robandjojo423

chrism20

Stayed last week and there is now pretty much no view at all.

RAPC

Have always found the Bankside has treated me best as a Diamond. Have received suite upgrades, decent in room freebies, plus a good lounge and full breakfast in the restaurant.
No lounge view of note, but all about weighing up what is most important - is it Diamond treatment and benefits, or the view from a lounge? Already a few good suggestions in here for the better London properties.

TTL

Concur, either Bankside or Conrad. For the quality of stay also otherwise than just diamond perks.

mjbdiamond

Had 3 stays so far at Banskide - 1 upgrade to a standard suite, the last 2 to deluxe suites. Always a fantastic stay and Southwark station around 1 minute away so great if you want tube. If driving, stay else where as at least 30 minutes to central London. Great lounge, breakfast and service always.

Had a few stays at Olympia - rooms a bit old and had only 1 upgrade to a junior suite. Fine if you can get a good deal. Lounge small but staff are great.

Doubletree Docklands had no suites but allowed me to pick any of the remaining rooms. Very poor lounge selection sadly.

Kensington did nothing for me in room, and was very disappointed with service. Lounge overcrowded and did not like the non self-serve drinks aspect.

Doubletree Ealing nice, good upgrade but no lounge or drinks vouchers offered

AStarr

Good to know... as I'll probably have a couple more nights in London before the end of the year and my status finally changed.

Abidjan

Disappointing to hear about Wembley. What a view it's been from the lounge.

wizla

Hilton Canary Wharf has a similar problem, there is now a high rise blocking the view from the lounge looking west across the river......such a shame.

Land-of-Miles

Agree this has become my go to property as it is also quite close to my London office.

The regular rooms are probably better than the Exec rooms at Tower bridge or many other London Hiltons. The décor is great, the service is generally good (apart from their odd penchant for trying to put me in low floor rooms). The gym is rather good and has a decent pool too. Breakfast is a real event and the lounge catering is very good by typical Hilton standards. There are also plenty of great places to eat nearby.

Room upgrades can be a tad hit and miss but I have probably had more suite upgrades there than any other Hilton.

corporate-wage-slave

The thread's title and the message above suggest three components here
- best Diamond perks
- rooms with a view
- lounges with a view

And the problem is that unlike some places there isn't a perfect fit here. Following is just my opinion

Best Diamond experience overall (good quality rooms, lounges, breakfasts, willing to upgrade) would be
1) Conran
2) Bankside
3) Hilton Tower
Honourable mentions to Canary Wharf, Wembley and would you believe, LHR T4 and T5.

Best rooms with a view
1) Metropole Tower facing south, near floor 20. These get a span from Chelsea to the London Eye to the Shard. However the rooms are small and you best bring a power multisocket. There are still some glimpses of Paddington Basin in the West Wing, which have great rooms, see the main Metropole thread about that, but the new building work has taken away a lot of the view.
2) Park Lane - you can't go wrong here, so long as you are more than about 10 floors up. Each side has its own qualities, personal favourite would be facing west over the parks, but south has more of the historic sites
3) Doubletree Docklands. Not really much else going for this place, but some rooms (Deluxe and suites) have fantastic river views.

Some other ideas: there are a few suites in the DT Westminster with amazing views of the river and the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) Building sometimes known by the residents as Ceaușescu Towers. Canary Wharf and Tower Hilton both suffer from buildings close by and the rooms in some windows are quite small too. But it's something to consider. Syon Park has great views too - you may see deer running across the grass - but it doesn't look like you are in London - you're in the park of a stately home. DT Hyde Park has some King rooms with a balcony overlooking the park and a leafy part of Notting Hill. DT Excel has many rooms with good water views of the Royal Albert Dock and you'll see the aircraft running into LCY airport nearby. Some are suites with a balcony (you have to sign for the key at reception) and as a Diamond I've had these 8 times out of 10 from a basic room booking. I personally think it's hauntingly beautiful though not everyone will agree. Logically DT Chelsea must have some rooms with a view, I just haven't had a suitable room yet (I don't go there often).

Lounges with view
Tricky since the best lounges - Conran, Bankside, T4, Olympia (!) are on the ground floor or first level up. Or don't have much of a view at all (Waldorf).
1) Tower Hilton - this has a lot going for it, it's actually at London Bridge, balancing all factors this probably is one to consider further. Great view of the Shard in particular.
2) Wembley - yes the new buildings have taken away a lot of the view but it's still a roof top position with terrace.
3) LHR T5 - ok, clutching at straws time, but it is a good lounge and with a view over farmland (and aircraft landing at Heathrow)

catcher1

I have always been upgraded at the Park Lane, and I like the hotel and its location. The Exec Lounge is on the second floor though, so there's just a street-level view of Park Lane/Hyde Park.

furballs

wizla

Oh yes...Bankside granola!.....we know a little story about this don't we Botb?

puchong

Now that the CP & HIX have opened up at T4 (besides a pretty good Premier Inn), when will the Hilton T4 be bringing its rates down to earth?

Also, while looking for rates I saw a new hgi-T2 being advertised as "Coming soon" - anybody know how soon? When I was there a couple of months ago, I noticed the shell of what looked like a hotel attached to T2, but does anyone know when it is likely to open?

The _Banking_Scot

Hi,

https://hiltongardeninn3.hilton.com/...EGI/index.html

States it will open in February 2019

Regards

TBS