DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Ealing {GBR}
 

Hi all

I am Jacq Airnes, Director of Sales at the London Ealing Hotel. We have recently joined Hilton as an affiliate and will re-brand after a £10M refurbishment in Sprint 2013. The good news is that we will be able to award Hilton points from around October 2012. I look forward to welcoming you at the hotel in the future! :)

Thanks for the news. Can you post a link to your property web-site so we can explore location and other stuff now?

SWEET! Thanks for the prompt response.

Welcome to the family...

I know it's spelled "honour" in the Queen's english but Hilton worldwide has decided to brand its loyalty program as HHonors...

http://www.hilton.co.uk/HiWayWeb/app...ory&_ref=About

FDW

Are all UK Ramada's transitioning to HHonor properties ? There sure seems to be a lot of them moving over, however it may just be that the properties all belong to the same company ?

I hope if this is the case it will also extend to some European properties.

Looking at those links, I think I may have stayed there several years ago. Don't remember much, except that it was definitely a convenient location for that trip.

Welcome to FT JacqAirnes ^ , good to have you with us. Thanks for posting that information, I am sure you will get a lot of interest from the community. :)

Is the the ex-Ramada just off the North Circular?

^^ yes it certainly is

Outstanding

Thanks for the information. Please let us know the exact date we will be able to earn HHonors points.

You'll definitely be getting my bookings.

The old Caernarvon Hotel has a new pseudonym. This was the closest bar to my old flat in the '80s. There are some great pubs and curry houses within a short walk.

The special no points warning on the booking page for this hotel has now vanished, replaced by "This hotel will be joining the DoubleTree by Hilton brand in Spring 2013. London Ealing hotel rates are now inclusive of all taxes."

Does that mean they are now awarding points? Any experiences yet?

Don't know about the UK Ramada's, but here in the US, the Ramada brand has certainly been dying a very slow, decrepit, and painful death for at least a decade or so.

Haven´t seen one in years, that I'd ever consider staying at.

Looking at the brands that Wyndham Hotel Group (Parent of Ramada) has is like a trip down the memory lane of "has been's". Howard Johnson, Baymont Inn's and Suites (Where de-flagged Hampton Inn properties go to die), Knights inn, Days Inn, Travelodge, Super8.

To answer my own question, yes, points are now being awarded here (and there is a big hhonors sign on the reception desk).

Really looking forward to the refurb being finished, as it is pretty convenient for me, but the rooms are a bit run down at the moment.

How good is your internet connection ?

Well, for me it was pretty poor, as I have an ultrabook without a wired ethernet connection - the rooms are wired internet only. Wireless is coming along with the refurb.

There is free wireless in the public areas downstairs, which felt a bit sluggish, but was ok for general web browsing - I wasn't doing anything too taxing.

Stayed here a few weeks ago and points posted no problem.
Also, I raised the issue about not having a wired internet option for my Macbook and was told I could use the internet on the TV without charge. I didn't bother, but this was a nice gesture.
Also got to try one of the first refurbished rooms which was very nice and made the hotel great value for money.

DCf

I noticed that the hilton booking site has a disclaimer for this hotel:
I'm reading in this thread that this hotel IS definitely awarding HHonors points and stay credit?

Are they honoring any HHonors amenities for Golds and Diamonds (ie free internet)?

I got full HH-G benefits (inc room upgrade) while staying at this hotel last year.

Yes, definitely awarding points and stay credit. Free internet is available, though you may need to get vouchers from reception to access it (I've not been there for a couple of months).

Stayed recently at this hotel as a Diamond. Building works are still underway but not bothersome. Because of this the situation in the lobby is a bit odd (but temporary). After the refurb there will be a new lobby bar and the current temporary lobby/bar area will be part of the conference facilities.

The rooms are finished to a very high standard and staff here are very friendly, professional and attentive. They do not leave customers waiting about at check-in, or for a drink etc. In the room: Huge Samsung LED HDTV, 1/2 bottle of wine and fruit platter in the room. iPod docking station. No issues with WiFi.

Beer drinkers will be very comfortable with the international offerings in the bar (Sam Adams, Asahi, Signha etc!)

HHonors branding is clearly displayed and all staff I encountered were conversant in HHonors tiers and benefits.

There is a very high standard of hospitality here. I was impressed, quite frankly surprised. I would recommend this property to anyone looking for a hotel in this area.

I only wish some of the other hotels I frequent were like this.

I just checked in today. I echo Action Man's comments above.

Very friendly and good service from the front desk.

I got an early check in (at around 10.30am). No in room "freebies" except for sparking and still water bottles in the mini-fridge. I'm a Diamond as well. Maybe I didn't get the fruit and wine Action Man mentioned because I checked in early.

Rooms are quite small. Smaller than I expected, but they are efficiently designed.

Very odd half glass wall shower without a shower curtain. You have to be careful not to soak the floor of the bathroom. That's my only complaint so far. I would definitely stay here again (if the price remains this low).

It's a very short walk from Ealing Common Tube.

It looks like each room is equipped with its own DSL Modem/Router with wired and wireless access. Bring your own cable if you want to use the wired connection (4 ports available). Code for wired/wireless internet is valid only for 24 hours (have to request a new code each day from the front desk).

I'll report back tomorrow about the breakfast situation.

Does anyone have an email address for someone at the hotel? I'm unable to call (where I am at the moment I can barely get internet access) and need to get in touch.

I am here as a Gold member. The room are REALLY small! If there are 2 of u be sure it is someone u don't mind being in a VERY small space with!
That being said, the staff is great, very friendly and welcoming, the inetrnet is free and fast for gold members, the rooms are nice and clean, the breakfast is very nice and was complimetary for gold members. There is bottled water replaced daily, and arrival night they delivered a small box of VERY lovely chocolates to the room. The hotel is a short 5 min. walk to the Ealing Commons tube and there is a Sainsbury Express next to the tube stop for snacks and drinks to keep in your in room small fridge.
Nice room for 1, although small, but not for 2. I would not stay here again for this reason, but only for this reason.

Diamond member. I expected some sort of room upgrade but instead ended up with a TINY room. Barely enough room for the bed. I was left a small bottle of wine and some chocolates as a welcome gift.

I was checking out the hotel as it is quite convenient for a 1-night stay between Heathrow and the city. i.e. arriving late, but don't feel like paying central London rates or staying near Heathrow with a long tube ride into town the next morning...


I won't be back though. I can sometimes understand tiny rooms for central London, but there's no excuse for a hotel well outside the city centre and, without wanting to sound overly entitled, for a Diamond member.

Breakfast service was poor as well. Server forgot to place my order for eggs. Hard to catch anybody's attention for a coffee refill.

DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London - Ealing {GBR}
 

True the rooms are small and no tub (shower only unless a jr suite) but staff are lovely, good transport links and I was satisfied with breakfast. Be prepared for the occassional bus load of tourgroups here. Stay here regularly - value for money.

9 am check in "with the normal surcharge waived due to Diamond" ^.


Veery small room. You can see how the furniture and fixtures were engineered to fit. I booked a "queen room"- can't remember if it was the lowest category or not- and I guess it is a queen sized bed but there isn't room for much else. This is a business trip where I am out of the room except for sleeping. I really don't think I could spend free time in the room- alone nevermind with someone else- without going batty.

Small gym, couple of treadmills and cycles and a few resistance pieces.

I have a "single room" at the DT Marble Arch later this week- wonder if I will need a shoe horn to get into it.

Not great, not terrible
 

Had a one night stay at the DT Ealing earlier this week.

It is 5-10 minutes walk from Ealing Common tube station, so convenient for transport into Central London (20-30 minutes journey time).

Check in at 3pm was pleasant enough but not overly engaging. Given a brown paper bag with amenities (biscuits, crisps, two bottles of water and a pre mixed can of G&T). Nice thought; but I'd have rather had then in the room waiting as was already weighed down with luggage; and it struck me that it was a convenient process for the hotel rather than thought from a customers point of view. Mixed recognition of diamond benefits - no mention of room upgrade (which wasn't forthcoming) nor internet access (which I later found needed an unsupplied code for diamond fast access) but was advised of breakfast.

Room on the 4th floor was tiny; basically a bed that you can just about walk around, with a small desk. TV channels were hit and miss (this infuriates me; how can you not quality check and control this sort of thing?). As I was only using it for a short overnight stay and out for dinner in the evening, no big issue - otherwise would have been a problem. The 5th floor is marked as HH floor in the lift, who knows what spacious accommodation there may be up there. Bathroom similarly small and it takes a bit of dexterity when showering not to soak the floor as the screen is pretty narrow.

Internet choices on log in was presented as 2MB standard and 6MB for diamond - the latter needing a code rather than room number/name which I hadn't been given, so I just used the 2MB version which seemed a good bit slower than the stated speed.

Breakfast spread was ok with a good range of hot options, but at 8.30am several options seemed to have been exhausted (e.g. bread loaves, butter). These were not replenished and with no staff around after a few minutes, I asked one of the waitresses who disinterestedly told me that kitchen staff would attend to it, and then promptly did nothing. I called the manager over 10 minutes later and he saw that it was resolved, but again clearly could be a lot better both proactively and reactively.

So, nothing terrible but nothing too good either and certainly not to make me want to rush back versus trying out other options.

We've been here this weekend as other half was at a party last night.

Wasn't upgraded but did notice there were no premium rooms available to book four days out so wasn't really expecting one.

Arrived just before midnight on Friday and was checked in very quickly with a couple of bottles of water handed to us along with the cookies.

Room was on the fifth floor. Caledonian you will be glad to know you haven't missed out on anything apart from a slightly lower ceiling compared to the floor below.

The rooms as others have said are very small, this is the kind of room I would expect in very-central London not Ealing whilst the bathroom takes things to a whole new level. We managed to manoeuvre well, however if you happen to be anymore than a 36/38w or upwards of 6'2" a bathroom on the fifth floor of this property will not be to your liking, infact you would probably break out in a sweat just thinking about it.

Breakfast was very nice, decent choice and has been quite relaxed although the coffee isn't the best - I'd recommend requesting a latte or cappuccino rather than the stuff out the pot.

It's a decent enough hotel and the rooms are quite well furnished. Overall I'd say 8/10.

One thing that did make me chuckle was when checking in there was a woman complaining like hell about police sirens and noise from outside. When I went for a walk at 6:15am on Saturday she was there again complaining, and again at 10am when we went for breakfast AND again at 12:30pm when I had to get the keys recoded as they had wiped. The staff on the front desk clearly have patience!

Haha, I love these stories......jeez police sirens in London are just second nature.......I Used to stay at a mates flat in elephant and castle and it was all night long!, we got used to it after a couple of nights.
Not stayed at this hotel but from what I hear it ain't nothing special?

Yeah once we were in the room we both had a laugh about it when the first police car went flying past. The hotel is on a crossroads so there is traffic coming from all directions. I didn't think it was that bad tbh although in Edinburgh we live opposite the docks so there is heavy vehicle traffic almost 24/7 so we are used to it.

As for the hotel I'm pretty sure it's ex-ramada. To be fair it's not that bad and it's more than bearable for the one or two nights. It's more business than leisure though I would say.

The size of the rooms though are shocking and I feel for anyone who is a bit larger than normal who checks in here as it won't be pleasant.

Decor wise the furniture is very similar to HGI Glasgow, DT Leeds and DT Manchester Piccadilly except the wood is dark instead of light. Nespresso machines in all the rooms as well so it's not all bad.

At £69 a night in the sale a month or so ago it's more than acceptable and we would happily go back at that price.

Yeah sounds ok, I did look at it when I booked Wembley during the week but it was only a £12 saving over Hilton Wembley so I booked Wembley as pool/sauna/ lounge etc, that said I've drove past it a few times and the area looks nice......as for nespresso, what a great idea!.....I own one of them, great invention!

It's a good hotel. It's very well located for the Piccadilly Line and not too far from Ealing Broadway. Wembley is definitely better, but there are good reasons why you might prefer the Ealing location. Staff are good, breakfast is good (never had the Wembley breakfast) and the rooms are comfortable. It's also a points bargain for something that, while it's not in Central London, is definitely a London experience and one that you could consider as a tourist on a budget.

I'd actually say the Ealing breakfast is better quality than Wembley tbh. There is less choice but the food quality is definitely better.

Completely agree re the points options. At 30k or £38 & 12k it's a bargain and as you say it's a short hop on the tube into central London.

The common is quite nice to sit with a coffee first thing and watch the world go by.

The only negative we leave with is the size of the rooms everything else has been great.

Gotta agree on the breakfast even though I've not been to Ealing, whilst at Wembley I was getting some granola there was an employee filling the cereal containers up with the cheapest looking boxes of cornflakes, branflakes and rice crispies I've seen........great selection but not quality.

This is part of London I tend to pass through, but am thinking of trying on a virtually sold out London stay.
What's it like around the hotel, and how long would you say to Excel?

It's on the edge of Ealing Common which is quite nice and the tube is less than five minutes walk away.

Plenty of local shops in the area as well as Starbucks, Costa, Sainsbury's, Nando's etc. Ealing Broadway is walkable with a good choice of shops there as well.

Excel? The common station is on the Uxbridge branch of the Piccadilly line, changing to the Jubilee at Green Park then the DLR at Canning Town I think could probably be done in about 70 mins if you get a clear run at it with no disruption.

Doubletree Ealing (London) GBR 4* at good value
 

Introduction As a Hilton Honors member, I got a great value deal from this Doubletree by Hilton which is located west of Central London in the Borough of Ealing. While I was initially concerned about not being in Central London, the hotel is only a 3 minute walk to 2 tube lines (District & Piccadilly) and a 10 minute walk to the Central Line. It took maybe 30 minutes to go to/from LHR on the Piccadilly line. The room has a queen bed with an extremely comfortable mattress, Crabree & Evelyn bathroom products, a mini refrigerator, a Nespresso maker, a kettle with a choice of teas, and huge HD TV mounted on the wall, and plenty of outlets. On the day of arrival, I found a bottle each of both still and sparkling water in the room as well as a terry cloth bathrobe and slippers. I checked in online the day before and requested extra pillows and towels; both were in the room when I arrived as well.For a stay in late March, I paid £78 per night for a queen room plus breakfast. Each morning's breakfast included a generous buffet including scrambled eggs (not salty at all which was pleasantly unusual in the UK), fresh fruits, muffins, fruit juices, choice of breads/English muffins for toasting, hams, cheeses, hot cereal, yoghurts, a selection of fruit preserves, and other English hot breakfast choices like bacon, hot beans, grilled tomatoes, and cooked mushrooms. An array of UK newspapers is available in the lobby every morning. When I was seated for breakfast, the hostess asked what type of tea I would like and then the server brought a porcelain (or ceramic?) teapot with the tea already steeping. Those who wanted coffee were given an equally beautiful presentation coffee.While I initially was turned off by being in Ealing, I changed my mind quickly because of the amenities of the property & ease in getting to Central London and LHR.