simonsmith

Having had most of our travel curtailed and having holiday from work coming up in November , I was thinking about a London break . There are always plenty of things to do.

I do like an executive lounge after a day out exploring.

Which London Hilton property would people suggest currently ?

BlueZebra

Have you looked around he board...questions like this come up very frequently.

Conrad St James.

simonsmith

Thank you

I have looked and I can see individual references to some London hotels during Covid but could not get a good feel for them over all.

Last report on the Conrad was in September .

Presumably the lounge is still open so may very well be a good choice

TGLoyalty

I believe the Conrad lounge is open for soft drinks / coffee throughout the day (atm)

However, breakfast is offered in the main restaurant and evening drinks and canapés in the bar.

Also has a 3 for 2 promo on at the moment via. FHR and some virtuoso etc agents.

Ive found Hilton Bankside to have good elite recognition in the past but I wouldn’t say it’s well located for seeing local sights.

jerry a. laska

Probably start here:
DISCUSSION for Hilton Honors Hotels in or near London, United Kingdom {GBR}
And also look at the reports in these individual property threads:
Hilton London Bankside {GBR}
Conrad London St. James {GBR}
Hampton by Hilton London Docklands {GBR}

I would usually choose the Conrad.

craigthemif

Somebody who has lived in Britain their entire life probably isn't rushing to Buckingham Palace and Piccadilly Circus on a weekend getaway to London. Bankside allows you to wander along the South Bank of the Thames, Tate Modern, Borough Market, etc.

But it's fairly obvious that nowhere you could stay in London is close to everything you might want to do. So the quality of hotel also matters and I agree that the Hilton Bankside offers a better cost / quality ratio than the Conrad.

noddie09

Hilton Bankside without any hesitation! It's nice and modern, the pool is open and excellent status recognition. The cash price is also fantastic right now

wizla

Obviously London is extremely quiet at the minute , very few tourists and many shops not open....... if it was me I would choose Hilton Bankside too, I stayed just before lockdown and service was very good as so few guests.

brp

We have a trip planned next May for a concert at the Albert Hall. Obviously, this is a number of months away, but no good idea of what Covid will be like in London then, or even if we'll be allowed from the US. But we're going to take the chance.

I notice that several hotels, including Bankside, are offering EL-access rooms, but also say that the lounge is closed. We're Diamond, so don't need the Lounge-access room, but this offering, even as soon as next week, is inconsistent.

Is it worth to book something cancellable now to lock a rate, or wait to see what happens with lounges in the next few months?

Yup, very open-ended questions, but figured FTers in the London area may have some thoughts on this.

Cheers.

craigthemif

ALWAYS book something cancellable. It's remarkable how many people needed a pandemic to learn that prepaying a hotel room to save a few bucks isn't usually the right choice.

I'm finding that May / June 2021 are showing typically expensive room rates. Obviously as we get closer to the time these rates should fall if travel doesn't bounce back strongly. But there's certainly no harm in locking in a rate and checking back periodically to see if the rate has dropped.

wizla

Absolutely spot on !........That’s exactly what I do, I once many years ago booked 3 different Hilton’s in the uk for a road trip.
My dog had to have an emergency operation the day I was due to leave , I didn’t loose the money but all three hotels allowed me to move dates, however I’ve never booked a non cancelable room since, unless it happens to be a same day booking of course ....yup good advice there.

GentleGiant

Bankside is nice - but without the lounge, I would probably pass. Unless they are offering an alternative.

Not to offer a lounge at any hotel is pure cost cutting - would be easy to do it as a table service.

brp

Yeah, I wrote that badly. Booking cancellable is always the way to go, and something I've been doing for quite some time now. Really, this was more a question of the general feeling in London (which is purely subjective) and the idea that choosing what to book (even in a cancllable fashion) would depend upon the amenities offered at the time. None of us know that, but I figured folks who live there, or who have been recently, might have a sense (even if vague) of things.

I routinely do that as well. We do that for our annual trip to San Diego where we have a couple of places we like, book both and then look for price changes. Haven't done that in London as yet, but it may be a good idea this time to watch amenities.

Currently have booked Paddington as proximity to Royal Albert Hall is better than Bankside. As that only matters for the one evening event, though, it's only one of several factors.

Thanks for the4 commentary on what is clearly a very vague question

Cheers.