when using the local bus and it's only a 5-10 minutes bus ride from the terminals.

Bonus pictures from Arsenal FC - Bayern Munchen

LH630

Which hotel gave the best impression/bang for the buck?

You cannot really compare these hotels since one of them is a perfectly located hotel in the heart of Manchester and the other one serves as an airport hotel but here is a short list on a few dots totally in my opinion:

Check-in, Check-out efficiency - Park Inn by Radisson Blu London Heathrow
Staff members, how did they handle requests and so on - Park Inn by Radisson Blu London Heathrow
Best room? - Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester
Best WiFi? - Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester
Location - Radisson Blu Edwardian Manchester
Public transportation in the area - Park Inn by Radisson Blu London Heathrow
Parking - Park Inn by Radisson Blu London Heathrow

Result: 4-3 to Park Inn by Radisson Blu London Heathrow

I've left out some dots like restaurants, pool area and so on since I never used these facilities so most likely the Manchester hotel would have gained a few more points than the Park Inn but cannot talk about stuff I never used. Obviously the best experience would have been the Manchester Hotel with Park Inns staff and included breakfast given a room with a good view.

But overall both are great hotels that serves there purpose very good. If the staff had been better at Radisson Blu Edwardian it would have been a much better stay but for me it's important with friendly staff and therefore I'd select Park Inn If these hotels were placed next to each other.

The Manchester Radisson was a disappointment (mostly because of the arrogance of staff and that neither of my request were for filled, like top floor, room with a view or early check-in. As I've said before. Can't help feeling robbed of 50k CC points.

I hope it was readable since English isn't my native language. Hope the pictures are OK to. I never had any space to bring my DSLR so I just took a little 50€ camera along on this trip.

If you have any questions about the hotels. Feel free to ask and I will answer them.

710 77345

Great report, nice writing and pics too - just a shame about the football scores

Thanks for sharing!

price123

In Manchester, there is surprisingly little choice. We tend to go for the Radisson (only travel for football around once/year). Never had experiences as bad as yours there. The Malmaison Moulin Rouge suite was nice for an anniversary (great bath). I don't recommend the Hilton - we had no water whatsoever. When we met with duty manager, he said they had never had the problem before but maintenance admitted it had been going on for months on certain floors. Spa and staff were not good. To be fair, this was a few years ago and the entire accommodation cost was (in the end) refunded. However, the attitude of staff left a bad taste.

LH630

Thank you. My team is Barcelona since 15 years ago so I was happy for the result there but I also like (or support) Arsenal a bit and sadly Bayern won that game but I did not expect anything else there since Bayern are such a great team currently.

I spoke to the Israel guy and he said that Radisson Blu, Hilton and The Lowry were the only 3 choices to choose from when looking for a good hotel in Manchester so it seems you are right regarding the selection. Not really much to choose from.

I have always been happy with Hilton. They never disappoint me but this time I decided to burn some points and man do I regret that. Maybe I can get some sort of compensation when I have written this to CC customer support or maybe not. We will see. I was not happy though and probably one of my worse stays in the last year.

Next time (if a next time) I will try The Lowry and hope for a better experience.

Skipcool3

I think you were too nice.

I would have asked to speak to a different agent in Manchester, reminded again about being gold, and said something like "you are not looking after me today"

Very poor treatment.

Had some good Chinese food in Manchester.

Be aware that part of the park in Heathrow is old. You stayed in the new bit which is very nice. Sometimes they charge Ł20 extra for those rooms so your Gold card worked here. Thanks for posting.

camsean

Interesting comparison. Thanks for posting.