Beckles

I've always been happy with the Hilton London Tower and think it is a good location for touristy stuff.

Since it's your first time to London, a couple of tips for you:

1) Order an A-to-Zed to help you navigate the City ( Mini London A-to-Zed on Amazon )

2) Buy an Oyster for Public Transit at Heathrow, it's a prepaid transit card and is the cheapest way to use the Tube and London's buses. One other note on public transit, make sure to check out the buses, it's a much better way to actually see the city as a tourist, and often much easier than the Tube. There are really nice maps at each bus shelter to tell you what bus to get on and where it goes.

Bebedeer

I love this Hilton and the location!

OverThereTooMuch

Has it been your experience that this location is also somewhat expensive, even compared to other Hiltons in London? I'm seeing rates from $145-$513 for a normal double, sometimes with a swing like that within the same week. And that's looking at pre/post Olympic dates. Seems like a pretty huge swing, and even to get the "cheap" rate, that requires a prepaid reservation.

Thanks for the other tips too! Just FYI, that Amazon page mentions a new version of A-Zed being released on March 1st.

stifle

Those are pretty standard rates for Tower Bridge. It is rarely cheaper than £80+tax.

OverThereTooMuch

Good to know, thanks. ^ I guess for that kind of money, I know why so many people say nice things about it.

I'm a person with 5* tastes and a 2-3* budget

ab007

Exactly, can't say I've seen it as low as £80 for a while, but I recently booked Great Getaway rate at £93 including breakfast (although I'd get that as Gold anyway).

Location is not quite as central as some, but it's quiter and feels a little more exclusive... I particularly enjoy strolling down the river after using some of the restaurants on the waterfront.

I've always been upgraded and always enjoyed my stay. Can't beat it at the low rates imo. If you're looking to use points however then I'd still suggest looking at the Park Lane Cash and Points rate which will really get some value out of your hard earned points.

stifle

Your gold status isn't really relevant to booking, but if you value executive rooms and lounge access, then make sure you (a) book somewhere with a lounge and (b) don't book the Waldorf Hilton, as posts here and my own experience suggest they are quite poor with upgrades.

hautecouTours

I just spent four days at the Waldorf Hilton in London. Perfect location and I was given an upgrade AND EL access even though we weren't able to be on a EL floor due to wanting twin beds. The trick was that I emailed their customer relations manager ahead of time - [email protected] as others on this forum had done. YMMV, of course.

mookie10

Hilton london Metropole 40K Award Nights are currently available for most days during the Olympics for those still looking for accomodation.

dcsnowwake

Which is a good hotel to stay at which is near nightlife? I dont want to stay in a business district. I would rather stay closer to the west end as I am going to a Chelsea match next weekend.
thanks, I have read the other threads on hotels in London, but im confused.

wjudge

Trafalgar is walking distance to Soho. The Waldorf is closer to Covent Garden. Both areas have plenty of watering holes.

dcsnowwake

any others than those 2? I dont know if we want to drop that much money, we might, but I like options.
also more of a pub guy than club action
Thanks

samonyc

The Doubletree Courthouse might fit the bill. It's very close to food, nightlife, shopping, and transport.

Monkey & Minkey

I have an e-mail dated 8th June 2011 from a Corporate Escalations Liaison wherein Hilton “verified” that they “are at fault”.

On 15th October 2010 I made a reservation for 2 nts for 3/4 August 2012 at the Courthouse Doubletree Hotel London. I could have booked rooms at The Bentley so didn't consider anything unusual. I anticipated obtaining tickets for the London Olympics. The reservation was confirmed with an Amex Card.

On 6th February 2011 I made a reservation at the Cavalieri using the same Amex Card for 17th May 2011. I mention this because the Amex Card had an end of April expiry date.

On 11th April 2011 I applied for tickets to the Olympics for events over the weekend for which I now had a confirmed reservation.

On 19th April 2011 I updated both reservations with my new Amex Card expiry date of April 2015 with Hilton Central Reservations.

On 27th May 2011, I noticed my reservation for the Courthouse Doubletree no longer showed on my account. Enquiries with the hotel revealed the reservation had been cancelled and an e-mail sent explaining that a “system error” had allowed me to book the rooms “even though the hotel is already fully booked”. No such e-mail was received.

If the hotel had contacted me within 28 days of the booking I might have understood.

Later that same day the hotel GM stated “the credit card we had on file was not valid nor could the numbers be viewed”. He then stated that “when the reservation was cancelled an e-mail is generated automatically”. The GM also stated that reservations “will open up in August” and he would contact me with availability and rates at that time”. There has never been a cancelation number for this action.

A considerable amount of anxiety ensued for the next week as I attempted to find out what had actually happened. I had some concern also as to what the prevailing rate and conditions might be when booking re-opened in August.

On 8th June 2011 an offer of an additional 10,000 Hilton Hhonours points was made “as a gesture of goodwill for my patience in this matter”.

Later that same day an admission of fault was received from a Corporate Escalations Liaison and a proposed solution of “2 Be My Guest Certificates which would allow Hilton to cover the room rate and tax for both nights regardless of the rate”. Dispatch of these certificates was delayed to be valid for the booking period.

On 14th June 2011 I accepted the offer by the hotel GM to rebook the rooms making reference to the BMG Certificates.

On 17th June 2011 confirmation of my tickets to the Olympic Games arrived.

On the 5th September 2011 2 BMG Certificates were received, specifically for a Doubletree Hotel.

I heard nothing further from the Hotel GM until 13th September 2011 when he advised that the whole of the hotel inventory remained fully booked to one company and that a deadline of January 2012 had been set for final confirmation. An offer to find alternative accommodation was made which I understood to mean a Hilton hotel.

Concern now focused on where to stay in central London. By leaving it until 13th September to contact me the hotel GM had effectively distracted me from finding my own accommodation in a central location by having led me to believe that he would be able to re-book my accommodation at the Courthouse Doubletree.

Later on 13th September 2011 the Corporate Escalations Liaison amended notes for the BMG Certificates to allow them to be used at any Hilton hotel worldwide.

On 14th September I accepted the offer to find alternative accommodation advising the GM the alternative accommodation would have to be of similar standard and in a similar central location. I heard nothing further from the Hotel GM and had to chase constantly for an update to the point of mentioning legal recourse until 2nd November 2011 when I received a letter from solicitors purporting to act for the hotel advising that any legal action I may care to instigate in this matter should be directed to them.

The end of January 2012 has now passed and there has been no further contact from the hotel GM and so like the other offers this was an empty gesture.

Throughout this whole episode the actions of the hotel management and subsequently Hilton have left me feeling that there is no real loyalty or Hhonour at Hilton or indeed any desire to resolve this matter satisfactorily.

I cannot help but think that the Management of the hotel had sufficient time between the date of the booking and the date of the arrival to obtain my up to date credit card details. I did not experience any similar concerns with my booking at the Cavalieri in Rome.

Westminster Trading Standards have advised me that there is a case to answer under the Sale of Goods and Services Act for a Breach of Contract as indeed have my own legal representatives.

A claim for Specific Performance of the contract I have been advised would potentially be both prohibitively costly and time consuming.

I will however seek to recover any losses I incur as a result of this situation after August 2012 and in the meantime withdraw my custom and that of the companies and organisations with which I have some control from Hilton. This will be several thousand times the cost of the accommodation in question.

I would still rather have had Hilton act ethically and appropriately and provided proper restitution in a timely and effective manner and ensured that the GM of the hotel had provided the assistance that was offered.

BearX220

Nobody's going to read this opus, including the hotel(s) you are mad at. What does it say?