happychic

I want to write a quick post about my one night stay at IC London Park Lane as a lowly Platinum (ie nobody ) using an expiring cert topped up with points.

There was a sale for award stay so I spent less than 60k points for one night stay here in early February. It was practically a steal!

I took the tube to get to the IC from LHR. I had to go through one smelly underground pass and walked quite a ways away to get to the hotel due to the hotel sitting at a busy roundabout intersection. But, it worked out.

Upon check-in I was told that I was upgraded to an outside room, and was also given a drink coupon because of my "status" (I didn't use this). I was also offered a "discounted" rate of 28 pounds for breakfast (from 42 pounds), which I accepted.

The low floor room I was "upgraded" to looked like a King Cosy Room, except with a "view" to the Four Seasons across the street. Nonetheless, I thought the room was nice. I would have been happy here even for a longer stay despite the talk about the unfurnished state of the room. The shower curtain didn't bug me. The standard issue Byredo toilettries look the same as ICs stateside.

The location was perfect. I got settled in then walked quickly to the Westminister Abbey to attend their evening song service. I wine and dined alone after the service, chatting with other travelers at various establishments, and wandered around Mayfair, Soho area. I loved how well situated the hotel was. The front desk and lobby staff made the hotel feel very cosy. I can see how a frequent visitor will feel right at home here.

When I got back to the hotel, I was dismayed to see the teabox looked ransacked and not refilled. I called downstairs for some nighttime tea, to which someone picked up and said they would send it immediately. Half an hour later, I called again to follow up on the nighttime tea request, but no one picked up at this time. I ended up falling asleep with lights on waiting for the tea to arrive. (The bed was really comfy and this was at the end of a fun but tiring trip.)

The next morning I went downstairs and did a quick Peleton workout at the gym. I normally prefer a swim but there is no pool at this hotel (understandable given the location and the age of the hotel). I then went to the buffet breakfast. There were lots of option at breakfast but none of them seemed particularly tasty to me. Nonetheless, it did the job. The service was just alright. The coffee was horrendous, the tea was good. The party next to me asked for white sugar 4 different times, and the waiter kept forgetting to bring it to them. I politely offered them my white sugar as I was only using the brown sugar. I guess this was an odd gesture to the local folks (they sounded English to me, so I thought of them as local), as they didn't really acknowledge my offer. Whatever, I went about my merry way.

After breakfast it was time to pack and checkout. They erroneously charged me two for breakfast, which they promptly took off the bill. When they asked me how my stay was I explained that the room and the bed were great, except that I did not get my nighttime tea. The checkout person felt so bad that she offered 10k pts as service recovery. I did appreciate the gesture, but the points never hit my account two weeks later now. Whatever, not a big deal to me.

I hailed a Bolt ride to LHR, it was a very reasonable 45 pounds.

All in all it was a fantastic stay. I would come back again for sure. I can see why this is such an iconic hotel. I really loved it!

tl;dr Fantastic place for one night or one week stay, especially if you are using points.

TGLoyalty

Why hasn’t the IC refurbished all of its rooms ?

still this odd classic (dated) and modern Mayfair mix

tvsfrank

Just tried to apply my confirmed suite upgrade cert to a 4 night stay in 2 weeks. The best they would give me was a Mayfair king premium (from a king cosy points booking), even though there are 5+ suites available on the site. Very disappointed that my CSU can’t even be used on the lowest level of suite when several are available. Hyatt was much better with CSUs.

TGLoyalty

a king premium really isn’t much of an upgrade either. Better paying the £ supplement to upgrade to a Mayfair room than waste a valuable voucher.

jentut

Hello all,

I have combed through these amazing posts and appreciate all the information! I am traveling to London in May with my 21 year old daughter. She hasn't been to London since she was 4 and remembers next to nothing, of course.

I have a reservation at the IC Park Lane for 9 nights. I am currently a Diamond Ambassador. I reached out to the hotel to ask about a paid upgrade to Mayfair rooms and they have offered me either a Classic (£100 per night) or Premium (£150 per night). Is the extra £50 per night worth it for the Premium room?

I'm also contemplating taking the tube from LHR to Hyde Park Corner just for the experience but am concerned about getting from the tube station to the door of the hotel. It looks a little confusing from Google maps.

I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!

KPR

You should travel to underground station Knightsbridge, from there you can take first a short walk straight right to Harrods or go straight left over an underground path before you go direction Buckingham to park lane and the ICC. It’s around 400m to walk and you will see the other great hotels on the way like the Mandarin Oriental, ParkTower and the Wellesley. Or the station green park over the park and Hardrockcafe to ICC Parklane :-)

Tax Dude

I often take the tube, cheap, easy to get a seat at LHR and I usually only have a small carry-on. Takes about the same time as a car. Hyde Park is the correct tube stop. It's about a 5 min walk to the hotel, most of it underground. Just take follow the signs for the Hyde Park subway exit. You'll pop up in a little park opposite the hotel and immediately go back underground to cross Piccadilly. You'll exit just in front of the hotel - the main entrance is around to the right.

NorthernLass

Agree, it's very easy on the tube to Hyde Park, you will see the hotel across the road when you exit the tube station, then go back under the subway to cross the road. Apsley House, near where you emerge, is well worth a visit if you like history and art. Also some of the changing of the guard ceremony is supposed to go past the nearby Wellington Arch, though on our last two visits there was no sign of them so I don't know how reliable the timetable actually is!

Geoggy

Quick report from one night paid stay. I’m Diamond Ambassador and had booked directly with a contact at IHG, so he had already done the upgrade to a One Bedroom Suite and added paid lounge access.

A good stay I guess but was sad that Luis has left the property - the last of the lounge “old guard.”

A few service anomalies as seems to be par for the course. Our room wasn’t ready at 3.15pm and as we’d headed to the lounge to check in one of the staff gave us a “further upgrade”, but we were given a x20 room, or in old money a Studio Suite. Couldn’t be bothered to argue but did have to have 2 visits from maintenance to get the aircon working.

Canapes were good last night. Was good service on the Pommery as after a slow start it was hard to get to the bottom of a glass without it being topped up.

Breakfast was good this morning although we were served cold tea, which again just shouldn’t happen.

We got no Ambassador welcome amenity in the room, and they bizarrely left me a Happy Birthday cake, even though it wasn’t and clearly isn’t from my IHG profile.

No “how was your stay” on check out either. We are back on Tuesday and will check in downstairs to see which room from the made up categories we get this time.

HadesNL

One bedroom suite to a studio suite is a bit of a downgrade.
They renamed them but the old studios are a tad smaller.
Was your IHG contact unable to fix the snafu ?

Upon your return, you might wish to consider to negotiate upon check in,
- No upgrade cat+1 but at least same room type but renovated Mayfair
- Or upgrade cat+1 and hope for the best in the lottery

HookEm

A few years ago when I took the tube, there seemed to be one way to exit the Tube at Hyde Park that took us to stairs but another way there was a ramp and then we had to find another ramp, which is much better with luggage. My memory is not entirely clear. Can you please clarify for me?

aj411

if there is a ramp,I’d love to know for next time. We never found it.
it does seem like there should be one for accessibility though, right?

HadesNL

Please inform me too.....
Ramps at Hyde Park Corner Tube station....

It's like seeking the scarlet pimpernel
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Scarlet_Pimpernel

I had another look at barrier free access at TfL
https://tfl.gov.uk/transport-accessi...voiding-stairs

Hyde Park Corner tube station is not among the blessed

Geoggy

It’s a mixture of ramps and steps I’m afraid. Out of tube, right and immediate left. Up the ramp, walk straight, down the steps, keep walking whilst holding your nose, turn right, up steps, - you’re there.

IThink

Exactly right. The network of tunnel and steps around Hyde Park Corner is not pleasant, smelly and sometimes with rough sleepers. Also if you take a wrong turn you end up on the wrong side of Hyde Park Corner. People are staying at a £600++ a night hotel, for the sake of a taxi why lug luggage around a tube system?