River in Sight

Couldn’t find an existing thread on this property, it appears to have joined Marriott very recently. If anyone on this board has stayed, I have two questions:

1. The “family suite” on Marriott.com states the room has 2BR and 2BA, which would be perfect for my needs - but also says the room is only 330 sqft so I’m wondering if this is really true and what the suite is like. I did reach out to the hotel for more info and would also like any first hand experience from FlyerTalk.

2. On TripAdvisor, a handful of reviews praise the club lounge, and an equal handful say it’s a forgettable, windowless space hidden behind the toilets. So I’m really curious what the club lounge is like.

This summer I will visit London with my wife, son, and mother in law and this sort of family suite arrangement seems perfect for us and I haven’t found anything else like it in my searching. However, with the relatively limited information available I’m a little hesitant to book.

chanp

I may stay in about a weeks time, will keep you updated if I do.

christianj

Might make sense to have a Mod update the thread title to reflect the location of the hotel in London, UK. I had to google it since the first mention of London is at the very end of the post and to me it got lost in the other text.

https://www.marriott.com/hotels/trav...m-by-montcalm/

Horace

At the top of property's official page on Marriott.com, it indicates "Marriott.com / Autograph Collection / London / Hotel." However, it does not show "Autograph Collection" as part of the property's name or logo. This suggests the M by Montcalm still needs to be to aligned with Autograph Collection standards.

The M by Montcalm no longer shows up as part of the Montcalm portfolio at https://www.themontcalm.com/hotels/ . If it's no longer part of Montcalm, I would expect its name to change.

Always good to have another option in London.

Horace

River in Sight:

M by Montcalm has its own legacy website: https://www.mbymontcalm.co.uk/

The descriptions of the rooms and suites at https://www.mbymontcalm.co.uk/rooms-suites-651.html do not sync up with those on Marriott.com. I did not see a 2-bedroom / 2-bathroom family suite on the legacy website.

My guess is that someone was careless and loaded in the wrong boilerplate while setting up the M by Montcalm website at Marriott.com. But I could be wrong.

I would recommend emailing or calling the property directly: https://www.mbymontcalm.co.uk/contact-us-346.html

Perhaps you could also ask about their transition to Autograph Collection branding and whether the hotel name will stay the same or change. Then please post here.

Muerz

While I cannot help you with regards to your question, I can at least comment on the hotel itself since I stayed there two years ago. There is much to love about this property: beautifully furnished, rather large, high tech rooms, a good location a block from the tube and also near Liverpool? Train station (important for us Europeans that get to London cheaply via Stansted on Ryanair).

Did not use their F&B, so cannot say anything about that - When they opened, they had a rather hopping rooftop restaurant which now seems closed.

The piece the resistance is their pool/sauna/fitness club which not too many properties in London have.

River in Sight

Thanks to everyone who provided comments and especially Horace for directing me to the hotel's legacy website.

I heard from the hotel that the "Family Suite" is actually just two adjoining rooms with a connected door. Additionally, there is no executive lounge (so I must be misunderstanding some of the comments on TripAdvisor) and the Titanium Breakfast benefit is continental breakfast for 2 in the hotel's restaurant. Despite the fact that the "Family Suite" isn't exactly a proper suite, it is cheaper than two separate rooms for my dates and may work well for what I need. I remain interested in any first-hand reports from recent stays, thanks again.

madderlake

Just booked using a 5 night certificate for a few weeks from now - so I'll definitely report back on our stay!

ChrisSamsDad

Hi, I stay at one of the Montcalms almost every week, and the M is probably my least favourite. The 'club lounge' is quite desultory, it is indeed windowless, you have to get a porter to let you in, and they play loud techno music, which I've been told a few times 'can't be turned down' - it's almost like it's there to drive you out. They do have decent range of free drinks, but only during a short window - 5.30 to 7.30 - as I'm there working and like to hit the gym after work, I frequently don't make this window. Outside this window there is just coffee and snacks.

You'll also probably be alone there. Though I've got Platinum membership, which should include free club lounge access, I have to argue with them every time.

My biggest problem with this hotel though are there seem to quite a lot of Russian gangsters and their ladies staying, and they ruin the spa and pool with their behaviour, and it's often noisy in the corridors in the middle of the night.

Ignore all the 'high tech' talk - it seems to amount to having an iPad fixed to the bathroom wall that allows you to control the airco, underfloor heating and pointlessly, the bathroom light. This is in no way an improvement on flipping a switch, and is just annoying in the middle of the night when you have to pee and it needs to wake up, so you hit it twice and turn the light on an off etc.

The suites are basically slightly bigger rooms with a sofa bed. I have stayed in rooms that appear to have a connecting door, so it's possible they open that up between two rooms and call it a family suite.

The Montcalm Royal London House is far better, it's even closer to Liverpool St and Broadgate with a great variety of restaurants. The pool/spa is a bit smaller but the club lounge is very nice and friendly, and you can get drinks until 9pm.

The next best are the two hotels at the Brewery (the other is called 'City Suites' but it's a just a building over the road from the main one). They have no pool and spa, but you can use the Royal London's facilities - it's a short walk of 10 mins, they do have a gym and the club lounge is really cosy and pleasant and the snacks are enough you could eat there if you don't want to go out. It is, however, an absolute maze. getting to your room can easily involve a lift, a walk over a bridge, another lift up, down some stairs and along another corridor.

Being a listed building they don't have the sound insulation of the others, so if you're unlucky you can get a room that's noisy. But it's very quaint. It's also a bit cheaper.

Apparently now the M by Montcalm has been taken over by Marriott and my platinum level and points are useless there, so I won't be going back.

madderlake

Just wrapping up a 5 night stay here using a Cat 6 cert. I have no major complaints - the service both in F&B and front desk/concierge has been great. As Golds we were 'upgraded' to the Sky floor which basically means a bigger room on the 16th floor. It was comfortable and roomy enough for two of us for the week. I guess the one downside if there is one is that it's a busy hotel...there was a conference or two here and so the lobby and restaurant/cafe was always pretty busy.

The location is a few min walk from Old St Tube station which was convenient. There's also tons of restaurants and cafes within walking distance and even a self serve laundromat 10 min walk away (which we availed ourselves of!).

Didn't get any free breakfast or anything else being a Gold but used the lobby cafe every morning for and had coffee and scrambled eggs (around 10 GBP for both).

That's about it - any other questions, let me know!

davidw70

Now seems to be called Montcalm East, an Autograph Collection hotel.

KevinS

Am here right now for 14days. I'm not one to do some massive trip report, but happy to answer any questions.
With the 5-day test & release quarantine, I selected for a hotel against 3 criteria, which made the list quite short:
* In the City, but in an interesting neighbourhood with some vibrancy/energy (think more Brooklyn/Queens than Manhattan FD)
** Shoreditch is a bit more like Brooklyn 10-15yrs ago, not Brooklyn today, btw. A tad gritty, but not bad. Might not be where I put my Mom.
* has a well-regarded resto, as am stuck in here for 5days eating their food.
** man, a good choice in this aspect. The F&B here has been GREAT, and the bar/resto staff are all friendly & helpful
* has a proper fitness center (a rarity in the City)
** nothing special as far as hotel fitness goes, but for being in the City and at the price, is great. Enough to get some workouts in.

Whoa, who knew, these guys are in their soft opening; they only hired staff in mid-May. So experience may change as they get established.

So far (day8), nothing but good: great attention, great service, solid location. Got a call out for being Titanium (LTTE), and a nice push up to the 'sky floor' as referenced above. Room is a bit snug, but only by American standards. Design of the place is great, very interesting, a bit 'W' but not dark & nightclubby feeling. Lots of natural light, lots.
Cost was absurdly low, but, from discussions here, seems hotels in the City are running 20-50% occupancy, so they are starving for business. Note, after over a week here, have gotten to know these folks. They're at <30% occupancy, as are most hotels locally. Fitness center is okay plus a full sized pool, jacuzzi, and sauna look to be a treat.

They set up a screen downstairs for the England v Italy match Sunday, and the bar is quite a nice place; I would come here for drinks even if not staying here. I like the vibe, the design, the remodel. The staff is solid, and the bar & resto are top notch. I will absolutely look to this place again for next LHR trip, and recommend it.

sfflyer415

Looking to boom 3 nights here, it looks like the name of the Hotel on Marriott website is now Montcalm East, Autograph Collection.

Every travel website has given this Hotel great reviews, but I was surprised to see 2.5 stars on Yelp. Note the property on Yelp was the old “M by Montcalm Shoreditch.”

Maybe the Yelp reviews were a fluke? Hoping to get some recent feedback, thanks.

TravelinSperry

I had a stay here a few weeks back. Upgraded to a junior site. It was tiny. Really it should be called a regular room so I can't imagine what the regular room size is. HVAC system in my room was a joke. Had maintenance in 3 times over 5 days. They could never get it fixed but I was too lazy to repack and move rooms. Room was decent enough and prices reflected the room (that is to say they were inexpensive). If the rates here are expensive to you, look elsewhere. Front desk service was friendly. Breakfast, included for Titaniums, was lovely. Nice times allowed to eat too (I think until 11am).

No lounge. No drinks offered in lieu of lounge either. No in room welcome gift.

Shoreditch was a cool spot, but restaurants in the area are low key. Nothing really fancy around so understand the hipster neighborhood you're in. If it's for you, then you'll like the property and locale. If you're expecting Mayfair you'll be disappointed.

eponymous_coward

I can give a recommendation or two on local bars:

https://discountsuitcompany.co.uk/

https://www.barswift.com/ (Swift Shoreditch)