Land-of-Miles

For where you want to be my recommendation would be The Trafalgar, especially in summer when the great rooftop bar will be in full swing.

dcmike

There is a huge comprehensive thread on London Hiltons:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...es-london.html

And for point stays:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ay-points.html

You can also find several on individual properties, for example:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...s-reviews.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...ar-london.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...irport-t4.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...minal-5-a.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...nt-street.html

Just type London into the search box and you should find a wealth of information.

more4less

Thanks very much dcmike.

I do not think we need one more thread about Hilton hotels in London.

stifle

Please try the search function before posting questions like this We get around one a month.

catalinradio

Reading the threads on London properties for an hour, can any experieced London traveler suggest best London hotel for family of 5 (3 kids) plus a senior over Spring Break at EOM? Doing all tourist stuff as it is our first visit... thanks a ton in advance.

Milhous Gloriosus

Looking at Hilton Paddington for first trip to Europe with family (all adults, no kiddies). Based on what I can see, it appears to have the best (cheapest) transportation options to and from Heathrow and around town. Can anyone give me any thoughts on the hotel itself, attractions within walking distance, etc.?

stifle

Well, the cheapest route from almost anywhere in London to/from Heathrow is the London Underground (tube). From Paddington it is a one-change itinerary on the tube or direct on the Heathrow Express, but the Heathrow Express costs more than three times more than the tube, or five times more at certain times.

London is quite spread out, so if you want to have a lot of attractions in walking distance you are (a) going to limit yourself a lot and (b) going to be best off in a property such as the Trafalgar or the Waldorf Hilton. That's not really a particularly useful approach in my opinion, because the tube is very easy and convenient to use to get around, although it can be somewhat awkward with lots of baggage. The one exception is on weekends when they close random segments of random lines at random for refurbishment.

If you want a no-change journey from Heathrow to your property by Tube, then Green Park, Hyde Park, Park Lane, and Euston are good options.

The other option I tend to recommend is Tower Bridge, which is very modern, near London Bridge station and the London Dungeon, and has a very decent executive lounge. Travelling there from Heathrow would be by tube (Piccadilly line) to Green Park, then onto the Jubilee line to London Bridge. All stations involved have lifts (elevators) so there is no worries about having to lift bags.

Thanks for doing a search before posting. I'm not an experienced London traveller, but I'm a resident. Does that count?

The first thing I would point out is that your party size is going to require three rooms at most Hilton properties in and around London, as the majority have a two-person maximum room occupancy. Please keep this in mind when budgeting. The US approach of offering 2×queen or 1×king doesn't really exist over here, and temporary/rollaway beds are also uncommon (generally because the rooms are small).

If money isn't a major issue, then I would basically refer you to what I wrote above

The hotels that I think would accommodate you in two rooms are Euston, the Trafalgar, London Metropole, Islington, and Docklands Riverside. Budget options are the Wembley Plaza and Dartford Bridge, which are quite a distance from the city centre.

Finally, remember that it is customary for central London hotels to quote prices excluding 20% tax.

If you have anything more specific please feel free to ask.

shawbridge

I've only stayed at two or three Hiltons in London. I've stayed at the Paddington Hilton, which is fine but nothing to write home about. The staff seems a bit jaded to the point of not caring.

I recently stayed for a week at the Bentley, which is near Gloucester Road Station. Room was very nice. Staff very helpful. Nice breakfast in the mornings (I don't remember if this was included or not). Internet worked well. Nicer area than Paddington. Incidentally, you can take the Picadilly Line directly to this stop from LHR but it is probably about 50 minutes to an hour.

elCheapoDeluxe

Also check out the "Heathrow Connection" service. It is not non stop from Paddington, but only has a few stops and cost me £9 last Sunday. It is still faster, much less crowded, and much more comfortable than the tube - especially if you want a place to put your luggage. On the way out of Heathrow I took the tube to Piccadilly Circus and it was standing room only for us and our bags.

This is a great web site for figuring out long distance rail options in the UK:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

I am not going to second any suggestions about the Hotel Trafalgar. I stayed there for the first few nights of my stay. I actually ate the points on my last night, checked out early, and went to the Courthouse Doubletree Regent Street - which I found much more pleasant. It is obviously not as close to things south of Trafalgar, but it was walkable to a great deal on its own and was very close to the Oxford Circus tube station which made getting around very easy. The Hotel Trafalgar benefits and suffers from its location. It is very noisy on the lower floors with the constant stream of buses. I could look out my window at 3am and see a half dozen buses outside my window at ANY moment. The Russian Festival going on during one of the days didn't make things any more peaceful or easy to navigate. The entire square was gridlock. The breakfast is nothing special there and the only bar that seemed to be open was the one by the lobby. I never got a decent wifi signal the entire time I was there and the wait for the elevators was quite long as they only had one operating the entire time. Add to it the self-important form-over-function pretentious feeling of the whole property (I wasn't sure if it was a hotel or a night-club sometimes) and it is definitely not a property I'd go back to. And I'm only 31. I can't imagine how a more "mature" traveler would enjoy it.

stifle

Good point about the Heathrow Connect, but do note that it only runs half-hourly which is a bit of a nuisance if you miss one.

Jinxy

I actually read the entire thread before posting my own. Too much of the entire thread needs to be deleted as lots of out of date information.

And no need for the snide remarks or rolling off eyes..i had specific questions of which I was palmed off.

You should be ashamed of your responses to people. I do not treat fellow posters like this in the forums I frequent most.

squeakr

to the OP - the responses you got are actually fairly tame abotu doing a search,. If you do not like the tone of a post please report it to a moderator, rather than get angry on a thread.

to the responders - I applaud you giving threads to search. I have been looking through the London threads you posted, and some of them are very old so you kind of have to work from the most recent pages. That's a given. What I WAS surprised by was that so many of the threads just circled back to the same thread "Hilton Properties in London" which I have to say would drive me crazy.

All that said -here is my opinion - most London Hiltons are "easy transport" except Canary Wharf and Docklands. Most are near a tube station or bus line. All the locations are good for sightseeing (IMHO) short -term with the exception of Islington, Docklands, Canary Wharf and Wembley. DO NOT BE FOOLED by London Syon Park which is a good distance from London.

For two nights honestly I think the reaction you got is that for ease of transport, value etc. it doesn't matter a whole lot in July Olympic season - if there's a good point value or points plus cash take it .

catalinradio

London is quite spread out, so if you want to have a lot of attractions in walking distance you are (a) going to limit yourself a lot and (b) going to be best off in a property such as the Trafalgar or the Waldorf Hilton.



The other option I tend to recommend is Tower Bridge, which is very modern, near London Bridge station and the London Dungeon, and has a very decent executive lounge.



Thanks for doing a search before posting. I'm not an experienced London traveller, but I'm a resident. Does that count?

The first thing I would point out is that your party size is going to require three rooms at most Hilton properties in and around London, as the majority have a two-person maximum room occupancy. Please keep this in mind when budgeting. The US approach of offering 2×queen or 1×king doesn't really exist over here, and temporary/rollaway beds are also uncommon (generally because the rooms are small).

If money isn't a major issue, then I would basically refer you to what I wrote above

The hotels that I think would accommodate you in two rooms are Euston, the Trafalgar, London Metropole, Islington, and Docklands Riverside. Budget options are the Wembley Plaza and Dartford Bridge, which are quite a distance from the city centre.

Finally, remember that it is customary for central London hotels to quote prices excluding 20% tax.

If you have anything more specific please feel free to ask.[/QUOTE]

I have just booked 3 rooms at the Waldorf, but may change to the Tower Bridge. I don't want to run up a lot of taxi fares as moving 6 people, one who uses a cane on and off the bus/trolley will present its challenges, so proximity to central city and attractions I think will save me some $$. 600K points for the 3 rooms for 6 nights. I hope I shouldn't expect to be charged taxes of 20% on award stays?? I really appreciate your advice, and will try to read these threads for a few more hours as they are of great help.

stifle

Yes, taxis are an expensive proposition, and in London they have a maximum occupancy of five people so you will need two at a time. At the Waldorf you are near to Temple, Charing Cross, Covent Garden, and Holborn stations, but all of them do have an element of steps when walking around.

Immediately nearby theatres include the Duchess, the Fortune, the Royal, the Lyceum, and the Novello (the last two both less than two minutes' walk from the hotel).

Do make sure you take afternoon tea in the executive lounge at some stage, as it is very nice

You will pay 20% taxes on the cost of your room, which is 20% of £0. Incidentals are quoted including tax.

If you do choose to change to the Hilton London Tower Bridge, it is about five minutes' walk from London Bridge station and as mentioned above that station is fully accessible. But it probably isn't the best choice for your particular needs.

OverThereTooMuch

Even with the GLON discount, shouldn't it be 225k per room for 6 nights?
This is great info to have, thanks! ^ I'd read somewhere else that it was about a 15m walk to the station. The only word of warning a friend could offer is that there were a lot of pubs between the station and the hotel. She stopped at several every night, so she couldn't recall how long of a journey it was