ThreeA4Me

I love this hotel - just wished their was better dining options walking distance and a place to hear music

CloudCoder

All sorts of options nearby. Use urbanspoon (free app) to find great restaurants. This hotel is just a 10-minute walk from the famous Brick Lane area and only a 5-minute walk from the fairly new and trendy Spitafields Market area. Many great restaurants in both areas.

RichardInSF

I think most of the places on Brick Lane are not very good. There is a thread in the UK forum that lists some of the better ones. The basic rule is that if there is someone standing outside to bring in customers, which the UK forum folks call a "tikka tout," you should avoid the place.

The majority of the restaurants in the Spitalfields Market area are chains. Garfunkel's isn't my idea of a treat.

Zhaunk

4 good eats close by (from our wonderful stay last June) were The Breakfast Club, Poppies (fish & chips), Hawksmoor (commercial st), and Duck & Waffle.

CloudCoder

With the knowledge gained from the urbanspoon app, you walk right past all the touts and right into the best restaurant on the street. I've been a top-tier frequent traveler for 3 decades. Urbanspoon changed my life. I use it every week and it has never steered me wrong yet. My rule of thumb is "85 or higher on Urbanspoon".

On the topic of restaurants near Andaz Liverpool Street, earlier this month we chose:

- Vertigo at Tower 42 (87 on Urbanspoon)

- Monsoon at 78 Brick Lane (93 on Urbanspoon) ... it was so good that we almost went back for a second night. I googled the place (to make sure of the opening hours) and stumbled upon a 25% off coupon which they were happy to honor

- Poppies Fish & Chips at 6-8 Hanbury Street in Spitafields Market (94 on Urbanspoon) - we found it totally fantastic as the fish was very light and not greasy in any way

The above info has nothing to do with how savvy I am or how lucky I am, etc. It is based strictly upon using the urbanspoon app to ferret out a good restaurant.

Happy travels!

ThreeA4Me

I stay here on weekends when it's a ghost town (but the rate creeps down to 135 pounds a night) - are all those places open Saturday and Sunday? If so, great and thank you!

BAGoldBoy

There is a great French restaurant in Brick Lane called Chez Elles - run by French people and serving great food.

There are many great food options within 5-10 minutes walk.

Zhaunk

Yes they are...

BotB

Pictorial Review of Andaz London Liverpool St.

Post -1- of 2 due to image limitations (I'm new to the Hyatt forum so hope posting pictures and a slightly longer, larger review will be accepted...please let me know if this is not the done thing here or desired for future knowledge. Thanks!)

Andaz London King Deluxe Room:



Those that may know me on FT will likely be a bit surprised to see this review of a Hyatt branded hotel as I am generally a Hilton or Accor fan due to the availability of those hotels where I work or spend my private weekends, however, I am changing some travel patterns this year and so have done the diamond status match challenge to Hyatt in Feb. which has seen me stay in the Hyatt Atlanta and now both London Hyatt properties.

I have to say first off that I do love the London Hyatt properties and will definitely consider going back to both of them so the challenge has been worthwhile for that reason alone. This property (and the Churchill which I will post a separate review on later) definitely beats the DoubleTree concept I am used to and I only wish there were more Andaz properties in London or the UK for that matter!

As a side note, my first stay in a Hyatt in some time, which was the Atlanta Hyatt left a lot to be desired, to the point that I was questioning whether to bother continuing with the challenge…I’m glad I have tried these two London locations now.

Diamond amenity:



I booked a paid rate (standard queen room) for a Saturday night in March and received an upgrade to a Deluxe King room upon arrival, which was very much appreciated. ^

Floor plan 6th floor:



So, to the stay and review:

We received an email that allowed me to check in online on the day of arrival (something I am not used to but find a great idea), this also allowed me to be informed when the room would be available and again is something I am not used to but a nice touch. I did say that we would generally be arriving around 15:00 as we had no rush and we did receive notification that the room was ready from 14:00 onwards. ^

We arrived using the tube which is obviously extremely convenient to the hotel and we only had a small hand baggage case with us so can’t really comment on whether there would be any issues with larger luggage or several pieces getting up and down the station levels.

Upon arrival we were greeted and offered a seat and a drink which we accepted a lovely orange juice and were then handed over to another person that completed our check in process. All the staff were very friendly and polite and we were quickly on our way. As a diamond, the hotel manager came out and greeted us personally and had a quick chat. He seemed very nice and genuinely interested in the conversation and greeting the guests. ^

The entrance area is quite nice and I hoped to get a picture but I am rather shy when taking pictures of public areas with other people in them and the hotel was quite busy so I unfortunately did not get any of the entrance area with the balloons and nice lounge area.

The person that checked us in then took us personally up to the room and showed us the various features and explained our benefits to us in detail which was appreciated.

Here are some pictures of the general hotel areas and design features:

a circular view down each floor that is outside the elevator area:



Looking down from the 6th floor to the inside atrium seating area (not the entrance area):



The view into the inside courtyard from the 6th floor elevator area:



Here are some pictures of the room:

In the entrance area, the climate controls and master light controls are easy to use: (but require a key card inserted or things go dark!)



The wardrobe in the entrance area:



Wardrobe interior with mini bar and safe, tea service, robes and very soft comfy slippers:



Mini bar contents (all free except the alcoholic items which are two beer and IIRC, two cider bottles)



Tea service:



The work desk area with power points under the flap you see to the left along with the iPod dock/speaker:



Large screen telly:



Bedside table with interior lighting:



View out the port hole window and interior blinds:



a comfy chair beside the bed:

BotB

Post -2- of 2 for pictorial review of Andaz London (due to image limitations):

The very large and nicely done bathroom:

View into the bathroom:



the loo that works on a vacuum flush system (a bit too reminiscent of being on an airplane!) and saves quite a bit of energy apparently: (but is a bit noisy whenever someone is showering or flushing the loo in neighbouring rooms to be honest!)



Sink and mirror:



further shelving:



Some of the amenities close up:



Lovely old style hardware but modern convenience shower detail:



Shower glass door and entrance foyer floor detail:



The heated, long towel rail:



The very nice, large bath:



Saturday night we decided to go out and try one of the above recommendations for food and as the Duck and Waffle was very close by we decided to try that first….well, I have to say, I have experienced a new first for me in the UK…I would love to tell you how the Duck and Waffle was, however, I can’t as we were refused entry because we didn’t meet the dress code! I dress smart casual and if this wasn’t good enough to get in I don’t want to, enough said.

In the end we walked to Brick Lane and had a lovely meal at Chez Elles (a great French place that although busy found some space for us). Highly recommended.

The next morning, we were told that buffet breakfast was included with our room if we ate in 1901 restaurant., This was the lovely glass dome ceiling above the buffet:



Or we had the option of eating a la carte in another restaurant next door to it.

The buffet selection was excellent and always topped up by the many staff between seating guests, etc…I asked for some eggs benedict which one could order additionally (in addition to other items from a menu that you have to ask for) at extra cost. Unfortunately, the person that took my order must have been called to some other task and then forgotten it. After quite some time I asked after my eggs and after a bit of confusion and apologies was told they would order this again as it must have been forgotten the first time (full marks for not lying to me and getting it sorted). At the end we asked if we needed to sign any check due to the eggs and were told that they were on the house as they had made the mistake so again, well done for customer service. (the eggs were brilliant by the way ^ )

We could have kept the room until 16:00 as a diamond but checked out earlier and simply left our bag for a few hours with the hotel.

We can highly recommend strolling along the Spital markets on a Sunday and then following your nose through the brick lane and other assorted food stalls…it looked like a city festival rather than a simple normal Sunday market! Excellent food, drink and people watching opportunities. We’ll be back and this hotel as well as staff were wonderful.

Hope this review and pictures help others out considering this hotel.

ILuvParis

All that's missing is a picture of the cookies.

BAGoldBoy

And no pictures of the evening canapes and wasabi peas which are my favourite

BotB

First, thanks for the restaurant recommendation further upthread ^ (a great tip)

Second...pics of the food in the lounge area...well, my wife certainly loved them and told me how good they were but she hoovered them all up before I could get any myself let alone take any pics

They did look good though ^

CloudCoder

Thanks for posting the great trip review and the fantastic pics. This is one of my favorite Hyatt properties in the world. I'd like to add to one tiny point:If you arrive in one direction (westbound) then there are many stairs between the train and the hotel. If you arrive in the other direction (eastbound) then you can traverse from the platform to the hotel with absolutely no stairs at all.

BAGoldBoy

This is our local Hyatt and we normally spend 10-15 stays a year. Still a great hotel but mini bar has been "enhanced" over the last year or so and wine amenity has disappeared completely. Staff are super friendly and we always get a warm welcome back.

There used to be some great dining offers but unfortunately not in the past year. The Tesco and M&S opposite are very useful.