ShouldaBeenABlonde

I just booked an award stay at the Islington Hilton over x-mas. Does anyone have any experience getting an upgrade w/an award stay based on the ever-too-popular-gold-level? I've never used an award stay, so I'm pretty new to this. As a gold, am I entitled to a free breakfast? What should I expect?

I searched on Islington, and read all of the threads.

DOC 2 BE - it seems like you have a lot of experience at this hotel. I was a little leary about booking it since it seems so far from everything, but your (I think)description of it being "bohemiam" has piqued my curiosity.

What kind of shopping/pubs are within walking distance? How far is it from Gatwick? Nothing is mentioned on the Hilton website. It seems like it is my kind of hotel...especially if it's in a kind of "artsy" section of town.

Any details on anything Islington would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Edit: Because I misspelled DOC 2 BE's name. Sorry.

[This message has been edited by ShouldaBeenABlonde (edited 07-26-2001).]

honu

I was there in June on a paid stay. Got a very nice room, w/chocolate and a sm. bottle of water. Upon check-in, I was told that I didn't need any b'fast voucher. That was a misunderstanding; I had to ask again in the morning and had to produce the copy of the rules. The young reception clerk went to the manager, and returned saying: "Ok, for this time"... Groan...

Very nice b'fast, but expensive (16 GBP). Upon checking out, I had to ask again to have the b'fast charges removed, which was done promptly.

During the same period I also stayed at the Hilton in Holland Park (Kensington Hilton). We arrived late (at 11 pm), and the reception clerk gave us a tiny room up on the executive floor. The b'fast there was also excellent, and had the added advantage that it didn't require begging.

All else being equal, I'd prefer to avoid properties where I have to beg or fight for b'fast.

vindesante

ShouldaBeenABlonde, in answer to your ? getting to/from Gatwick: Hotel arranged taxi GBP50. Gatwick Express from Victoria GBP10, but the station is on the other side of central London, or the Thameslink GBP9.80 from Kings Cross which is a GBP5 taxi ride away from hotel or even cheaper by tube. The Thameslink, door to door, took us a little less than one hour. Also see my post from earlier today under "Which London Hilton".

[This message has been edited by vindesante (edited 07-25-2001).]

SST

The Islington hotel is about 3 easy blocks north of the Angel tube station, which is on one branch of the Northern line. I took the Picadilly line and changed to the correct Northern line at King's Cross a month ago. Note: this transfer station is closed for construction for a few hours in late afternoon/early evening, so ask ahead. There is an alternate way. The entire journey took about 40 minutes from Heathrow.

Leaving the station, cross the main street and you will find quite a number of fairly nice, mostly informal and/or ethnic, eating places. The neighborhood was super as far as we were concerned. There's a number of antique dealers in the area, but they were mostly closed while we were in the area.

I got essentially nothing for VIP Gold membership. After arguing, they told me I was given an upgraded room, but the only upgrade seemed to be some chocolates and a split of wine. No breakfast for me! Asked twice, just in case, and got lucky with the morning person, who comped me *one* voucher {We didn't care, I guess, since we weren't especially hungry, but shheeeesh--- this is quite an ordeal for something supposedly standard}.

In any case, a nice, moderate hotel, in a neighborhood which was easy to take on jet-lagged, coach-crimped folks like us. I think you'll like it.

Gaza

I've stayed at the Hilton Islington 7 times this year. I've had a success rate of about 60% on upgrades. Problem is I stay during the week and it is always full. I suppose if they can sell an Exec room then they would rather do that than give it away. There is not much difference in the rooms in any case. The hotel is an ex-Stakis and therefore build to their design and business model. The exec rooms are slightly bigger and have water and chocs. There are some buisness rooms that are like suites but the living area has an office with a sofa, desk, PC printer and full (free) internet access.

The area around the hotel is excellent. It is much less "touristy" than other areas in London. As it is a very afflunet area there are many, many superb restaurants. The competition keeps prices in check though.

ShouldaBeenABlonde

Thanks all!!! I appreciate the information. I hope there are a lot of antique stores in the area so I can get some Christmas shopping done. I go home on Christmas eve.

I found the Islington restaurant/bar guide on the internet. It sure looks likes this hotel is in an excellent location. And since it's not in a touristy area, that's all the better. Lots of pubs and restaurants, just like y'all said.

I'm starting to get excited - I'm not much of a big city girl, but this sure seems like fun. It's kind of an all expense paid kind of thing (cheap US ticket + SWU's + Award Stay). First class vacation for close to nothing.

Karen2

Never go back! Location OK, which was my worry, but the hotel is a glorified motel. Concierge is a young foreigner - when we asked about how to get to a museum, he was no help because he does not like museums! The internet avail is a keyboard kept in a drawer which works off the TV. Sounds good - never saw it before - but did not work. Keyboard skipped letters, etc. Worthless. And costs 10 p/min mostly spent trying to get the keyboard to work!

Does not have a lounge, despite its supposedly having Exec Club rooms (could not figure what on earth that meant). Got free breakfast because of being Gold - service appalling. The night we arrived, we were a little hungry so went to restaurant where we ordered just a dessert - ice cream over waffle with cajeta (for the uninitiated - goat's milk caramel from Mexico). No cajeta - what was I thinking!! However, we had to get our own order from the chef because the waiter could not be bothered! AM was not much better. Room was OK but small by Hilton standards. This hotel does not hold a candle to Metropole - also a former Stakis. OK - the good news was that we got chocolates and a free bottle of wine.

RichLond

I am speechless.... I hope the Hilton Islington terminates all foreigners!!

rich

Edited to remove what I really thought of this post.


[This message has been edited by RichLond (edited 09-18-2001).]

IM4Travel

Wow....what a completely opposite experience than what I had...I was there 2 weeks ago and was immediately upgraded to a club room which is actually a suite...two separate rooms one of which is the normal room..and one is a combination sitting room/office...it contained an extra TV..separate heating/cooling, couch,officejet printer/fax and a full desktop PC with FREE UNLIMITED internet...my rate was 89 pounds/night and I found that to be quite fair because Islington is quite a trendy area and has become pricey. There are some great restaurants in the area...all you had to do was perform a search on this hotel here on FT and away you go with some good suggestions. Can't say much for the concierge since I already knew where I was going. The only inconvenience that I found was that the closest tube station "angel" was closed due to structural damage to the escalators..it was going to be closed for a month or so...had to take the bus to Kings Cross to catch the tube. Sorry you had such a BAD experience.

Gaza

Very few Hiltons in the UK (especially ex-Stakis) have Executive clubs. Club rooms are more spacious than standard plus have chocolates and wine.

Was the dish advertised as coming with cajeta? If not, I don't see where your complaint is.

[B] Believe me the rooms at the Islington are large by London standards.

The Islington is my favorite hotel in London. Great staff, great location and very good value for money.

DOC 2 BE

Totally in agreement with you Gaza and IM4; sorry you had such a bad experience.

They really ought to fire the concierge for his/her lack of knowledge. However, I was in a "regular" room, and it is quite spacious by London standards. BTW, the are is quite trendy, and the hotel is new, so it has AC. m

Moreover, I have not been to it, but it supposedly has a nice health club. What I can say, is that it has parking that is quite reasonable for London.

Karen2

The only reason I mentioned that the concierge was a foreigner was that he had little knowledge of London - isn't that what a concierge is for??? No CNN (got it in Gatwick, Romania and Bulgaria). And, yes, the dessert was advertised as coming with cajeta but they did have a sort of strawberry flavored sauce of some kind on the ice cream. When we asked about it the waiter said it was their homemade version. What???

We checked out at 630 AM, half hour before breakfast is set out, and the staff would not even get us a roll for the road. Nor was room service available. We heard about the rooms with the internet, etc but they were not available. Our "club room" was much smaller than that in the Metropole or Gatwick.

Angel, by the way, is back in service and is excellent with new escalators, etc. Too bad Carrier's is gone! The neighborhood was fine. No problem with that.

We had a fine time in London - Buckingham, Tate Britain and the play "Notre Dame" at half price. All in one day. Glad to be home though. British Air handled the traffic really well.

Gaza

The problem most business in London have is finding suitably qualified staff to take on low paid positions such as Concierge. Unemployment in most of London is very low at around 3-4%. This is considered "full employment" because the 3-4% are generally the unemployable or the unwilling to be employed!

Karen2

It is a problem everywhere. Unfortunately, the position of concierge has been degraded in a lot of hotels. This young man was very personable and probably should have been checking people in or something.

One notable exception to the degrading of concierge occurred at a Hilton in Costa Mesa, CA. A friend was dropped at the hotel for a conference while her husband continued on home, 400 miles away. A few minutes after he left, she discovered that she had his luggage (look alikes - a lesson here!) and vice versa. At first, she looked at it as an excuse to go shopping but later realized that her prescription medications were in the bag. The concierge not only recommended a late night pharmacy which could contact her HMO for the prescriptions but arranged for the hotel limo to take her to pick them up! Now that was a concierge!

Merry

Karen2: I am affraid you have made the classic mistake of booking into a Hilton National property, thinking it was a Hilton International property.

Be very careful when you book Hilton's in the UK in future.

If it is cheap (by London standards) it is probably a Hilton National!

Nick