Can't speak for this location, but my experience with points is typically the hotels upgrade elites if/when they have availability. My guess is individual properties have quite a bit of latitude on this. I've stayed at London Grosvenor Square eight times on points and have been upgraded eight times. All during off-season, however (and the upgrade was always to a larger executive king from a standard room).

My suggestion would be to note your request for a platinum upgrade, if available, on your reservation. Then when you check in, ask again, and, if they're reluctant to accomodate you, provide any particular good reason you might have for asking.

And by all means, understand that in some cases, upgrades are not possible. You can't expect a hotel to give away inventory when there's high occupancy, and they know they can sell the premium room you'd like at a premium price to someone else who's willing to pay.

I stayed there last November on a seven-day stay with points. As a platinum, I was told that there weren't any available rooms. However, if I wanted to pay 35 pounds (or something similar), I could upgrade to a river view.

Having just gotten off of a long flight and not having my wits about me, I failed to ask them how they could upgrade me for a fee if there were "no rooms available." Since the hotel was already on points, I didn't hesitate to pay for the upgrade.

I was upgraded to a river view room and Im only Silver, so I think they do that if there is availability.

This gets at an interesting point that affects more than just County Hall. For years, my understanding of TOS for plats was that you were entitled to upgrades "if available". I'm unclear whether this was to be for paid stays only or if it also applied to reward stays. Since I've been frequently upgraded on reward stays, I always assumed....as a practical matter, anyway....that you'd get a complimentary upgrade as a plat if you wanted one and if they could do it.

Now comes this business of "cash fees for upgrades". I can understand this for non-elites or for someone wanting to pay at the time of making a reservation in exchange for guaranteed assurance they'll get their upgraded room.

What's a little hard to fathom is having a hotel effectively tell you "We're unable to upgrade you". Then turn around and say, "Well, yes we can if you'll pay us". I realize there are other variables that could be at play here....occupancy rate, etc. But the whole...."now you see it, now you don't" aspect of this is a bit disconcerting.

Stayed there last August on points (2 rooms). My family (5 total) got to the hotel from Heathrow at about 8:30 AM. Although we couldn't get into the rooms until later, they gave us immediate access to the concierge lounge. We also got one room with a river view and the other across the hall. Although I'm platinum, I didn't expect to be treated that well.

I stayed there this Feb and was given a plat upgrade to river view. I did ask if I could have a suite and they said they would be happy to give one for an extra several hundred piounds a night.

I was there in March and was given a nice river view room as an upgrade.

Does anyone know any good discount codes for this hotel (London County Hall Marriott)? 215 GBP AAA for run of house seems steep and 299 GBP for guaranteed executive room seems really steep. I'm not adverse to scheduling a sales call at XYZ corp if XYZ corp has a good corporate discount ;) Thanks.

enjoy reading your reviews
 

DJ and bl,
Enjoy reading the reviews of various MR properties. Keep them coming and thanks.

I booked a weekend stay a bit in advance, at 136,18 GBP plus tax and it is not an advance purchase.

A different review of the Marriott County Hall, London
 

Today I checked out from the Marriott County Hall in London. The following lines are about what I experienced there.

Starting points: I booked a lot in advance at 136 GBP plus tax (grand total 160,01 GBP) that is the lowest rate I ever saw at that property. I booked four nights so that I could have used my two 100 GBP coupons. I was very excited by all the positive reviews I read and by the great location. I’m also a MR Platinum so I was really looking forward for something special. Big expectation for sure and I recently had an other fantastic positive experience at the Conrad Tokyo. Yes, Conrad Tokyo is an Hilton property.

Facts and feelings:
Hotel approach: for a category seven, quite strange to see one of the four sphere bulbs lights, just outside and near the Marriott brand broken. At the entrance a wonderful floral composition greats me. Check in experience: acceptable up to when I produced the two vouchers. I was told I have to give them at check out. I reply I have to provide them at check in. I replied … to make it short the person behind the desk (no trainee tag) had simply no idea how to process them and was demonstrating a certain attitude. Finally the rules on the back of the vouchers and the help of an other employee fixed it. I was informed I got an upgraded. (I am the first to recognize I was there on a very cheap rate and during a peculiar weekend) but I did not perceived any special treatment. I got room 401 that is on the same floor of the executive floor but at the very end of the aisle. And for the very end I mean I had to walk for two minutes from the elevator/lounge to the door of my room. Simply put, there was no further room. My view was of the ‘whatever’ garden and I saw on the very left the rightest four or five capsules of the London Eye. What really disappointed me was the bathroom. I like a lot to have a separate shower box due to stability problem in having a shower in a bath tube. I called the reception and asked if something could have been arranged. From the voice recognized the lady I had problems before, so I was not really surprised by the statement that the hotel has no room with separate shower box.
The lavabo (water bowl?) was original… the hot water was coming out almost instantaneously (and it was hot), while the cold with three seconds delay.
The big new nice Marriott bed ? I can not stand it: I got my back half blocked. I enjoyed a full Monday of pain and only a long stay in the steaming room helped a bit, so I had a chance to fully test that area. There are three elevators and one was out of service for all the time with the usual explanation. Long waiting time and crowded cabin. The aisle on the fourth floor was used also as a big storage room. I understand the presence of the carts of house keeping when doing the rooms, but when you see a dozen of roll-away bed parked for the whole periods or racks of towels… the overall impression is of a poor quality. By the way also the two unfixed square holes (size like two hands) in the wall plaster (in the ‘circular’ part of the aisle) did not speak too well of the whole thing. I do not expected such things from a category seven property. Before going to relax my back in the heath center, I used to pay a visit to the executive lounge. Depressing, really. Not a single window. When unattended I found also a guest laid on a couch and fully sleeping* with her bags near to her side. The seats are a mix of three different styles and colors; the drinks are on random basis. No consistency: sometimes only Diet Pepsi, sometimes only the normal one. The water bottle one day is glass, the next one plastic. Inconsistency: bath amenities… in the room I had Aromatherapy products (made exclusively for Marriott, it was written so), in the ‘public’ restrooms (executive lounge included) big bottles of Molton and Brown, in the health center H2K product. I asked at the reception about it and if I could have received my preferred Molton and Brown, and are you really surprised I got a negative reply? But I learnt the hotel is thinking to introduce a fourth brand and to later on evaluate which is better.
I mentioned the Health center so let me speak about it. It’s impressive, on the fifth/sixth floor, with some terrific selling points. The gym is huge; I had a look passing by, like the waterfall from the sixth to the fifth floor just in from of the double stairs. In the man section the things are not so good any more. First impact, the lockers. I never so such a mixed array of hanging tools, different shapes, material numbers and so on. I went to the sauna. The knob of the door is hanging loose, the wooden material is without any natural color left on the top part, no doorknob inside, to push open in order to exit you have to kick the door because inside there’s a small piece of wood but with two metallic bolts. Not a good idea to touch them. The benches are too used. In any sauna, after a while the bench wood has to be regenerated or changed otherwise it looks like the skin of an eighty years old fisherman. My personal idea? Perhaps but the fact that the hydrometer on the wall was simply broken, with no glass cover its arm, speaks once again of poor maintenance. Steaming room: like in the bathroom there’s an exhaust ‘hole’. It’s exactly the same type of the one in the bathroom, but due to the very different working conditions, the one in the steaming room is rusty and the condensed vapor fells down and under it the corresponding marble bench is with a 7 cm circular spot of red rust. Fully penetrated inside. The fact that on my second visits there, there was a strong smell of ‘human nitrogen waste liquid’ did not improved my experience. Reported and not really fixed. Jacuzzi: out of order with a message posted something like “defect noticed, engineer informed, replacement piece order and waiting for delivery, thanks for understanding”. Like the elevator. I had a chance to speak in the swimming pool with a person who told me he has a membership in the sport facilities and that the Jacuzzi was quite a while in that way. When something broke down it takes ages to fix it. (I admit I could have misunderstood, I have no info what quite a while was meaning and if it was a true info). The relax zone has three armchairs and even more important a double doors (glasses) to access the balcony. Great, great view of London. Then I turned around and I noticed a lot of graffiti on the stonewalls and the white paint on the window frame was so old to be full of a net of lines and falling down. To me it says poor maintenance once again. In the changing room I saw a man wearing a Marriott County Hall bathrobe, long, white with the name of the hotel embroidered and so on. I looked at mine, I got from my room and it was white but short and with no embroidered stuff. Once again price driven. Perhaps he also had a better view of mine and even a shower box in his bathroom. Am I too much shower box oriented? Here I could have satisfied myself! Sort of… I never saw such a silly layout. I do not mind at all about the water tubes to be placed outside the walls but having a circular handler with almost no dent to improve the grip is not the smartest choice for a device designed to be used by wet and soapy hands.
I tried the restaurant in the hotel because I had an EOO voucher. The restaurant was half empty but I was driven to the bar and asked if I wanted to drink something. My bad mind suggested me: “Are they just trying to sell one more drink?” After I refused to order any drink, my table was ready. I hoped for a view. I got a full view of the corner wall of the room. Not even two meter away. I provided the EOO voucher and I had dinner. At the end the bill reflected no discount. A question and it was retreated and replaced by a correct one. I write once again, it’s coded as a category seven.
Security: very high feeling. I was asked a lot of times if I was a hotel guest. But still wondering the reason behind checking on me and not on the obese bouncing walking lady or the family of four who was blocking the entrance or.
At check out, I was asked a feedback about my stay and I provide it.


*On Saturday or Sunday I saw something quite depressing in the check in area, just after 11am. A family of four with the two children sleeping nestled on the big leather armchairs, the woman with an exhaust expression and the man trying to explain they need their room and the person there explaining the room they booked it could be ready but in two hours but not 100% sure, suggesting to leave the bags there and walking around or as an alternative to be placed on a different (lower) kind of room. The man politely replied he paid 5000 USD for a week and the reply he got was that he should have booked/paid also for an additional initial night, to ensure an early check in. I missed the end, I went out.

My final remarks.
Can it be a great hotel? Definitively.
Is it a great hotel just now? No.
Do I recommend a stay there? If you pay and get a confirmed room with a river view, yes; otherwise you are simply wasting your money.

At all this point I asked myself the reason I had not selected the Premier Travel Inn in the very same building.

All I can say is I NEVER have expectations of getting something for nothing. Meaning Im sure even a Four Seasons will have less desirable rooms. So if I play Russian Roulette and lose theres no one else to Blame but myself.

Take even Hawaii there are Great rooms with outstanding views and then rooms with views of the back alley or a/c units. Obviously there are only so many really Great Rooms. If you really dont want to be disappointed then you have to pay up and book what you want, use points for Upgrading etc.

Yes I have been given some really GREAT rooms when paying Peanuts. Buts thats the exception rather than the rule.

It seems that this Hotel was fully booked and most likely there were people willing to pay for the better rooms, so why should the OP be complaining that the room wasnt what they expected , especially if the room met all the details when they picked that type of room.

As for that family that wasnt able to check-in, well the Hotel was correct if you show up before Offical Check-in time you arent promised a room until that time. I have numerous times paid for the previous night since I NEEDED to get into my room when I arrived at 7am. Again another case of people probably trying to save $$ and played Russian Roulette and Lost. There are time syou win and times you will lose. Had they paid for the previous night they would have had their room, I dont feel bad for them, they gambled and lost.

Here is my 2c. I stayed using points this past summer. I also wonder why this is a cat 7 hotel. The lobby is not exceptional. The room was average and our view was the courtyard wall 3 meters away. The a/c did not work at night. We actaully switched off the a/c during the second night and opened the windows because it was cooler outside. The lounge was as described by the OP - nothing special for a cat 7.

The staff behind the desk was cold (one promised to see if we can get a fan in our room and we heard nothing back). The bellman we tipped a 5er for 3 bags never greeted us again during our 2 day stay. All in all a very basic hotel for a cat 7. The only reason why it might be a cat 7 is because is next to the eye and Parliment building. Two positives - they had a nice pool and they allowed us to check in early which was a life saver.

But I would not return to County Hall. So where would I stay in London? I would stay at the Renaissance Chancery Court. This is a beautiful Cat 7 hotel and they treat you like royality (using points too). When checking in, the front desk alerted the club level manager that we've arrived and Ms Xu brought us up to our upgraded suite on the club level. Ms Xu said she tries her best to greet all gold/plat members personally and show them to their room. She make sure all our questions were answered before leaving. The lounge is great and well stocked (only issue is no children under 16 allowed - offically ;) ). The hallway looks like it belongs in a palace and the lobby was huge! Is one impressive CAT 7 hotel. For those who have stayed here and CH, you know what i mean. There is no comparison. The only thing negative is the Pearl restraunt does not do a good job for breakfast - just go to the lounge instead. Also, the man standing at the arch way entrance of the hotel never smiles. maybe he is in training for a position at Buckingham Palace :) .

As to both of your experiences, it's a shame neither of you experienced the real reason many of us make a point to stay at the CH; a room facing Parliament, Big Ben, and the Thames. It's a shame neither or you got the chance to enjoy a room with this view, truly one of the finest views in the world from a hotel room. To play the devil's advocate, it's true that the CC has superior service and first class (if not world-class) rooms, but lots of hotels have this, in and out of London. But few hotels anywhere have rooms with an equivalent view to CH. If you secure a view room with a balcony, having breakfast or sipping wine on your balcony while enjoying the view is unforgettable.

That being said, I did not experience many of the problems at the CH as reported in this thread. My room was fine, but maybe not quite as fine as the CC. The front desk personnel were helpful at CH, but not quite as service oriented or defferential as the staff at the CC. On the other hand, the promenade along the Thames by the CH and its location among top attractions more than makes up for this, in my opinion. To me, the choice between CH and CC becomes clear, once one decides what one is looking for in a London hotel. Top service and rooms, with a good location, choose one. World class views with a great location, and rooms and service that are adequate, choose the other. But all bets are off if the CH room is not with the view.

As to Marriott hotel categories, as I understand it, these categories are strictly for the purpose of assigning a point value for awards at the property, and are determined by demand for awards at the property.

I would most likely agree on this also even if i have not stayed in a room with the view.