nolonger1K

I used it about 9 months ago, so I'm assuming it has not changed. It was actually pretty good - I'm fairly sure they had two Life Fitness treadmills. While they weren't the latest LF models the one I ran on was as you would expect a well maintained LF treadmill to be.

SportsTech

Hmmm...bit of a walk, but not terribly far (just off Regent Street near Picadilly) you will find Veeraswamy. Claims to be the oldest Indian food restaurant in London, and is certainly quite good if you're not looking for exceptionally spicy fare. I've been going to this restaurant for about 8 years, and it's gone from outstanding (and really hot food) to ok to mediocre (getting more and more Americanized) until they reversed course about 9 months ago and started paying much more attention to the food. Net net, I like it - I've eaten in most of the "best" Indian restaurants in London, and Veeraswamy is worthwhile.

Another option is to jump on the Central Line tube (5 short stops to Notting hill gate) and head for Zaika, Kensington High Street stop on the District or Circle lines. Excellent food, again not terribly spice, inventive.

I'm sure others will have ideas, you might head over to the London forum for more and better advice.

Sweet Willie

thanks, I was looking for the closest tube station to the Churchill.

The bus has also been mentioned, what is the closest bus stop to the Churchill, I'm assuming on Oxford but you know what they say about assuming.

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meducate

There are actually bus stops just one block from the Churchill, just hang a right out the door and cross the one street...

crystak

Good to hear! This seems to be a very busy hotel with only king standard and club rooms available for Thursday - Sunday when I'll be there so I'm not too hopeful for an upgrade.

I've stayed lots of times at the Andaz previously so this time I wanted to try the Churchill, then I can say I stayed at all the Hyatts in England albeit only 3 .

Shareholder

There is a stop just up the road, but of course it may not be a route you want. The ones on Oxford are a few meters down in each direction on both sides of the street. For Paddington, you cross Oxford and hang a right a few meters. There are two different stop clusters. Also noticed a number of buses for discount carriers going to Stanstead Airport parked just up from the park.

crystak

I've checked in today at around 2PM for a 4 night FFN stay.

First impressions in the lobby were good, efficient door man asked if I needed any help with my luggage. I didn't because it being not far from home I didn't have to bring many things with me. Went straight to reception to check in, handed my Diamond card and the very pleasant lady told me I could check in with her or go to the VIP check in upstairs. I carried on checking in with her, she made some phone calls to house keeping to check when my room will be ready and tried to find some alternatives as it wasn't ready yet.

Unfortunately no club rooms on the regency floor were clean and she said if I waited for 20-30 minutes in the lounge, one would be ready for me or I could take a ready king room. I did hear her saying something about one of the guests not wanting to check out. Of course, I said I'll wait for the club room and upstairs I went.

The 'VIP' reception didn't impress at all with the guy not knowing who I was when I told him my name although the lady at the reception talked to him 2 minutes before and said I was heading upstairs. Anyway, not a big deal but... after about 25 minutes, he found me in the lounge and told me my room is ready and that it's a View King and that it has a better view than the club room! Should I have insisted on a club room? Are they that much bigger?

I'm pleased with the room, they seem to be newly renovated, Molton Brown toiletries and very impressed with the Diamond amenities - 1 full bottle of wine, 2 brownie cookies with pistacchio sprinkled on top and 4 plums + handwritten welcome letter from the manager ^. The only downside that I can think of is the noisy A/C, small desk and thin walls/ bad noise insulation. The internet is a bit strange - had to get a code from the reception to log in for 24h but it's free. Is it free for everyone?

Regency Club: Good salmon, the duck breast and apple tartletts are a must have but I was expecting a larger diversity. Good champagne though!

broadwayboy

Regular and standard club rooms size are basically the same. View King are the rooms facing the park and tend to be brighter on (the occasionally) sunny days in London.

Are you on top 2 floors of the hotel? (Are they the 8th and 9th floor? I forget). If so, you're in a Club Room. Usually Molton Brown is only provided in the Club Room -- but if you're not in the Club floor, could it be that they change policy? If so, ^ !!

crystak

I am on the 8th club floor, I didn't realize that's all the difference between a club and non-club room . I thought the club rooms were the corner ones but those must be the suites. Thanks for your reply!

CopperSteve

Aren't the corner rooms the "family" suites? These would be the ones that have a connecting door between two rooms that can be opened (not a traditional "suite"). I could be mistaken - I have stayed at the hotel many times, in many different types of room, that I can't really remember.

broadwayboy

The 2 corner rooms facing the park are the living room of the suites (I think room -23 and -46?) These suites have a living room, a powder room and a king bedded room, with a door connecting to a standard room.

I believe there are the other suites that face the back. They have a slightly different configuration than those 2 corner suites and they are much darker (not much sun coming into these).

crystak

The two corner rooms on the 8th floor are -23 and -45. On the floor plan there's three other large rooms -5, -6 and -61 on the same side as the RC facing the other way from the park.

m0hamed

Arrived this morning off a 22 hour flight from Sydney. Had arranged a car through the hotel several weeks ago. To cut a long story short the driver was nowhere to be found. Arrived 45 minutes later. Interestingly as I was trying to call the hotel, a family member asked him if he was picking up for the Hyatt he said no. It became apparent that he didn't know that the Hyatt is the Hyatt Regency Churchill. I appreciate cars are probably outsourced, but one expects better service when paying the hotels expense airport transfer which is always 50GPB or $50US more expensive than booking it with a company yourself. I think knowing the name of the hotel should be a bare minimum.

Got to the hotel, had arranged an early arrival however the suite was not ready. Despite telling the duty manager of our ordeal at the airport, she failed to do anything other than apologise. In similar situations I have had the manager make the transfer free, but I wasn't going to press the point. She did nothing about the room not being ready either.

Private check-in performed in the club lounge where we were told it would be 30 mins for the room. 30 mins soon turned into 90. Lounge offering for breakfast seemed a little minimal. Absolutely nothing hot, strange as I would expect a hotel that seems to be based on it's "English heritage" would offer an English breakfast!

The suites seem rather small, though the balconies are a nice touch. Shower cubicle as well as bathtub certainly a plus. Good location though the view of Portman Square is rather uninspiring.

Not a particularly nice welcome to London. The early arrival was arranged because we knew we would be tired and it doesn't incline me to want to come back to the hotel. Complete polar experience to my last stay at the Sheraton Park Tower which has its own Range Rover. Perhaps next time I'll try the Andaz.

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UPDATED: Just had champagne, handmade chocolates, a bottle of red and some mandarins delivered with a handwritten note from the GM. I believe the hotel to have redeemed itself, and it's very appreciated.

broadwayboy

m0hamed, is there a connecting room to your suite? Are you on the top floor of the hotel? I'll return to Churchill this summer and having a suite with balcony sounds nice.

VA1379

I did a one night stay about 10 days ago at this property. The cab driver knew the property as the Churchill. If you ask for a cab (or a private car), tell them you want to go to or from the Churchill. The word Hyatt is not associated with the hotel's name, at least among the black cab drivers.

I received a half bottle of red wine (Chilean), 2 bottles of water (one still and one sparkling), and 4 plums about an hour after arriving in my room. Later in the evening, I got a note from the GM and two small pastries.

Rooms at this property are small (maybe half the size of a typical room at the County Hall Marriott). I wasn't exactly amazed by the view from the club lounge, so I expect it to be difficult to get a room with a great view at this property.

Club offerings seemed fine to me, but I do not expect any hot food in the morning (based on prior experiences at County Hall Marriott and Grosvenor House, JW Marriott). I loved the small glass containers of yogurt that were available for breakfast. The evening offerings had a duck breast appetizer, smoked salmon, and some tasty desserts, along with the usual cheese, bread, crackers, and vegetables.

During the day, drinks (bottled water, soda, lemonade and other flavored drinks, and beer) are available. The water bottles are made of glass, so it is not as convenient to take water out.

Service in the club is excellent, and I found the internet in the hotel to be quite fast. Both wireless and wired are free, but I only used the wireless.

My only quibble is that the gym is a bit on the small side. The dumbbells are rather light (topping out at 10 kg). Fresh fruit is available in the gym.

A 2 pm checkout was granted the night before my departure. This is a great property for diamond members.