I have stayed about 40 nights at the Great Eastern in the past year. I am not at all suprised that it will not be a Park, but not because it isn't a great place to stay.

It is in an historic building (an old hospital). (Before Terrance Conran bought the place, it was most recently an "hourly rate" hotel, frequented by City bankers and their.....um....."dates"). The vast majority of rooms are cramped, and very likely couldn't be expanded to Park-average sizes. Many face internal atria, or have very small windows (likely non-expandable due to 5 foot thick brick walls and historic facade protections).

Infrequent guests are likely unaware that the hotel has many very sizeable "junior suite" rooms that are, apparently, reserved for people who spend 40 nights a year in the hotel. Since I started getting those rooms I like the place a whole lot better. But I don't think there are enough of these to make a full gut and refit to Park-style worthwhile.

The main reason to stay at the GE is location. It is the only fine hotel in the City proper, and makes a commute to any office in Broadgate a 5 minute walk, as opposed to a 30 minute Tube ride. Tourists won't like the location, unless they enjoy slogging through a million suits on their way to the Tube to get to any of the main tourist areas. With such a unique location, there is really no need to distinguish itself to Park status. They could dumb it down to a Howard Johnsons and I, and my colleagues, would probably still stay there. (I hope Hyatt Int'l doesn't read this forum.....)

All the positives/superlatives I could list (the quality of the restaurants, the service level, the amenities), are moot, since new Hyatt management may improve or ruin any or all of them. Suffice it to say it is a great business hotel and I hope it will remain so.

Who knows? Maybe they will refit the Churchill to a Park instead.

RTH