BostonFlyer1624

Sounds like only Plat Premier are offered upgrades...interesting...finally a difference between the two Platinum levels.

fmkgb

Valuable for those interested in history of the hotel or St Pancras station and architecture. 90-100 minutes conducted by a Blue Badge guide. Free for ALL hotel guests (not just elites). Available to others for 20 £. I was hoping to see a Chambers room but alas only got as close as Chambers hallway (and a walk through Chambers Club). I enjoyed tour very much.

Here is current schedule as of July 2013:
Mon: 9am, 11 am
Wed: 11am, 2pm
Fri: 3pm, 5:30 pm
Sat and Sun: 10am, 12:30 pm, 4pm

Book with concierge. Enjoy.

sammyindc

Currently staying at the St Pancras. Somewhat disappointed so far, no upgrade, hair in the bathroom, took them over an hour to "NOT" come clean it so decided to change rooms instead.

Lounge is nice. Tours of the hotel not available.

SkiAdcock

Well that sucks. Guess I'll stick w/ my beloved Grosvenor House.

Cheers.

BostonFlyer1624

Too bad about cleanliness issue. Are you in the Barlow wing? I agree that those rooms are nice, yet not very distinguished. If you are there for a while, it might be worth to pay for an upgrade to a Chambers suite. I was there last and it was 75GPB/night.

SkiAdcock

Hopefully the Chambers suite is worth $120US+20%VAT per night, which could add up on a several night stay That covers a nice lunch or part of a dinner (or many) depending on how long one is there.

I wonder if the comment earlier about just upgrading PPs is accurate?

Cheers.

sammyindc

I'm staying on points and was offered an upgrade to a Chambers Suite for 205GPB per night and only here for 2 nights with a very full schedule so not really worth it. I asked to upgrade on points but they said they couldn't since they had no suites available but yet if I were paying cash they would surprisingly be able to find a suite for me.

And yes I'm in a Barlow "Premium" Room that doesn't really look premium to me and somewhat small.

UALinUT

I was in the property last week for 5 nights. Platinum, booked into a Barlow Twin room, and was upgraded to a Barlow King, same as when I stayed in April. As others have said, the room is nice, if pretty bland. Interestingly, this room did not have a tub, while the room in April did (I like the deep Euro tubs).

Requested a Rubber Duck through Virtual Concierge, and was given one free as a Platinum member (with the option to purchase more). I attempted to confirm an upgrade to a Chambers Suite in advance, and received this response.

"Thank you for your reply. We are always looking after our valuable Platinum Elite Member and I would be glad to offer you a complimentary upgrade to the next room category in our Barlow wing - if available upon arrival.

Should you wish to have an upgrade to one of our Chamber suites, I can offer you an special supplement charge, as you are a Platinum member. I would be delighted to assist you amending your reservation, should you wish to proceed with the changes."

I didn't bother to ask about the charges, because my company would never have sprung for them anyways. They specifically commented on my one class upgrade upon arrival, so it was obviously noted on my reservation. It would have been interesting to see if a sympathetic check-in agent might have yielded a better upgrade.

Private Pyle

My wife and I stayed here last night. Everyone knows how stunning the property is to look at both inside and out so no need to go over that again.

Booked a standard two room. Upgraded to a king and given Chambers Club access as plat. We arrived just before noon and got straight into our room.

From the moment we arrived until we left every member of staff were incredibly friendly and offered fantastic service.

We ended up spending more time in the Chambers Club than we intended due to the service and how nice and relaxing it was. On a couple of occasions it got very busy and although the obvious policy is that you are to be served at your table no-one was given any grief if they went to get a drink themselves.

We loved the place, visit London a few times a year and will definite be back.

We left some nice feedback for the hotel, I'm quick to criticise when I deem it necessary but I never forget to commend great service either, it just happens so rarely these days.

BrightlyBob

Just returned from a 3 night stay here. Booked the cheapest (£208/night) room and was upgraded on arrival to Barlow prestige. However for £100 night extra was offered an upgrade to a Chambers suite overlooking the station which I opted for and didn't regret for a moment. An absolutely beautiful suite with the unique view was outstanding.

The answer to the Gold lack of exec lounge access is easy to see, provided you understand the historical background here.

After closure as a hotel in the 1930's, the building was used as offices and called "St Pancras chambers". In the 1960's it received the dubious honour of a grade 1 listing status which saved it from demolition but meant regenerating such a building would be murderously expensive and guaranteed it'd fall into disuse.

And so it proved, for decades.

In order to make the horrifying economics renovating a grade 1 listed building work, it was necessary to convert a part of the building to that most precious of London Real Estate... luxury apartments! Originally the figures indicated 20 such apartments were needed to make the economics stack up, but it quickly became apparent that the renovation costs were going to be far higher than originally budgeted and as the bills expanded so did the numbers of apartments needed to keep the project solvent. Eventually the development turned into 68 luxury apartments, called "St Pancras Chambers". And purchasers of true luxury apartments expect "owners facilities". St Pancras leases offered access to an internal gym, parking and a members club, the "chambers club", managed and run by the hotel. Chambers owners pay a subscription for access to the club so overcrowding and feeding scrums mustn't occur. It also had to be something more than an ordinary exec lounge, hence the Chambers Club

And the Chambers Club is certainly no ordinary exec lounge! Though beer and wine choices are restricted they're good quality and served all afternoon and evening till 11:30pm. The breakfast is wider than any exec lounge I've been in, as is the afternoon tea selection and evening canapés. This is a truly exceptional lounge and although it gets busy there's always a table available, even at its busiest.

In order to maintain this accessibility there has to be a restriction on numbers. There's 68 Chambers apartments eligible to join, and of course the occupants of all 38 of the Chambers hotel rooms eligible to use it, and they almost certainly will! Adding plats to the mix helps support the numbers making sure it's seldom deserted but never overcrowded, which leaves gold members out in the cold.

To Plats I'd say this place has a simple free upgrade policy to the best available Barlow room. The inclusion of club access makes this a really good option, but for Golds, well I'd say you'd be missing a key part of the St Pancras experience without access to the club and there are many options in London that include exec lounge access to Golds.

But to anyone thinking of upgrading, the Chambers Suite I stayed in was keenly priced, the same suite I paid £308 night for was £560 night at its cheapest at Marriott.com. The suite itself was wonderful and very comparable to my favourite splurge destination, Claridges. So for those wanting a chambers room (which includes club access) I'd say go for it, for I can make no greater compliment than to add that next time I'm splurging in London the Ren is going to make that choice really tough...

kikid

Hello FTers,

I have booked a Chamber suite for a stay with my mom. As a platinum, can I expect some sort of room upgrade? And as I understand, there is a king bed. Will it be possible to add a rollaway in the suite?

Any inputs are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

bkafrick

Reading the last few pages of this thread, it seems that access to the Chambers Club is only made available to those with Chambers rooms, or with Platnium level in Marriott Rewards... Is that correct?

So as a Marriott Gold, I shouldnt expect access to the Chambers Club?

SkiAdcock

Correct - unless you pay for a Chambers room.

Cheers.

MileageGoblin

Anybody have more recent upgrade offers to Chambers Club on check-in? Currently Gold but debating whether to do some Rewarding Events to get to PLT (CC access but Barlow room), book a Chambers room directly (for about 200GBP more than cheapest Barlow), or book a room as GLD and hope for a 100GBP upgrade.

Private Pyle

I was offered an upgrade last month from standard Barlow to Chambers. I can't remember the exact price but it was over £100. £120 & £140 are figures I have in my head.
I know the rooms are nicer but given our plans and my MR plat getting me chambers club access it wasn't worth it for our one night stay. I appreciate your situation is different though.