bhrubin

The Savoy has never been on our radar after a short trip to the bar once many years ago--it was fussy and stuffy. Seems not much has changed.

That being said, I wouldn't be wearing Jobs' outfit either.

The King Cole Bar at the StR New York has a bit of dress code, too, but it's more about no shorts/sneakers/sportswear than anything else.

offerendum

Is it in all rooms? I know that from Junior Suite up it isn´t a problem.

jp-mco

You’re right - it’s only the rooms below Junior Suite where you can get a shower over the bath. Thankfully the Front Office now know my preference for a separate shower and will always try to find me a room with one. These are just my work stays when it’s not really necessary to book a suite. When I’m with my family we need the extra space of a suite anyway so it’s not really a concern. To be honest much as I dislike a shower over a bath I would still pick the Lanesborough every time because it’s just such a good hotel in the perfect location for me.

offerendum

In a few years the new Peninsula could be a good option in this area.

jp-mco

I'm very excited about the Peninsula in London and if it's anything like the Peninsula Paris it would be a winner for me. It would be difficult to tear myself away from the Lanesborough though...

grumbler

I love the Connaught but yes, on balance the rooms in the Contemporary wing are better but small. I don't really like what they did with the Observatory - the JG decor is really quite awful. However, the main restaurant and three bars (I count the sneaky champagne bar as one) remain great.

Did have a great stay recently at the Beaumont.

GetSetJetSet

Just finished my stay at The Savoy. I have no idea what the other posters were taking about regarding the hotel being stuffy. Did not feel that way at all. It was a lovely stay, we were upgraded from a Jr.Suite to a 1-BR Suite. While I enjoyed the stay and the hotel, it’s clearly not a true contender in London and is at least a cut below the true top hotels.

Legit curious, because all of the staff were as nice as can be. For reference, I arrived for check-in wearing loafers with no socks, jeans, a t-shirt and a barbour , yet somehow they managed to treat us nicely without wearing morning dress ---> white tie . They gave us the best table in the bar and it was OK, but honestly I wasn't impressed with any of the cocktails in their "signature" cocktail list. I remembered parts of a cocktail I've enjoyed in the past, gave the barman a rough synopsis and he was able to put together a pretty great example, so overall I was impressed. The breakfast room was lovely as well. Horrible luck with departure and arrival as on the day of arrival the climate protestors closed all the streets in front of the hotel so we had to WALK with our bags 2-3 blocks and on the day of departure, the London Marathon closed everything in front, so we had to depart from the river entrance, which made finding uber/taxi a hassle.

miadeals

I am trying to pick a hotel for next summer, 4 nights x 2 rooms. This might sound weird but here goes...

My spouse wants a club/executive lounge that is open late. The kids go to bed and we are bringing grandparents to watch them.

The latest I found, balancing price/how late the lounge is open is JW Grosvenor House, which seems to be open til 930 (or at least serves drinks til then?) and you get access with Marriott Gold, which is easy enough. (Weirdly the rooms don't look very nice.) Are there any other hotels/lounges that you can book the reasonably priced rooms (ie no suites) that are still in hotels that are about this level or better? Or you can buy access to the lounge and added to the room it is still around this range of prices (600GBP/nt or less)? Another benefit is we can transfer all our points to Marriott and start knocking off paid nights, plenty of time to do so before next year too. (The IC Park Lane lounge closes too early, too hard/expensive to get into, that was the other one I was looking at.)

We have never been to London so I know almost nothing but what I can find on the internet, so any ideas would be helpful. She would kill for a lounge serving til 11 or 12.

If we can't find anything, we'll probably go a totally different route, we'll be looking for hotels that have larger standard rooms/bathrooms and amazing grounds (lobby, amenities, etc)...and a great hotel bar. But that post will come later if we have to cross that bridge.

Lambi

Do the shangri-la at the shard for that budget, great modern rooms (even the entry rooms), great views, good bar which is open late. Screw lounges and just go for places with a good hotel bar which isn’t too busy. London is awful for quality if you’re on a reasonable budget. JW is great for location and the steakhouse, but everything else is subpar if you compare with other cities.

miadeals

I was thinking about that but being our first time I know we will be out doing tourist stuff during the day and i keep reading that its location is poor over and over again. How much more of an inconvenience would it be for a family ranging from 1 to 67 who are probably going to do the "standard" tourist stuff (very slowly lol) over 4 days?

(I promise you though the one thing we've learned is that its easier to feed a couple toddlers at lounges for breakfast, easy lunch before naps, snacks for dinner than it is dragging them to real meals in which case we get absolutely nothing done, plus then we get to drink for free later...its my wife's biggest desire - over a larger room, bathroom, amazing grounds, etc.)

offerendum

Suggested IC (close 11 pm) but you stroked it out. Otherwise it would be my choice.

Ericka

Well, this doesn’t have a club lounge. But we booked The Stafford for our London trip with our son next summer. Excellent location (Buckingham Palace, St. James Park to feed the fancy ducks, tube stop). Very English feel. And a highly regarded bar downstairs. We’ve never worried about the lounges though because we pack our own snacks for our son. They also have room service, kids menus, and kids amenities. Oh....and a fourth night free promotion combinable with Virtuoso amenities as well as a free airport transfer when booking a junior suite or above.

offerendum

If you look on the budget most options frequently discussed here won't fit. I wonder that IC is too expensive.

miadeals

So it is open til 11pm? When I was looking I saw a 7:30pm closing time, if its 11pm that perfect. But this is what Ive seen:

”Champagne, cocktails, beers and wines are available and expect to be pestered into “just another one” at 19.30 before the bar closes. In fact, staff have often suggested lining up 2 or 3 beers or glasses of wine to keep us topped up through the evening.”

7:30pm is unacceptable.

miadeals

Besides the fact literally everyone on flyertalk is on a budget (why aren't you just staying at your staffed london penthouse?) the problem with the IC PL is a reported 7:30pm closing time. Otherwise it was my top choice so far.