We just finished a six night stay at the Sheraton Grand Park Lane in London. British pounds are painful to use right now. Almost two Canadian dollars per GBH.

We used SNA to upgrade one of our two rooms to a Park View Suite. It was spacious and quite elegant although I don’t care for Art Deco in general. Very tasteful. The second room Platinum upgrade was an oversized Queen. We did not ask for anything else although there was availability.

MAGC can only be done for three consecutive days. This is just as well because MAGC excludes you from everything including trash removal. They do not enter your room at all. The Molten Brown toiletries were not replenished. And when we needed more shampoo they only gave us the Grand Bain stuff. No turn down service except for on the first night. I thought overall this was pretty stingy on their part. Though we didn’t complain/don’t care.

The Club Lounge was barely acceptable for breakfast. Alternating mediocre eggs Benedict or runny scrambled. Beef sausage. A few cereals and breads. Two or three pastries. A couple deli meats, smoked salmon and cheeses. Dried and fresh fruit. Yogurt and juices. Certainly everything you need to make a meal. But not very Grand at all. Good strong hot coffee.

Afternoon tea in the Club lounge was a selection of dessert. No sandwiches. Though we only peeked in one day so perhaps it was expanded. Only cookies, crackers and candy throughout the day. With usual bottled drinks.

Evening service was great though. A selection of small hot dishes (not just appetizers), breads, cheeses, deli etc. As well as usually two creative and fresh pasta/quinoa/grain salad in mason jars. Free pour wine (white, rose and red, no sparkling), two imported beer, a cider. Hard stuff G&T, vodka and rum. I think that was it.

Certainly many people made an evening meal of it 1730 to 1930.

We received the Mayfair Experience with the suite. no details though. We had to book through the concierge and decided on afternoon tea in the hotel. It came with a glass of champagne that we never asked for. On checkout we were billed for the Mayfair Experience and 30 GBP for the two glasses of champagne. Easily fixed but watch your bill just in case. The tea was not exceptional in any way. Fun to do for free. Certainly not worth the couple hundred Canadian dollars that it would have set us back. Maybe forty bucks but clearly I have no class.

It was in a great location for us. Great view. Just not very Grand. Certainly nice. And elegant. I may have had wrong expectations of a London hotel. No porter. Stingy on the amenities. No turn down service. We’ve stayed in nicer far less expensive Sheraton’s.

Oh, and for those sensitive to scents. The hotel uses the Sheraton scent (?) liberally. It makes me feel ill just thinking about it.

The hotel has definitely been Marriotized. There was a Book of Mormon in my nightstand drawer!

Well, yes, I do realise that...