So I used my free luxury night from the Principal Hotels UK promos at the PL my first redemption stay here in quite some time. I had a standard double upgrade to a deluxe room that had been refurbed and had a sofa (I truly do not understand why all larger rooms here do not have a sofa, most have a very bad use of space).

I was given “Club Life” Experience as a RA which was absolutely fabulous and way better than lounge access. This included:-

Breakfast for 2 at Theo Randall, which had a much better menu selection and buffet than the club lounge and was worth £64

Royal Afternoon Tea for 2 at the Wellington Lounge. The afternoon tea included a glass of champagne (unlike the lounge) and had a great offering themed around royal tours. The Club Life was a definite winner again here at a value of £64 again.

Evening drinks and canapés from 5:30 to 7:30 in tne Arch bar with apparently most reasonable drinks including cocktails included. Service in the Arch is normally leaps and bounds above that in the Club lounge but in this occasion there was a very large Group frustrating this and monopolising staff time. That said with the apparent absence of.Champagne every other aspect of the offering was far better than the lounge, so the value was ££££ if you make the most of this.

i did ask if I could have this package on paid stays in future in lieu of lounge access and was told I could so to me this is a total no brainier as a RA.

My Minibar bill (within the £35 limit) was also waived, which surprised me a little despite this being the norm before the most recent changes.

RA redemptions here now make total sense and are something of a bargain even at 70k points.