bmr12

Semi-gratuitous bump for someone looking for similar advice--best London Hilton for 3 people (2 adults, 1 child in my case)--looking for enough room for all three of us before spending almost two weeks in a cramped cruise ship cabin. I'm HH Gold (like many others) should that matter. Proximity to tourist attractions, breakfast & lounge access are also important.

OB one

Try searching for the London thread, but from my recollection London Metropole has family rooms that may serve you well. Be aware that many Hilton rooms have two twin sized beds only or perhaps one full sized bed. When I stayed with two teenaged kids and my wife, we needed two adjacent rooms at Hilton Kensington.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?p=4484555

obs

There are only a few hiltons that will give you a room for 1 adult & 2 children.
The Metropole and Docklands. I prefer the Metropole over the docklands as the rooms are bigger, and have 2 beds as opposed to 1 bed plus a rollaway. Also the metropole is convienient for edgeware road underground. Docklands requires a courtesy bus to Cananda Water underground.

tullupump

Have a reservation at both properties using points. I am Diamond on HH and PLT on SPG.

Had settled on the hilton but now am wavering. I suppoese I could call both properties and find out what room they will assign? Anyone know how far in advance they assign rooms?

stanj

IME, room assignments are usually made the day (night) before arrival or on the day of arrival. It never hurts to call ahead and request an upgrade, though.

I've stayed at both hotels and would lean towards the Hilton. Not sure if they've done any renovations on the rooms at the Sheraton recently, but I found that even w/ an upgrade, the rooms were old and tired. Personally, I'd take a decent room at the Hilton w/ lounge access over a dowdy jr suite at the Sheraton.

As others have mentioned, I think there's more of a room lottery at the Sheraton. Might just be my luck or imagination, but the Sheraton seems to be more stingy at upgrades when using points.

europeanflyer

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Just had award stay recongized as DIAMOND at check in & upgraded to the exec fl , through they were sorry could only give me a queen instead of my usual king as hotel was very busy (sat/sun). Use of the lounge which is a nice size & the best breakfast offer I have experienced in any exec lounge so far.

My 1st stay at Park Lane & overall pleased.

kcnwgold

Last fall I redeemed a 10 night awards stay at the Hilton Park Lane as a HH Diamond and was upgraded to a larger executive room on the 24th floor. It was a room at the base of one of the 'V's' in the building which made the room triangular in shape. A nice large room that was quite. The lounge was fantastic and included free wi-fi service. There was also a PC in the lounge one could use. During the day, the lounge was a wonderful sanctuary if you needed some peace and quite.

Near the end of my stay a pipe broke on the 27th floor and the rooms below flooded. When I returned to my room that day water was everywhere. The hotel moved us to another room immediately and were very apologetic. We went out to dinner and returned to find a complimentary bottle of nice champagne, a huge fruit/cheese plate and a hand-written letter of apology.

Even with the flood, which was more than likely beyond their control, I would definitely go back to this hotel. Service was top notch.

blairk2

I would agree with the Hilton Metropole.

I stayed there last Easter with my wife and 2 kids (12 and 10) in one Family room. This had two double beds, no sofa-beds. The hotel is ideal for arriving from Heathrow (the Heathrow express goes to Paddington - a 5 minute walk), and Edgware road tube station is across the road, so you can get anywhere. It is walking distrance from Oxford Street too.

Plenty of restaurants (for dinner and breakfast) around the hotel and a swimming pool for the kids. I think the sports bar in the hotel is great too.

nonutrix

I think it is important to have air conditioning in London in the summer, because it can get hot. When you find a Hilton that you think might work, I would advise you to search the FT and Tripadvisor reviews for comments on the a/c. I've spent many nights in London during the summer in a hotel room with an a/c blowing hot air and windows that didn't open.

nonutrix

xooz

Canary Wharf will accommodate 3. I prefer it to either of the two mentioned. Not on the Circle line like the Metropole, but rooms were nicer and while I have only been there 3 times, am 3 for 3 in updgrades. Exec lounge is one of the nicer ones of the London Hiltons.

NOLAnwGOLD

So looking at the Waldorf (double bed only) vs the Tralfager (two twins), both have great location and are all the same category for award nights. 2 night in early Jan....which would you pick? I'm gold so any chance for an upgrade at either hotel to a nicer room??

By price per night the Waldorf is 60 euros more per night....

Thanks for the advice!

Andriyko

Is the bed type important to you?
Trafalgar is my favourite. I only stayed at the Waldorf once, and while the hotel is nice I like Trafalgar better.
Waldorf may put you in an Executive room (same size as a standard room at the Trafalgar) but many of Waldorf's rooms face the street and it IS very very noisy.
Trafalgar's location is better I think. There is no lounge at the Trafalgar though. Not sure about the upgrade as I always book a Deluxe Plus room and I was upgraded to a Suite only once.

europeanflyer

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If you like a modern hotel , than Tralfager is the one to stay , I always stay there when in london now & have used , Waldorf, Park Lane & Hyde Park.

my last stay was as gold & I received an upgrade, so just depends on the occupancy.

Ski Ag-'82

I agree with Europeanflyer. The Trafalgar is more modern--though I did stay in one of the refurbished rooms in the Waldorf earlier this year which was quite chic--I also got an "older room" previous.

I have stayed in the Trafalgar 6 times this year and it is my favorite. You are right on Traflagar Square and very close to Leicester Square and Picadilly Circus there--where I love to people watch. And it is close enough (even though the Waldorf is closer) to my work in the city to not take outrageously long to travel.

The upgrades that I have received (as Diamond) generally involve a larger room and/or one that overlooks Trafalgar Square. Even though there is not a lounge--you should go up to the rooftop bar at night--very nice view.

ronamc

We were there 2 weeks ago on an AXON. Gold HHonors. Were were given a room on the 24th floor and access to the Executive Lounge which is on the 1rst floor. The room was a decent size for London (smallish compared to most US rooms). Rooms had robes and slippers. The lounge was on par with most of the European lounges we've been in. Definitely a step below the Cavalieri though. Also unusual was that the 'menu' was the same every day. Never any change in anything except for maybe the cake during tea.

Breakfast is 7am-11am (I think?) and included some hot items (eggs,bacon,tomatoes,mushrooms), lots of nice pastries, a few cheeses, smoked meats, fruits, cereals, yogurt.

I agree that tea (3:5:30pm) was the high point. Nice selection of desert items, 3 tea sandwich varieties (chicken, mozarella/tomato, and salmon), and of course scones with jam and cream. Watch out for the scones though - they dust them with powdered sugar which can be messy if you are wearing black!

Dinner snacks were out from 6pm - 8pm and they had a Mediterranean theme. Several salads, grilled asparagus, brie, bread, crackers, humus, spinach type dip, some other dips. The hot items were sausages and a little fried somosa like thing.

In terms of getting to the tube station, it is a little annoying with luggage since there are stairs mostly, few escalators. Please note that right in front of the hotel is a pedestrian underpass which will take you over (under) to Hyde Park and it has both stairs and an incline access for wheelchairs/strollers etc. If you go this way and then walk down to the tube station then there is just one set of stairs when you get to the tube station (going down) rather than 3 sets if you go down to the corner by the Intercontinental (down,up,down)