Koby

Unless of course that same tourist is there during the weekend, and can save 100-150£/night by staying at Canary Wharf and spending some time on public transport, of course...

stifle

Indeed. Everyone will have their own preference. Some may like the Hampton Croydon.

mrobert

I stayed at the Hilton on Park Lane.
As a Gold, I got an upgrade to a Mayfair Suite overlooking London (8th floor)and access to the Executive Lounge. It was a lovely experience for me an the Mrs.

The restaurant on the 28th floor (Galvin on Windows) is simply amazing in the evening.

stifle

The London Hilton on Park Lane does seem to be very generous with upgrades.

thegoderic

Waldorf - good location (theatreland), nice lounge, lousy at providing upgrades but if you get them some very individual exec rooms and suites
Tower Bridge - Vey nice hotel, good lounge, OK rooms, a bit out of the main tourist area
Trafalgar -Unbelievable location, nice rooms, no lounge but my personal favourite.
Courthouse - good location (shopping, Oxford St), OK rooms, mixed for upgrades, no lounge
West End - slightly off the main tourist track, variable rooms, lounge just about OK

mrobert

I had 7 stays across Europe in the past 2-3 months and I was upgraded each time as a Gold. Actually I had a premium room booked early this summer at the Bucharest Hilton and they gave me a choice of 2 suite upgrades. One of the was the Diplomatic Suite which is rather expensive to book on it's own.

It could be the fact that we are usually by far the youngest couple in the hotel and our room bill exceeds the actual price of the booking by far, most of the times? Hilton does have some nice marketing perks.

I have an upcoming reservation at the Rome Cavalieri (Waldorf Astoria), and they already confirmed a complimentary late checkout.

frankmu

My family of four (my wife and I, plus 2 kids age 12 & 8) will be visiting London for the first time at the end of March. I have narrowed our choices down to the London Metropole and the London Paddington (for ease of transportation to and from LHR, I hope). I see the London Metropole has a room with 2 queens, and the London Paddington has a queen suite. Does anyone know if the queen suite has a pull out sofa? What advantages would one hotel have over the other? Thanks in advance!

stifle

Can't help with the rooms as I've never stayed at either, but the Hilton Paddington wins on ease of transport as it's built into the station where the trains from Heathrow arrive.

Notenut

ke sure ahead of time that Paddington Staion will allow more than 2 in a room, the Metropole definitely will. I made a lengthy review of our family's stay a couple of years ago in this very thread if memory serves. Also the Metropole is very close to the Edgware Station Underground, and 3 or 4 very useful-for-tourists bus routes pass right in front of the hotel.

treznor

I've stayed in a queen suite at the Hilton Paddington (room 205), but unfortunately, as it was over 2 years ago and I didn't make a note of the pull-out coach, I don't remember.

My suggestion would be to call the hotel to check as they'll have the definitive answer. You'll more than likely need to call the hotel anyway as the above poster noted, room occupancy rules are stricter in Europe than they are in the US (some countries more than other). It's worth a quick Skype to get it sorted.

stifle

I agree with treznor. Europe is generally quite strict on occupancy rules.

jfadds

Location is everything!

Stay at the waldorf____my favorite in europe

3 previous stays on points and a week coming up in april 2012

stifle

That's arguable. Public transport in London is very good.

frankmu

Thanks for the replies! I emailed Hilton.uk as suggested, and they stated that only some queen suites have pullout sofas at the Paddington. I'll go ahead with getting a 2 queen bed room at the Metropole, since "a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." It is reassuring to know that we won't be too far from public transport.

travelingtony

Stayed at the Courthouse Doubletree in September. Good location, close to a tube station as well as shopping. Stayed on points in a standard king room with upgrade and breakfast as the gold Myway selection. I didn't receive the upgrade but I didn't care as the breakfast was my main concern. I was allowed to check in at 11am.

Breakfast consisted of pastries, cereals, fruit & oatmeal. For £4 more you can upgrade to the hot items which include meats & eggs. They only asked me for my name and charged me for the upgrade once, they didn't seem to care if you got it another day.

No wifi in the rooms so I had to sit in the lobby. I also got stuck in the elevator for a few minutes with an employee. He had to call the desk with his cell as the emergency call button didn't seem to work.

If you don't get the breakfast there is a place across the street called Leon. You can get oatmeal with toppings and juice for a few pounds.

Hotel seemed clean, good location. The area, like most of centralish London, is beautiful to walk around in.