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DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in or near London, United Kingdom {GBR}

DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in or near London, United Kingdom {GBR}

Old Dec 24, 2023, 12:22 pm
  #601  
 
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Doing a 10 night stay (using points) for a first trip to London around September. Looking for a central location in London so leaning towards the Conrad or Bankside. Any others I should consider? Which of these do people prefer? From my brief research it seems like the rooms are better at Bankside but the food and location are better at the Conrad?

I would say my priorities are room, then location (access to public transit, local places to eat), then extras like breakfast/lounge.
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Old Dec 24, 2023, 12:47 pm
  #602  
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Originally Posted by rayfoxii
Doing a 10 night stay (using points) for a first trip to London around September. Looking for a central location in London so leaning towards the Conrad or Bankside. Any others I should consider? Which of these do people prefer? From my brief research it seems like the rooms are better at Bankside but the food and location are better at the Conrad?

I would say my priorities are room, then location (access to public transit, local places to eat), then extras like breakfast/lounge.
Hi,

I would also consider
Park Lane Hilton
Metropole
Tower Bridge


Bankside is good, good rooms, good breakfast, good lounge ( evening snacks have been reduced since a few years ago). Main disadvantage is the relatively poorer transport links. It is close to the southbank of the thames and the southwark tube station ( jubilee line ) or london bridge station.
Conrad is in a good location for Westminster/St James's park although some rooms may have some street traffic noise

Regards

TBS
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Old Dec 24, 2023, 1:43 pm
  #603  
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Originally Posted by rayfoxii
Doing a 10 night stay (using points) for a first trip to London around September. Looking for a central location in London so leaning towards the Conrad or Bankside. Any others I should consider? Which of these do people prefer? From my brief research it seems like the rooms are better at Bankside but the food and location are better at the Conrad?

I would say my priorities are room, then location (access to public transit, local places to eat), then extras like breakfast/lounge.
Originally Posted by The _Banking_Scot
Hi,

I would also consider
Park Lane Hilton
Metropole
Tower Bridge


Bankside is good, good rooms, good breakfast, good lounge ( evening snacks have been reduced since a few years ago). Main disadvantage is the relatively poorer transport links. It is close to the southbank of the thames and the southwark tube station ( jubilee line ) or london bridge station.
Conrad is in a good location for Westminster/St James's park although some rooms may have some street traffic noise

Regards

TBS
Last time my wife and I were in London, which was probably September or so of 2019, we stayed in the Park Lane and loved it. The location is great, across the street from Hyde Park and a bit farther from St. James Park. Lots of restaurants and tourist spots are a short walk. Great staff, like we asked the concierge for transportation help to get to Devon and they gave us some options then set it up.
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Old Dec 26, 2023, 2:33 am
  #604  
 
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Whilst I haven't stayed in all of those hotels, my answer to these is always Tower Bridge. Rooms nice. Bankside newer but rooms seem darker to me. Right across from London Bridge Station/tube. Better range of food options nearby than Bankside or Conrad. You have Borough Market, vinegar yard (small outdoor stalls/street food), lots of places between the hotel and Tower Bridge. Not yoo much further to Bermondsey for the craft beer mile and Malty St Market. Depending on when you go the lounge has a nice terrace too and I would rate food over Bankside.
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Old Dec 26, 2023, 2:18 pm
  #605  
 
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Originally Posted by DrAJ
Whilst I haven't stayed in all of those hotels, my answer to these is always Tower Bridge. Rooms nice. Bankside newer but rooms seem darker to me. Right across from London Bridge Station/tube. Better range of food options nearby than Bankside or Conrad. You have Borough Market, vinegar yard (small outdoor stalls/street food), lots of places between the hotel and Tower Bridge. Not yoo much further to Bermondsey for the craft beer mile and Malty St Market. Depending on when you go the lounge has a nice terrace too and I would rate food over Bankside.
Yes I too would agree with your thoughts, thats a pretty accurate view there that I mirror as well.
Whilst Bankside has a nice pool and valet parking , that aside I prefer TB .
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Old Dec 26, 2023, 5:43 pm
  #606  
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Originally Posted by DrAJ
Whilst I haven't stayed in all of those hotels, my answer to these is always Tower Bridge. Rooms nice. Bankside newer but rooms seem darker to me. Right across from London Bridge Station/tube. Better range of food options nearby than Bankside or Conrad. You have Borough Market, vinegar yard (small outdoor stalls/street food), lots of places between the hotel and Tower Bridge. Not yoo much further to Bermondsey for the craft beer mile and Malty St Market. Depending on when you go the lounge has a nice terrace too and I would rate food over Bankside.
We have a seat booked in London for two nights next August at the conclusion of a trip to Croatia. We have booked Bankside based on prior reviews. We want to try this side of the Thames as we have been in the more central areas a number of times.

We really do like a good lounge experience, and it sounds like Tower may be a notch above as well as having more varied environs. From folks familiar with both, does this seem accurate?

Also, one of the nights is booked with an Amex FNC that was extended a couple of days. Is it safe to assume that , if dates of use are unchanged, they would be able to move the reservation? Just in case we decide to change.

Cheers.
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Old Dec 27, 2023, 2:42 am
  #607  
 
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Originally Posted by brp
We have a seat booked in London for two nights next August at the conclusion of a trip to Croatia. We have booked Bankside based on prior reviews. We want to try this side of the Thames as we have been in the more central areas a number of times.

We really do like a good lounge experience, and it sounds like Tower may be a notch above as well as having more varied environs. From folks familiar with both, does this seem accurate?

Also, one of the nights is booked with an Amex FNC that was extended a couple of days. Is it safe to assume that , if dates of use are unchanged, they would be able to move the reservation? Just in case we decide to change.

Cheers.
Unsure about Amex but I feel the lounge offings are far superior at TB over Bankside plus in August it will be warm so the lounge outside terrace at TB with the views over London will be very nice as opposed to the windowless lounge at Bankside.
That said the TB lounge is quite small where the Bankside lounge is large, thats the only advantage of Bankside executive lounge.
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Old Dec 28, 2023, 2:03 am
  #608  
 
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Originally Posted by wizla
Unsure about Amex but I feel the lounge offings are far superior at TB over Bankside plus in August it will be warm so the lounge outside terrace at TB with the views over London will be very nice as opposed to the windowless lounge at Bankside.
That said the TB lounge is quite small where the Bankside lounge is large, thats the only advantage of Bankside executive lounge.
Completely agree. Also in my opinion there is a more to see and eat very close to tower bridge than Bankside.
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Old Dec 28, 2023, 2:33 pm
  #609  
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Originally Posted by wizla
Unsure about Amex but I feel the lounge offings are far superior at TB over Bankside plus in August it will be warm so the lounge outside terrace at TB with the views over London will be very nice as opposed to the windowless lounge at Bankside.
That said the TB lounge is quite small where the Bankside lounge is large, thats the only advantage of Bankside executive lounge.
Originally Posted by DrAJ
Completely agree. Also in my opinion there is a more to see and eat very close to tower bridge than Bankside.
Thanks. I had seen so much here about Bankside (and we visited and like the place), but really hadn't seen much mention of TB previously. Sounds like, with the exception of the smaller lounge and likely more crowding, there is very little downside to trying to make this change.

Cheers.
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Old Dec 29, 2023, 7:18 am
  #610  
 
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I stayed at Bankside just a couple of weeks ago, and while the property itself was lovely and the staff great, I cannot say the same for the transport links. It took us a long time to get there in a cab cos of traffic, and we didn't fancy the walks to the tube either (we also had a toddler, which made treks twice as long!)
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Old Dec 29, 2023, 10:24 am
  #611  
 
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Tower Bridge fantastic.
Excellent lounge and food. (and drinks).
Wonderful location.

Walk to London Bridge and the Tower. And HMS Belfast.
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Old Dec 29, 2023, 10:54 am
  #612  
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Thanks for all the input, and really glad I called to change.

It seems that the prior agent had not actually applied the FNC to the reservation. She had extended it a couple of days - the the date needed for the stay, but then not applied and took 70K x 2 for the two nights.

This agent cancelled that and booked the two nights using 70K points and FNC at TB. Also, she was able to book a combined reservation (FNC and points) in one reservation rather than two as I'd previously done. I always linked them for no issue, but a single reservation is better.

I really appreciate all of the insights about London hotels on this board. It has served us well on past stays and seems to have improved this upcoming stay.

Cheers.
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Old Jan 3, 2024, 8:02 am
  #613  
 
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Originally Posted by GadgetFreak
Last time my wife and I were in London, which was probably September or so of 2019, we stayed in the Park Lane and loved it. The location is great, across the street from Hyde Park and a bit farther from St. James Park. Lots of restaurants and tourist spots are a short walk. Great staff, like we asked the concierge for transportation help to get to Devon and they gave us some options then set it up.
Yes the Hilton Park Lane is one of the very best for tourists and there are some unbelievable views from higher up the property. I have stayed a few times over the years with friends who are visiting London for the first time - it definitely has something of a "wow" factor.
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Old Jan 3, 2024, 8:06 am
  #614  
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Originally Posted by Freetotravel
Yes the Hilton Park Lane is one of the very best for tourists and there are some unbelievable views from higher up the property. I have stayed a few times over the years with friends who are visiting London for the first time - it definitely has something of a "wow" factor.
We have stayed here once and were underwhelmed by the lackadaisical staff and mediocre lounge. Granted this was about 1.5 years ago and only one stay, so things may have improved.

Definitely a great location, but not high on our list for a re-visit.

Cheers.
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Old Jan 3, 2024, 8:21 am
  #615  
 
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Originally Posted by brp
We have stayed here once and were underwhelmed by the lackadaisical staff and mediocre lounge. Granted this was about 1.5 years ago and only one stay, so things may have improved.

Definitely a great location, but not high on our list for a re-visit.

Cheers.
Haha I agree - the lounge has always been totally mediocre when I've stayed there too. Several properties across London have MUCH better lounges and food overall for sure.
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