chipster

Stayed there last wednesday night for one night. Took Jubilee Line to Canary Wharf then DLR to West India Quay station. Hotel is adjacent to the station, but no signs pointing to the main hotel entrance. Ended up going through Curves restaurant with my case. Main entrance turns out to be on the other side of the building. Very good condition as you would expect from an almost new hotel, very bright smart decor, and attentive service at check-in. Hi-rise tower hotel.

First room I was given turned out to have a connecting door to the next room which was occupied. After a previous bad experience with connecting doors at the Regents Park M**riot I won't use these rooms any more so I went back the reception and asked for an alternative, which was given without question. The second room was fine, clean etc. High speed internet did not function - message came up about not all rooms having access to high speed just yet and to contact the concierge. Didn't bother. Then I noticed a regular rumbling sound that was quite loud every 3 or 4 minutes, and look out of the window to see that my room was adjacent to the platform of the docklands light railway. THe trains went on rumbling past until about 0045 and started again at about 0530. I could have had a lie-in until 0800 if I had wanted, but no chance! Breakfast was OK, usual Marriott breakfast, good service. They don't give you a pot of coffee to pour yourself like in some Marriotts, but refill you if and when they see you need it, which I don't like. As is common with most London Marriotts, the online price does NOT include VAT and breakfast in the government rate, whereas at most others outside London, breakfast and VAT are included in the rate. It is worth checking this when booking in London. I recommend that if you are a light sleeper, do not go for any rooms below 5th floor with numbers *73 to *79, otherwise you will become very familiar with the timetable of the docklands light rail system and you will not get much of a view anyway. Could have been a really nice stay and the staff were very helpful, but the railway running right along one side of the hotel is a really negative factor.
Chipster

AndyP007

I've just returned from New Year spent at the Marriot West India Quay.
We had a room in the "tower", as opposed to the nasty looking block at the back. We were on the 7th floor (same as exec lounge). The room was located at the front of the hotel and had an excellent view through floor-to-ceiling windows of the Canada One tower, the other towers and the City (towards the gherkin).
The room was very nice indeed - the usual Marriott generic room - but nevertheless very comfortable and new.
As a gold MR member we had access to the exec lounge, which re-opened following christmas on 31 Dec 12 noon. The lounge is on the 7th floor and is located in the corner of the hotel and afforded the same spectacular views as our room. During the day hot and cold drinks were available with just crisps and a few chocolate bars. Between 5 and 7pm hors d'oeuvre were available, 7 to 9pm was desserts, these were pretty good. The best thing, for me, was between 5 and 9pm wine and beer was complimentary. So to my mind, this easily beats my only other experience of an exec lounge in the UK, namely Chancery Court.
Breakfast was the usual cold continental stuff, but additionally hot scrambled eggs and bacon (albeit crispy "American style") were available.
I would thoroughly recommend this hotel, and would suggest you ask to be located in the tower, preferably on the front, preferably on a high floor. Given that the cost of the room was £72 + VAT a night (booked on the M11 code) is about half that of most other Marriott hotels in London it is fantastic value, and a very nice location to visit the bars around Canary Wharf.

dayone

I agree that this is a great "alternative" property. Canary Wharf is a nice diversion. I also took the train and had the same experience not finding the hotel right away but I got off at Canary Wharf on the Jubilee Line and wandered thru the mall.

I was given a suite without asking (it was confirmed a week ahead of time). It ended up being on one of the upper floors (5 or 6, I think) and the suite occupied an entire quarter of the hotel with sweeping views of both CW and the rail yards. I was high enough that the trains were seen but not heard. The level of service was top shelf. The Lounge is very modern and upscale. Breakfast was tasty and what one would expect. The Happy Hour and Desserts were above standard, however. I enjoyed a couple of complimentary beers each night. Sushi was served one evening and the sweets were presented with flair. The Lounge was kid-free and light on tourists during my stay. Mostly business people. Very nice health club.

If you've done CH and CC and you're looking for a change, you should consider West India Quay.

SkiAdcock

Thanks for the reports. I'll consider this for a future stay. Cheers.

slowly

Is there any other way than a cab to get to Victoria or Liverpool street station from London Marriott West India Quay at around 3 AM? (Ultimately I'm going to Stansted airport).

I considered other options (leaving late in the evening or staying in an airport hotel), but would prefer this one.

If there is none - how much would the cab cost?

Thanks!

kiwibigdave

No, there is no public transport except 'night buses' at that hour and they are more hassle than it's worth. Liverpool St is much closer to the hotel than Victoria, and is where you want to be for the train to Stansted anyway. This is a guess, but a black cab might cost around 10 pounds to get to Liverpool St. A mini-cab might be a couple of pounds cheaper. If there are more than one of you travelling just get a mini-cab all the way to Stansted - a little more than an inner-city cab plus two train fares but a whole lot easier.

slowly

Thanks a lot! I was so set on idea that cabs in London are prohibitively expensive that didn't even check. There will be 3 of us, so minicab may be doable.

Now we only have to find a cheap minicab company... Any suggestions?

kiwibigdave

The Stansted Express would be 15 pounds apiece, plus the inner city cab makes your total around 55 pounds. I think you could get a mini-cab for that, and the Hotel itself should be able to find / book you a reputable one. You could try Island Cars 020 7987 3000.

yyzlhr

Mini cab UK 0207 538 4000

Volvic

Attention: I was charged an extra 10 GBP for a cab (not a black one !) when I asked the concierge guy for one. I discovered it when I had to pay the driver,
"xxx for the ride plus 10 GBP for the hotel booking"
"excuse me ? 10 GBP for which booking ?"
"yes, we have to pay 10 GBP to the concierge because he called us"

Raffles

Numerous mini-cab firms on Commercial Road, which is about five minutes away. Go to yell.co.uk and search for taxis in the E14 postcode. Print off these results and dial for your own!

cyberdad

Volvic...

Your experience sounds like what happened to me once in Paris. I let the hotel call the cab for me and it showed up with the equivilent of about 17 bucks on the meter when it showed up.

No thanks@ I waited about five minutes for another cab to show up....this time with "zero" on the meter.

I don't use cabs very often, so I'm not familiar with local protocols. But in Paris, apparently the deal is the meter starts running as soon as the cab is dispatched to your hotel.

slowly

Booked online at http://addisonlee.co.uk , everything was OK. Paid 10 GBP.

slowly

Stayed there at the end of February, 2006.

As already said, DLR West India Quay station is just besides hotel, but I found it faster to use Jubilee Line (Canary Wharf station, 3 min walk) to get to almost everywhere without stopovers. DLR Poplar is also 3 min walk max.

Had lounge access; beer (Heineken, Stella Artois, Corona, Bud) and wine was complimentary indeed, but only from 5 to 7 pm. The lounge was quite full, while the wine bottle was empty most of the time, as the attendant opened new ones only occasionally.

Haven't been in many UK lounges, so can't compare, but hors d'oeuvres were too spicy and overcooked for my taste, and I wasn't too excited about desserts, too.

Overall it was a pleasant stay, but I feel uncomfortable when a hotel (intentionally or not) makes you work hard to enjoy lounge benefits - ask attendant to open a new bottle or restock chips. Serving fingernail sized canapes in big ceramic spoons may seem classy, but you'll need at least two to get a glimpse of their taste...

Health club was good, although without pool, and I'd prefer one big sauna instead 2 small ones in the men's/women's locker rooms.

dg4255

Two days before a weekend jaunt to London, I logged on to Marriott.com to print off my reservation confirmation, only to find that there was no reservation. Hmmmmm.. I know I made the reservation. I called Platinum Cust Svc in the US who was able to get the Friday night back for me at the original rate but Saturday nite was full. She immediately called the hotel, spoke with the 2nd shift manager, Martin, who agreed to extend the reservation to Saturday nite as well at the same right. Way to go, Martin!! I left Friday on KLM from VCE connecting in AMS on my way to London. While in AMS on my 4 hour connection (due to bad weather Friday AM in AMS), I pulled out my wallet and promptly forgot it in the KLM Crown Lounge. Upon arrival at London City Airport, I called the lounge, who acknowledged they had my wallet and said it would be best to just pick it up on Sunday on my way back through AMS. The question was, how do I check into the Marriott London West India Quay? This is my 2nd stay there in 2 months and I know the staff to be fantastic. And, without question, Antje, the manager on duty, said it was not a problem. She had my card in mt Platinum profile and as long as I sent her an email on Monday confirming I had the card in my possession and it was ok to charge it, she wouldn't need my card to check-in and use the hotel's services. FANTABULOUS! The entire staff there is always wonderful and with such easy access to Canary Wharf and the DLR, this hotel is just great. I find it to be a step above every other Marriott in London. Yes.. EVERY Marriott in London.