The hotel VAT is refundable for "business" travel only. It has a unique catch. It will only be paid to your "registered" company, ie not to you. A fee is required to register your company.

Hilton will assist in recovering the 17.5% VAT (only your company) for a 20% fee. IMHO not a nice deal. Neither is the GBP5 for 15 minutes of internet access encountered at 3 different Hiltons in London.

Interestingly enough my Canadian GST check (for previous hotel stays) arrived on my first day back fron London and was in USD as requested.