Chukiechz

I forgot one more thing. I thought local calls were free, but we made a call the the hospital across the street because my son was having some asthma related issues, and we were charged 6 pounds for the call. Charged another 3 pounds for a call to Harry Potter to ask if we could come past our reserved time because of said allergy issues.

hockeyinsider

Marriott only stupidly provides free calls at U.S./Canada properties.

lanceholt

We are thinking of booking here for a 3 night points stay, husband is lifetime plat and a Marriott retiree and can't believe they are enforcing over 100US/day rule for 3rd. That is actually hostile. We've traveled all over the world, stayed at Marriotts, and never encountered a problem bringing our adult daughter into the lounge with us. Hope we get some feedback from people who are actually staying there with a 3rd or 4th person.

DELee

As we crossed Westminster Bridge to _try_ to get away from the throngs of tourists that inhabit Parliament Square, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament, etc., I took a few shots from the bridge, from the South edifice/front of County Hall as well as into the ante area before you enter the hotel. Note that since I was completely unsuccessful at getting anyone from my family to go inside, I gave up myself to make an entrance. Regretfully.

Anyway, given the numbers of people that cross along the south bank of the Thames to go over to the Eye and other touristy stuff, the comments upthread about seeing folks through the windows of rooms and parlours (keeping things english) of the hotel must be an everyday occurrence.

David

lax2010

Could you clarify if the over $100/third person is for the room charge or for the lounge access?

SkiAdcock

They're referring to the new additional person lounge access. Elite+1 is free. Ł80 charge for third adult and Ł40.00 for a child. Prior to the lounge renovation there was no additional charge.

My guess is the new lounge policy is going to put a damper on some paid/award stays for those w/ more than 2 people, since there are other London properties that aren't enforcing additional lounge fees.

Cheers.

jch636

One question on the option to take breakfast in the restaurant for 10 pounds- does that mean we could choose to take our party of four (2 adults and 2 kids) for 40 pounds total at the restaurant instead of paying the lounge surcharge for children? Thanks!

Chukiechz

That was my understanding. We never did get a chance to check out breakfast in the restaurant, so I can't comment on the quality.

My kids aren't big breakfast eaters and rather picky, so we ended up just taking some to go bags and bringing them a couple sausages/pastries to eat in the room.

There were others taking boxes of food out as well as 3-4 cans of soda to go, so it seemed to be the norm during our stay. We only did it once or twice. First day the guy let us all in, and another day I ended up taking my son to the ER because of asthma (thankfully across the street and free healthcare) so the girls ate as the 2.

SkiAdcock

My guess is that's going to become the norm for people to get around the hefty additional person charge. But the property might put the kibosh on it in the future if they notice too many people doing it.

Cheers.

hockeyinsider

I'd be fine with getting rid of most lounges if the hotel would just stock my in-room refrigerator with water and Diet Pepsi.

SkiAdcock

That's a topic for a different thread

Cheers.

musicscrip

Do you happen to know if the kid is 3 and under, will she eat free at the lounge if we get lounge access through gold marriott status? Thanks!

We are looking at this hotel or the Marriott London Park Lane.

hockeyinsider

Just an update as I was in London and needed a hotel for 1 night. The Marriott County Hall had a good cash rate.

I was upgraded to a junior suite. I'm told that is as good as it gets outside of the Westminster Suite, which has a private dining room. The junior suites are end corner rooms but don't have a view because the windows are too high to really see anything.

I had turndown service, though I'm not sure if all rooms receive it. Turndown service consisted of removing used towels, closing the curtains, placing two chocolates on the bed and leaving a card with tomorrow's weather forecast written on it. No used toiletries were replaced. Toiletries are Floris, which apparently has a royal warrant but the bottles and bars of soap are quite small. There's no way that two people could use one bottle of shampoo.

The renovation is exceptionally well done. This is one of the only hotels where you can turn on the shower without getting wet. Bathtubs are gone. Rooms have at least two American electrical outlets; one by the bed, one at the desk. My junior suite had a desk but no desk drawers to store documents. Also, there was zero storage space (no dressers!) for clothing other than the closet. Slippers and two bathrobes were provided.

Wireless internet is complimentary and includes only one option. There is no enhanced option. The selection of TV channels is decent. The TV has the latest Netflix-enabled interface. I'd guess it was 42 inches whereas most renovated Marriott properties in North America now have 55 inch TVs.

Perhaps most annoying is the junior suite only has one telephone at the nightstand. There is no phone on the desk or in the bathroom.

The rooms all have a Nespresso machine, which comes with four capsules; two decaf, two regular. Unfortunately, the coffee cups aren't compatible with the machine as they are too big to fit in the coffeemaker. There is also a plug-in kettle for hot water or tea.

Service is good, better than a domestic Marriott for sure but no where as good as the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House.

The executive lounge is now a M Club. It's on the 5th floor, but breakfast for the next month is being served in the restaurant. Presumably this will be extended through January 1 as I imagine there aren't many gold or platinum guests in November and December. The breakfast is a buffet, but supposedly a cooked-to-order menu service is available. The buffet is fairly basic. No omelet stations, no smoked salmon, and no fresh berries or fruit. There wasn't even a fruit compote for yogurt and cereal.

The lounge is a big disappointment. While it is accessible 24/7 with a key for non-alcoholic drinks, the evening food is the worst of any Marriott. You are limited to three snack-size appetizers. If you want a fourth appetizer, it is 2.50 pounds or 5 pounds for three extras. On the night I was there the options were a spinach and onion tart, something with pork, and then pigs in a blanket. The dessert option was a choice between 1 pecan tart or 1 slice of cheddar cheese. Every table in the lounge has a room service menu with very expensive prices for the hotel steakhouse. Also, every guest gets 20% off the hotel steakhouse but the discount is applicable for in-room room service or room service in the lounge.

Complimentary wine is served from 5:30 p.m. until 9:30 p.m. You have a choice between 5 pound wine (Chilean cabernet sauvignon and Chilean chardonnay) or 9 pound sparkling wine (Spanish cava). If you don't like the wine, they have a wine list with bottles going for upwards of 40 pounds. All spirits are charged. They have "cocktails" but the cocktails are made from the wine/sparkling wine. The water is from the tap. Thankfully, the Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Pepsi Max, 7 Up and Diet 7 Up are unlimited 24/7. The lounge also has two TVs and one Apple iMac computer terminal, which confusingly runs Windows 10.

The lounge itself is gorgeous, but staff tells me it is empty most nights with only 5-6 guests using it.

Update: Front desk manager told me housekeeper is outsourced to a third-party housekeeping company. Apparently, they have lots of issues as Marriott staff (which manages this hotel for the owner) can't tell housekeepers what to do. Sometimes they have different housekeepers every day, the manager tells me. The manager also says all the guests have been complaining about the limited food at night.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the detailed report. Much appreciated.

Cheers.

ohmark

First, thanks for the nicely detailed report.
Second, you do seem to get interesting inside info from property managers.
Third, since the main attraction of the County Hall (in addition to location) is the spectacular view from many rooms, I, personally, would never consider any room there to be an upgrade if it didn't have a view. I think whoever checked you in was being disingenuous.