I had been dithering over whether to book this or somewhere else with prices ranging around £80 in the week prior to my stay.
But the night before I was planning to arrive, it suddenly dropped to £63 so I snatched up that rate.
As per the review by
paul00 from 3 years ago, the building itself was very grand yet modern. I was upgraded to a superior room on the top (4th) floor of the side building, which is the one where the spa is located. (The presidential suite occupies the entire 2nd floor of this building.)
For some reason, in the past few months' stays at UK Hiltons, they have all been loath to say the word "Diamond"... this hotel was no exception, I was thanked for staying with Hilton, given the cookie, drinks vouchers and premium wifi code silently, then told that breakfast was included in my rate (it actually wasn't) - all to avoid saying the word "Diamond".
There was no welcome letter but in the room there was a plate with a small chocolate cake, macaron and a solitary strawberry.
Pictures of the room are at the end; it was very spacious (and unlike the Hilton Croydon which gave me a similar room 2 years ago they had the decency not to describe it as a "suite"), plenty of plugs and lighting, air con controls did what they said, the bed was very large and comfortable and there were interesting wall decorations.
Regarding parking, there are about 6 spaces right in front of the hotel that are free between 6pm and 8am daily (this information is only on the ticket meters but not on the signposts). I initially arrived by train to check in at 2pm, but then came with the car at 9pm and there were spaces for 3 cars available at that time. This was very convenient especially as I needed to haul some items from the car to the room and back. I do not recall the prices but they were reasonable if you needed to stay an extra few hours during the chargeable period. On the other hand, the city centre one-way systems are very confusing and had there been no spaces outside the hotel, looking for other free spaces nearby would have been a convoluted matter.
Regarding public transport, Lime Street station for long-distance trains is 10 minutes walk away but involves an uphill climb towards the station and crossing a busy road. The entrance to Moorfields station is 2 minutes away but involves going up and down escalators and long walks through tunnels. Moorfields is only served by local Merseyrail trains (including to South Parkway station for LPL airport). Thus, if your train does not go to or from Moorfields directly, you would be advised to walk above ground from Lime Street rather than navigating the city circle.
In contrast to the review by
paul00, the premium wifi speed was amazingly fast, and I had the opposite impression about the breakfast - the range of items was impressive but the quality left a bit to be desired. It's quite hard to make a sausage taste completely dry but they managed, the hash browns were falling to pieces and seemed to be skin without potato inside. But there were so many different types of cold meats, cheeses and fruits which are not normally seen at UK Hiltons/DT breakfasts.
There was no time to go to the spa but will have a look next time - though I want to try out the Hilton before returning here.
