Having just stayed here at the hotel having booked the stay for 55,000 points, here is my take on things.
We took the train from Leeds to London King’s Cross, and within minutes of arriving in the capital we were at the hotel. One stop on the Piccadilly line, it was easy as that.
We arrived at around 11:20 and after leaving our luggage, we had a text within half hour saying our room was ready. Our room was exactly what we had booked, but I had read beforehand the chance of an upgrade was slim. Our queen room was quite compact, but clean and smart. The Tv didn’t appear to work efficiently though. I think my wife concluded that it wasn’t the correct remote. I didn’t really investigate further.
My wife had asked for some products off the wellness list. It did say it’s subject to them having them, but the receptionist informed my wife they would be in her room later. When we came back to our room later in the evening, none of the items requested had arrived.
The Kimpton social hour was quite good, and from what I could see, there no signs of them rationing the drinks. It just appeared to be one hour of unlimited drinks of white wine and bottled beer. I was only there for 20 minutes though. Staff were pleasant in there.
Having obtained a voucher of £15 off per person to use in the bar as a platinum member, we visited the bar after our theatre trip. Having finally got someone’s attention to actually us, We had a cocktail each (very nice), and that came to around £36. When I asked for the bill, they added a 12.5% service charge on. Having politely asked them to remove it (I would have done that regardless), I was asked “what is wrong, have we done something”. Having then explained that I just don’t agree with the tipping culture I was then given a lecture on how it’s tightly regulated and staff get the tips etc.
We didn’t bother eating breakfast in the hotel but we were granted 14:00 checkout (reluctantly). Our plans meant we were ready to check out at around 12:00 anyway, but they were literally queuing outside the door. Apparently there are quite a few Viking customers that stay at the hotel. At 12:30 I tried again, and the queue had gone down. I got lucky as 5 minutes later another coach had turned up. I know a few people just went to the cafe as the queue was so big. I don’t think that’s particularly good for check out, as most hotels I’ve stayed have some sort of express check out desk.
All in all, it was an okay stay in an extremely charming building. For 55,000 points I couldn’t really complain, and the location is a massive selling point. I wouldn’t say I would never visit again but I certainly would not be in a hurry to go back.
