tinyburst

yes, a great Hilton. That is why I would be sad if it is leaving the brand. I hope it is just an administrative oversight, but to not have booking available after the end of February seems worrisome.

chrism20

Leaving the chain doesn't normally stop them from selling rooms. Most leavers use the Hilton platform until the end date with a note on the website saying they are off from a specific date.

I've emailed them to ask about dates in the first half of next year, will let you know if/when I hear back.

hugolover

It would be very odd if Wembley was leaving. Should be a 20/25 year contract. It's managed and doing very well.

GentleGiant

I have seen this happen multiple times.

DoubleTree in Milton Keynes was a good example.

They would keep selling well beyond any departure date anyway.

tinyburst

Availability has opened up. I have booked rooms in April. Now waiting for June to become available.

MP001

Typing from room 757, staying here for a night and I am not impressed.
Starting from the check in when the associate assigned me to room 757 but noted on the card and told me 797. So, card did not work of course and I had to go down. Small mistakes and lack of attention to details that I found in most interactions with the staff through the day. People are friendly and perfectly fine but lack of training is evident.

Room looks very tired. I was upgraded from a queen guest room to a family guest room that makes no sense as I am traveling solo, I do not need the second bed. Upholstery is peeling off the wall and the bathroom present itself with an official apology note assuring the sink vanity top is clean and safe to use despite the many stains.

The executive lounge is open all day with happy hours between 6:00pm and 8:00pm, but food and alcoholic drinks are brought to table by a server and it is only one set per person. Choice was vegetable gyoza or chicken wings. I went for the chicken and got a plate with three chicken wings, a small side salad and a small bread. A lady was asking for an extra chicken wing and she was told only if there will be leftover later on.
I asked for a gin&tonic and it was probably made with a tonic from a bottle opened the previous day. A lukewarm, still G&T with two partially melted ice cubes and a quarter slice of lemon. Undrinkable, I just left the lounge that was quite empty, only four table occupied.. Breakfast tomorrow at the restaurant, I hope in something decent.

pazza2000

Lots of UK Hilton and Dbl’tree’s seem to be going down this ‘single serve’ route with their Lounges. A shame as the lounge here was great.

Freetotravel

This is a really disappointing development because I always had the Wembley lounge pegged as one of the best in the UK. The evening spread was really good.

tinyburst

I agree it is a shame. Although not all is lost, the Amazon Fresh store outside the entrance is very convenient and inexpensive to get whatever food you like. As Gary (lounge manager) reminded me on my last visit the complimentary booze option will save you a significant amount of money. Not ideal, but it is my work around. The hotel has too many other plus points for me to abandon it.

Wiggums

I just booked June 2023... no problem.

rockflyertalk

I stayed here for night a few days ago. The lounge whilst large and accommodating albeit not changed since my last visit (pre-pandemic), has a poor offering. Table service and two options for a snack. Pork bites or vegetable pakoras, both with a very small portion of salad. There was self pour red/white wine, Stella Artois and soft drinks available or teas/coffees.







sofa was pretty disgusting.

Overall the hotel felt tired and service felt disengaged.

tinyburst

Oh no, this is not good. I have several 2 to 5 night stays booked here. The rates are up significantly, the hotel manager needs to get a grip on these issues pretty quickly or they will begin to lose bookings.
Did housekeeping clean the sofa when you reported it?
‘Did you receive any compensation for the condition of your room?

RAPC

The problem is that they won't lose bookings any time soon. The odd dirty room or underwhelming stay isn't going to impact that in London, even Wembley, with demand as crazy as it is.

Freetotravel

I decided to visit for a short stay recently after a long gap. I had an upgrade to exec room.

The room itself is physically almost unchanged except that the beds have apparently all been replaced in 2022. Wasn’t impressed with the selection of ambient items on top of the desk sat on one of those sensors to charge the room. (Pringles etc.) Looks really cheap. The shower was over the bath and low pressure. Normal toiletries still in individual plastic bottles. But the room has been made up very nicely, it was super quiet and I was very happy.

I thought breakfast from 6:30 had been significantly upgraded and was fabulous. Great quality and huge range. A high number of staff at breakfast who were really quick with refills of coffee etc. Nice vibe.

The health club and pool area are completely open.

To the lounge … ummm …

The lounge itself is beautiful and they now have a server there all day which means it’s spotlessly clean, there's fresh ice and a sleek presentation to it. During the day there was a cookie jar of cookies made in the hotel
kitchen that morning which were delicious. Also a large selection of whole fruit. The tea is the same brand as recently at Hilton T4. Hope & Glory. I’m into tea and really like this brand. Usual selection of Coke and Schweppes branded soda. No breakfast in the lounge anymore and the lounge opens at 10. Instead of newspapers there are QR codes which apparently allow access. I was there on my own twice during the day during my stay.

But of course the elephant in the room is the evening cocktail service. The food was nice and clearly made in the kitchen (not Costco) and well presented on a slate with real napkins etc but there was so little of it and seconds are definitely not routinely offered. I asked once and a supervisor had to ok it. The portion one day was 3 tiny veg spring rolls, a ramekin of pasta and a half slice of bread.

I did ask what the reason was for the changes in the lounge. What I was told was that some people had been coming in and eating all the food - mountains of it, taking to their rooms, putting into doggie bags, etc etc - and those coming later didn’t have any. That’s also the reason for someone working in there all day now. Who knows if it’s that vs cost cutting. Either way I suspected the new arrangement may be here to stay.

Overall my stay was great and I have plans to return. The rates have been coming down quite significantly (I have seen occasional £105 AP) and I do think the hotel offers a great deal of value and to me feels quite luxurious and definitely well staffed. (I should add that a lot of my recent stays have been in HGI or Hampton because of the $$). For those who may be considering a stay and don’t know the area, rates vary enormously based on events at Wembley and day of the week, because it’s also popular with corporates. Based on this stay only it would comfortably stay in my top-10 UK Hilton list.

In reflecting on the EL situation, I would much prefer a lounge as described above than the lounge simply being closed.

wizla

Great and informative report, this used to be one of my favourites but I’ve not stayed post covid, shame about the lounge but I agree it’s better than no lounge at all, although I disagree on the tea, I find hope and glory mediocre but I’ve only tried the English breakfast one.
I really must get around to staying next year.