NoY

We were told that alcoholic drinks in the evening were 6pm-8pm. Canapés from 5.30pm. In reality they were serving drinks from 5.30pm ^

Not sure about the timings for Breakfast & afternoon tea. No doubt someone will be along in a moment to clarify these

roomslonsb

Dear NoY,

Thank you for your interest in Hilton London Bankside. Toanswer your query, our Executive Lounge is open from 06:00am till 10pm.

We serve canapes from 5:30pm – 7:30pm
Drinks (open bar from 5:30pm - 8pm
Breakfast is served from 06:30 – 11am
Afternoon Tea is served from 3pm- 5pm

We look forward to welcoming you to our hotel in the not toodistant future.

Guest Relations
Hilton London Bankside.

OnTheCentreline

(snip)..."Guest Relations Hilton London Bankside."

roomslonsb, welcome to Flyer Talk.

Your presence on this board is welcomed and I look forward to future interactions, so that we can learn more about this property.

BotB

Another welcome from me roomslonsb, ^

Great to see one of the London based Hiltons interacting with customers here on FT and taking an active role with social media.

I've only been once to your lovely hotel and enjoyed it very much as reviewed in this thread, we look forward to staying again sometime in the future and consider your hotel to be one of the top 3 Hilton chain hotels in the city. ^^

Please do continue to post responses but also proactively any offers/changes/interesting activities occurring in your hotel roomslonsb @:-)

stanj

Diamond in the midst of a five night stay. Really love this hotel.

Pre-upgraded to a deluxe King. I called on the way in from LHR and asked if any possibility of further upgrade to king exec, but told no availability. However when we got to the hotel, they proactively said they could give us an exec King, but the room wasn't quite ready. We waited for about 45 mins in the exec lounge enjoying the afternoon tea service. Room is very nice, overlooking the courtyard. No view, but very quiet. I'll gladly take quiet over a view, unless the view is spectacular. The free soft drinks/snacks in the minibar is a great perk.

Only slight negative so far--we were told at checkin we could have breakfast either in lounge or in restaurant. Yesterday, no issue eating in the restaurant, but this morning was told by the same hostess that we would incur a 7GBP surcharge. Not sure what changed from one day to the next, and I hope it doesn't mean a change in policy. Ultimately didn't get charged, when I mentioned that we were told otherwise at checkin. Will be interesting to see what happens tomorrow morning.

Breakfast spread at the restaurant is very good, as others have said.

wantan

need to do a last minute booking so havent been able to do a through read on the other threads (sorry!) but how does this hotel compare to Conrad, Waldorf or Parklane ? I'm assuming these are the top end properties for Hilton in London.

So far have only been staying at either T4, T5 or Hyde Park. Main concern apart from hotel/lounge quality is ease of transfer from Heathrow, and then to Southampton. Also is GDP240 a good rate at this hotel ?

BotB

Hi wantan, generally you are correct in the best rated Hilton chain hotels in London (being this one, Conrad, Waldorf, Park Lane, Canary Wharf, and Tower Bridge)...they each have a different feel to them and attract different visitors but each has decent rooms and lounge.

Transfer from LHR: the easiest are going to be those on the piccadilly line which are (in order of nearest on this line: Park Lane (Hyde Park Corner), Waldorf (Covent Garden).

You would need to change tube lines to get to the Conrad (changing somewhere to the circle or district line and then going a few stops East to St. James Park).

For the 3 others mentioned, you would need to switch to the Jubilee line at Green Park and then head South/East to Southwark (Bankside), a bit further for Tower Bridge (London Bridge) or a bit further still to Canary Wharf (Canary Wharf).

Some stations are good for baggage, others are not...I can't remember the ones involved here so can't comment, hopefully others can. If you only have small bags and are used to stairs / walking then none will be an issue.

Getting to Southampton from here depends on mode of transport...I assume train but again, if that is the case, you can get to any of the major train stations quite easily from the tube network in London so it will be much of a muchness (little difference) IMO.

In terms of pricing, Ł 270 seems steep to me but it depends on rate, day of week and how last minute 'last minute' is...That price is certainly normal for a booking that is less than a week away and during mid week timings in London.

Can you book with cash and points? that should help bring down pricing for such bookings.

I am not a fan of Hyde Park Hilton, although the DT a block away is reasonable but not an aspirational property.

I like the Conrad and Bankside best for the service and understated quality of the rooms/hotel/breakfast/lounge while being convenient for sites. Others like the Waldorf for its better position but I find it a bit too 'loud' in many aspects, although the lounge is very good and if you are lucky (it seems to be 50/50) you will get a nice room / upgrade. Park Lane is not my top 5 but I understand many do like it. If you wish to see and be seen and like the 'bling' style then this is a good choice although I don't find the lounge particularly great. They tend to be good with upgrades though. Canary Wharf is a nice property but simply too far out for my taste, although they do have a very good lounge and service if you make the effort, and the surroundings are different to other parts of London (water and skyscrapers)...

Enjoy wherever you go, both the T4 and T5 are similar quality and style to many of these hotels you ask about.

Hope this helps.

diamond club freeloader

Currently enjoying another very pleasant stay at Bankside for a few days. Staff, as before, very attentive with all-round excellent service.

Booked a standard King and pre-upgraded to deluxe king ... checked in early and advised I could have an exec room later, but decided to take the immediately available deluxe. Disappointingly, I was offered an up-sell to an immediately available suite for a small additional daily cost. When I queried why as Diamond I wasn't able to have this for free since it was unoccupied, I was told that they only offer 1-cat upgrades comp. I hope this isn't true ...

Lounge is really good here, as others report. They have resolved a few niggles I disliked previously (i.e. hot food in evenings had table service only, only the servers had the bottle-openers - so you had to ask for your coke to be opened...). Still have fantastic breakfast and the afternoon tea is top.

Must try the pool this time!!

kirkwoodj

Pretty much standard operations...

NoY

Similar here - had a 2 cat. & upgrade offered to Suite for Ł...

stanj

UPDATE: No problems w/ taking bkfst in the restaurant the rest of the stay, just the one day. I also verified w/ front desk and was told not to worry, they would remove any up-charge.

Have to give kudos to the staff and management here.

stanj

Southwark (Bankside) has some steps, but has escalators and a lift from the platform to lobby, IIRC. There is a flight of steps from the station lobby to the street level. It's about a 1/3 mile walk from the station to the hotel.

St James's Park (Conrad) has a flight of steps from the platform to the lobby. No lift or escalators. Across the street from the Conrad.

diamond club freeloader

Currently staying here too - and likewise, no problem with having breakfast either in lounge or restaurant.

ocprodigy

Just completed my fifth stay here in five months...still loving the hotel. Upgraded from Deluxe room to Executive room, so it seems they are mostly keeping to 1-cat upgrades. Shame because that may become the reason I decide to move back to Conrad who at least offered suites sometimes to me.

Staff seem to change quite constantly as no one I recognised on reception which is also a shame - no one recognises me either yet even though I normally have a chat with them in the morning. Does frustrate slightly at check-in when they ask if I've stayed before, but oh well...

While I remember, I was told at check-in that I can have breakfast in either the lounge or restaurant.

Executive room has the addition of a desk behind the bed and in the free minibar, you get chocolates (Daily Milk, Snickers) as well as Evian water (rather than the standard Hilton brand). Orange juice, fizzy drinks, peanuts, jelly etc all included in the free minibar as standard in Bankside.

Adventure began in the lounge, lounge was great as always. Around half full on Tuesday evening near 6.30pm (and that's the busiest I've seen it so far). Selection of alcohol included;

Wine: Red (Cabernet Sauvignon), White (Chardonnay) and Prosecco
Spirits: Normal array - gin, vodka, whiskey, etc. I stayed on the wine so not too much knowledge!

There are also bottled beer, but I didn't even look at it to be honest (same bottle you find in any Hilton lounge). Good spread of canapes as well but only my colleague tried them. He did say they tasted great though.

Staff were very attentive. There's a young blonde woman (who does remember me!) whose around very often - pleasure to talk to and provides great service. Makes it more enjoyable for me as I seem to generally be the youngest person in there!

Think I might start asking for a special order like mac2000 - Baileys before I go to bed?! See if they remember that...!

Wednesday morning ate breakfast in the lounge. As has happened on all my mornings so far, lounge quiet in the morning around 8am. Normally me and possibly 4 other people in the lounge? It can seat far more.

As a result staff very quick to serve. Had my usual poached eggs, smoked salmon and avocado on brown toast. In the lounge the "buffet" includes fruit, yoghurts, cold meats and cheeses, while hot food includes streaky bacon, sausages, porridge and scrambled eggs. Anything else you'll need to ask staff for. Coffee machine also available to use, although staff are more than happy to operate on your behalf.

Managed to get back in time for afternoon tea. Snuck in a scope with cream and butter and several small rounded toast with brie and chutney canapes (yum!). Three different sandwiches available but unsure what was inside them (apologies, such a rubbish reviewer!).

Hit the gym later and decent gym... Wanted to get myself in the pool but that didn't happen unfortunately (was running late). Didn't have dinner here during my stay - what a shame!

This morning had breakfast in the lounge again (I love the tranquility in the morning) and my order was remembered...small things that make me happy! Quiet again, I think 3 others besides me and my colleague.

All in all, great stay again and such a fantastic hotel but just lacking that personal touch I miss from my stays in the Conrad where they knew my face. Think I'll be back shortly (next month latest), so hopefully if I keep it up that'll change quickly...!

diamond club freeloader

Thanks for the review... just to add the sandwiches at afternoon tea changed each day during my stay so don't beat yourself up about not recalling those on offer! Stuff like: egg, tuna, cucumber/cream cheese, and chicken in a variety of guises featured when I stayed last week. We were probably around at the same time!

And by contrast, the lady on reception who checked me in remembered me from 6 months previously (and I remembered her) which I thought was pretty good going! Still only received 1-cat upgrade though!