Just had two one-night stays at this property- bit of a mixed bag. First the good- the property itself is in a pretty good location, being a block off of Oxford street, very short walk to Marble Arch underground, and near some good restaurants and lots of shopping. As a Diamond I was upgraded on the first night from a king deluxe to a duplex king suite, which was really pleasant. A living room/bathroom on the ground floor, and then a flight of stairs up to a loft area with the bed and another bathroom. Lots of light from 2 story windows, and a good amount of space. The toiletries were a surprise too, as mixed in with the usual doubletree branded stuff were some Crabtree and Evelyn products. Breakfast was decent, with a reasonable selection of good quality items- not as nice as I'm used to at Hilton properties in Europe (they skimped on some things, such as the cheeses), but perfectly acceptable (except for the terrible espresso). I just ate from the cold buffet, but was told that I could order eggs off the menu at no charge as Diamond. For the granola lovers who post on the London Hilton properties thread, I can tell you that the granola at this property was very good- definitely in the same class as that at the Conrad St. James. At this point I was feeling pretty good about the property, and thinking that I might switch some bookings for a family trip I have coming up to this property. Then the downsides started...
I was checking out for a night (hopped to the Waldorf) and wanted to leave a suitcase at the doubletree for the one night I'd be gone. I had emailed the front desk manager in advance but never received a reply. I then called the front desk and was told it would be no problem to leave my stuff there- based on that I made a plan for how to do my little hotel hop with minimal effort. When I actually checked out however, the desk staff told me there would be a 10GBP charge to hold my bag for a night. I explained that I had asked in advance and not been told about a charge, and the staffer basically shrugged. While 10gpb isn't much, it is coming out of my pocket, so I would have come up with a different plan had I known that there was a charge (I could have left earlier in the morning and moved all my stuff via uber to the Waldorf for example, or arranged to leave a suitcase with a colleague at a neighboring property). So I wasn't thrilled with the lack of information in advance, nor with the lack of concern on the part of the desk staff (not even an "I'm sorry you weren't told there is a charge.")
Checking back in was disappointing as well. I looked at my app on the way to the property, and it showed an upgrade to the same room type as I had the first night. I was very pleased about this, as I had liked that room. At the desk, however, I was assigned to a smaller, queen duplex. I asked what happened to the upgrade on my app, and the staff couldn't seem to understand what I was talking about and kept telling me that the king duplex was occupied. The queen duplex they put me in was not a great room- it was tiny enough that there wasn't really enough space on the bedroom "loft" to put my suitcase (certainly not enough room for two people to manuever), it had a circular staircase which was a real pain to navigate with said suitcase (also was half a narrow flight down from the hallway), and the windows were partially glazed and looked out onto an active construction site. When I told the desk staff that I was concerned about noise from the construction site, their only response was that the room I had on the previous stay also faced the construction site (which it did not). I went to dinner and returned to find a "housekeeping is here" flyer on my door- no housekeeping was there. Service was generally inconsistent- I received a wifi code and a small chocolate on the pillow on my first checkin, but not on my second. I received a "welcome letter" on my second checkin, but not the first. I really wanted to like this property, since my colleagues like to stay at the Amba across the street (and drink at the Three Tuns), and it would make my trips much more convenient. After the issue with the baggage storage and my general impression that the staff didn't particularly care to make my stay pleasant, however, I don't think I'll be staying here again.