Overall another very good stay. Upgraded all the way from a normal King to a King Executive room. Executive lounge offering in the evening was but very random - like they were trying to cater to every single person's tastes with at least one item or dish. Ultimately this stay re-enforced my opinion that following the full refurb of the public areas and the East and Tower Wings, this hotel is now a whole grade higher than previously and rivals the other higher-end Hilton-branded hotels in London (Bankside, Tower Hill). I truly believe the extra 5-10 minute walk up Praed St is now more than worth it from Paddington station compared to the Hilton Paddington.

I have also noticed that the refurb of the Metropole is incredibly similar in design to the refurb of the Gatwick Hilton, right down to some of the fixtures and fittings, bar seats etc. Does anyone know if they are managed by the same people or used the same design firm? There's so many similarities, I'd be surprised if is was co-incidence...

One thing I noticed that has changed since my last stay is that this hotel has moved onto non-miniature bottles of C&E toiletries. Picture below. This was of course promised by Hilton as part of their sustainability initiatives but this is the first time I have actually ever seen these in use. Perhaps they are more prevalent in the US? I'm on 53 nights this year across 20 different hotels and not seen them before! I am generally for this as a way of reducing plastic waste. I generally always take half-used mini-bottles home with me to use up as I don't like waste so this move doesn't adversely affect me.