tegwj

I would say it's close, barring snarled traffic etc. Even a taxi to Waterloo from the Tower Bridge Hilton is >10GBP.

twj

mcgahat

Just arrived at this property today. I did end up taking the Piccadilly line from LHR to Green Park and then changing over to the Jublilee line to get to the hotel. Cost was 3.50gbp with oyster so not bad and it was exactly 1 hour from the time I got on the train at LHR to the time I got off at the London Bridge stop. The Green Park station did have lifts for thos with a lot of bags but was a bit of a hike from the Piccadilly line to the Jubilee line.

I will post more details later but am very happy with the hotel and the location so far.

mcgahat

My stay last weekend was much better than I expected. We arrived about lunch time on Friday and our room was not ready which was no problem so we had lunch at a Thai restaurant across the street (average Thai food and not so great prices). We then went up to the very nice lounge to have some tea and cake while waiting for our room to get a shower before heading out. The lounge is very well decorated and the staff are helpful. I was even more happy with a very comfortable room. I really did not find it that small as has been mentioned earlier. I thought the toilet in the bathroom was but the room itself was fine I thought and very comfortable. We really liked the location as you have walk along the river right behind the hotel along with the HMS Belfast and some decent restaurant offerings. The area was busy but not overly crowded. I would definitely stay at the hotel again. I had always stayed at the Paddington due to the easy options from LHR but that hotel doesnt compare IMO with the expection of the proximity to LHR.

Here are a couple of links to the restaurants nearby. Me and my wife dined at both and like them and found them to be of decent quality. www.strada.co.uk www.dimt.co.uk

bp888

The New York Times Travel section gave a generally favorable review of Hilton London Tower Bridge.

Full review can be found here.

shonline

Wrapped up two nights here november 29, 30. Busy spot with weekend guests. Upon arrival was told all Exec rooms were full, but 'upgrade' was to 612 - one of the 3 room types mentioned here previously as larger than most - which it was. Being on the corner, it had an interesting shape and layout. I faced the large Ernst and Young building, which made it very quiet - but - very dark Even on a bright sunny Monday morning, it loked like dusk in the room.

Hotel looks quite stunning once inside actually. Loved the new area of development near the river and advise all to walk to the Thames and see what is underway. A lot of our home cities could learn from this.

Lounge was not a bad size, but jammed. And no offense, but weekend travelers do sometimes tend to be less, well, 'experienced' and tended to be rather difficult to endure for any length of time during the breakfast or evening food services.

One has to give the UK Hilton's credit, they sure do a nice food and beverage presentation. I remember being amazed my first time in the Lounge at Paddington that they included liquor in the evenings. Well, at Tower Bridge, they brought out about 36 bottles of all sort of liquor imaginable. Unreal. Sure beats the Starwood lounges in the UK (although even Starwood's European lounges beat North American ones hands down).

Internet access was, like most European hotels, ridiculously expensive. fortunately, there are two computer with printers in the lounge that sufficed. UNfortunately, they use some terrible ibahn web browser built on top of Internet Explorer. Yikes, one bad browser built on top of another bad browser is not a good idea. Everyone was complaining about freezing and reboots. And the filtering software they used blocked the silliest sites, such as bahn.de, the german rail site. Why??

All in all a very good stay - although I have to say, I did feel as if something was missing. I can't quite put my finger on it, but it did lack something. Warmth, a soul maybe - hard to say. Maybe someone else can articulate it better.

aztimm

Just finished another great stay (3 nights) at Hilton Tower Bridge this morning. My rate was GBP 129/night, at a fully cancellable rate. I arrived from Hilton Kensignton (due to that property being significantly lower during the week), got there between 1 and 2 PM on Friday 5 Dec. Went to front desk, was told I was upgraded to exec level, and completed check in there. Was put in room 1110, which seemed nice enough.

Now I stayed at this property shortly after it opened 2 years ago and this property is gradually starting to show its age. It is still far more polished than Kensington, and the employees always just seem to go a step further. The guy who checked me in (at the exec lounge) remembered me from my stay in 2006. The staff in the lobby were quick to offer an umbrella, the exec lounge agents researched places to eat, directions, etc.

The property is just a quick 5 min walk to the London Bridge Tube station, maybe 5 min walk to the Tower Bridge, and a similar walk to the London Bridge. We did explore the immediate area a bit, ate at a few restaurants (Village East in Bermondsey is GREAT), and checked out the Bermondsey Borough Market. It was a pretty easy trip out to Greenwich from here also (missed that on the last trip).

The exec lounge is a bit tight, but we managed to escape the busiest times I guess. They sure did keep everything well stocked, when things did run out at breakfast, they were replenished pretty fast. The only complaint I would have about the lounge is that the one fridge didn't seem to work too well, the water wasn't chilled too much, the yogurt was almost at room temp.

The room itself isn't huge by American standards, but compared with other London Hiltons, the exec room was pretty half-decent. The closet and compartments had plenty of space, there was a nice sized queen bed (comfortable), huge desk. One thing we did this time was get the honor bar emptied, then were able to use the space for our own purchases without worrying about getting charged. The bath is spacious compared with other London hotels, separate bath/shower, huge sink counter, etc.

There is a vibe about the place, kind of dark and ultra modern. It can seem a bit depressing, especially just after a trans-Atlantic flight. But compared with other London Hiltons, this seems to me like an upscale boutique property.

Overall it was a great stay, and I'd certainly stay here again, and would recommend it to anyone. It can get a bit expensive (I checked rates around the weekend and some were GBP 200+/night). I did move to Islington simply to be close to St Pancras for an early train to Paris (at a very good rate).

Almost forgot: we joined Boingo for Internet, which works free from this property. When signing into the Hilton network, on the right side is a 'partners' area, which Boingo is one. There are separate fees directly to Boingo, I think $10/month.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Well, I bit the bullet and did an advance purchase at this property. Based on the reviews here and on TripAdvisor, this was quite a good dea, and l only paid a bit more than the going rate at the Kensington and Islington...........



Good luck to all!

planeluvr

That is a good deal.^

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thought so as well. I am Gold so if I get lounge upgrade or access all the better, but if not, at least we get full breakfast if we want it in the restaurant. Don't know if they grant FULL breakfasts to Gold members or not, since rules are always open to interpretation and rules only guarantee Cont'l breakfast.

aztimm

I second that, this is a fantastic deal for this property! Especially if you get lounge access. I never made it in the restaurant, but I'm curious how breakfast is, if you don't get lounge.

We found a great place for dinner about 1/2 to 3/4 mile away, Village East. Someone at the hotel should be able to direct you. Not cheap, but a great meal/experience (I think around 60 GBP for 2 for dinner).

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks for the tips and your prior input of this hotel, however I will not be able to tell you about the restaurant for another 9 months.

I use Kayak to check the variou Hilton rates and then if one grabs me, I go directly to the Hilton site to see if the low rates demonstrated on for example Orbitz or Hrs for example, are replicated on the Hilton site. This is an easier way to search than the slow to load Hilton site.

Corpt

I haven't stayed there for a year or two, but I recall the breakfast is fully self-service, with an excellent hot and cold buffet. I stayed there before the new Diamond/Gold lounge access rules came in and, as Diamond, when I wasn't given lounge access, I was given the full buffet breakfast. I think it would be difficult for them to "police" provision of just a continental breakfast, so would be surprised if Golds didn't just get access to the full buffet.

NJUPINTHEAIR

Thanks for the account. I just think that it is better to be safe and not to worry about it in this case, and since it is included as a full buffet, no hassle worrying whether they make a distinction or not.

Also, whether or not the hotel provides their elite guests who are on the Executive floor and option to take breakfast downstairs or not, this is moot because the breakfast is included in the rate.

Often the Lounge breakfast is somewhat limited -- although still very nice, esp. in Europe -- when compared to the restaurant's offerings.

It is just nice to have as a backup if one get lounge access, to decide that they still can exercise a valid option to dine at the restaurant if they wish.

Corpt

Even with lounge access, I'd still take the full breakfast buffet in the restaurant downstairs, if it's included in the rate, as it's substantially better. The lounge access will still be useful at other times of day for snacks and refreshments, as well as internet access etc.

NJUPINTHEAIR

My thoughts, as well, with one caveat -- a number of reports state that the buffet can be a madhouse esp. on weekends, but since I am not expecting an UG, it is nice to know that a full and good breakfast is included!