DYKWIA

The St. Pancras now seems to be treating a King room as an 'upgrade' over a twin room as far as reward stays are concerned.

A King room requires 45K points + £40, whereas a twin is the standard 45K points.

I wonder how this fits in with the 'guaranteed' bed preference

I'm hoping I'll get some sort of an upgrade...

VickiSoCal

Bed preference only works if the room type includes your bed preference. King/2 twins and your preference is King.

If the room type is 2 twins, no luck.

SkiAdcock

Sounds like St.Pan is trying to get some incidental income with the 40GPB surcharge. A bit tacky & I'm starting to think that, historic building & Chambers lounge aside, there really isn't a good reason to stay at the property. Too many paper cuts being reported.

Cheers.

DYKWIA

Yeah, I guessed as much

aaupgrade

Except for those of us who want 2 beds and are using points. Extra charge or no award options for 2 beds at St. Ermin's, Edition, and probably others as there is an extra charge at most UK hotels for 2 doubles/queens over 1 king/queen. For 2 beds the only two choices I had of top tier hotels was JW and SPR, or County Hall (but not interested). Going with same friend as previous trip where we stayed at JW, so this time she chose SPR to try something different (for her). I do like the Chambers Club.

VickiSoCal

IMO if you need 2 beds County Hall is the best of the Cat9's. The two doubles rooms are spacious by London standards.

SkiAdcock

BrightlyBob mentioned this in a post on Insiders:

"Also Plats staying here using the Eurostar trains to the continent qualify for the free concierge transfer to the Eurostar train, advise the concierge in the exec lounge on arrival at hotel (for next day departures) and then simply turn up to the exec lounge 30 mins before departure where your luggage will be collected from your room and the concierge will accompany you taking your luggage through the fast checkin and passport and to your carriage."

Cheers.

DYKWIA

We eventually canceled the points stay, and booked a Barlow King room for £239. We checked in a couple of hours ago, and got the attempt to upsell to a Chambers room for £70. I mentioned that we usually get that free, but the Check in agent wouldn't budge.

So, I asked if we'd been upgraded to a Barlow larger room. She said "It's a lovely room". I repeated my question, and she repeated her answer...

I asked a third time, and she said "No, there are only standard rooms available".

I accepted this, as I was knackered, and needed the loo!

Of course, when I checked, there were Barlow Larger Rooms avaliable, and they were annoyingly the same price that I'd paid (I had an advance purchase rate). By this time the missus had emptied her bag, so I didn't take it any further.

So, I think this is the last time we'll be staying here. They are clearly not following the Marriott rule book anymore.

The other thing I've noticed is that the free booze is only available until 22:00. I'm pretty sure it used to be available all night.

Governator

I just returned from a UK trip with two nights at the St Pancras. I have to say I fully agree with BrightlyBob that the property and upgrade were completely worth it. I had booked two nights with points, 45K/night. I knew from recent history that that would end me up in the Barlow wing. I had called and asked about paid upgrades and was offered an upgrade to a Chambers Junior Suite at 110 GPB/night. This was at 48 hours prior to arrival - the upgrades are listed here: St. Pancras Upgrades

While everyone's definition of a 'good value' varies, for us this was an excellent value. We have been to London many times and this trip was just to catch up with friends and family, not much sightseeing. So we spent hours in the Chambers Club relaxing, eating, drinking, being totally taken cared of. The staff in the Club could not be any better, friendly and helpful without being obsequious. I was very happy that our room was on the first floor (second floor by US definition, just one floor above Club). We could easily pop back and forth to from Club to room as needed. I could not imagine using the Club as much if I was in the much distant Barlow wing. We also made point to 'tour' the hotel a bit, strolling the lovely long corridors, sweeping staircases and so on, very nice! I did get a chance to use the basement pool and steam room - very pleasant and distinctive.

Our room (182) was a very nice Jr Suite, the check-in clerk was very good helping us, he said this room had been put aside for us. We arrived around noon, having come in from outside London. Our room wasn't ready and he did offer us a couple of other rooms, but as we weren't in any hurry and since he assured us this room was the best of what he had to offer, we waited and stuck with it. While we did not need it, I did notice there is a very nice shower suite in the Chambers Club for those coming in from overseas. I have not seen that mentioned here, but it is a nice additional benefit available (of course you can also go to the spa/pool for shower). So we had tea in the Club then a lovely Thanksgiving dinner in the Booking Room. They did a wonderful turkey dinner. Also, I have not seen it mentioned, but you can order from the Booking Room menu in the Chambers Club and have the food brought to you. Another nice option if you want more than the lounge offers (which was very nice in my opinion).

Room 182 had 3 rooms, a bedroom with king bed, small table and two chairs plus two lounge chairs, what I would describe as a small dressing room (vanity table and wardrobe) and a bathroom with shower and tub. Very nice, spacious and comfortable. We overlooked Euston road and I must compliment them on the soundproofing, we really were not bothered by the heavy traffic. One of the funny options with the Jr Suite upgrade was the option to have a butler come and draw your bath - I could not convince my wife to take that offer.

We were very pleased and relaxed during our visit. I would not hesitate to return there.

DYKWIA

I meant to add a post after my previous saying pretty much the same...

The staff are fantastic in the lounge, some of the best people I've come across at Marriott properties.

We had a couple of drinks before heading out to dinner. We arrived back at 22:20, which is outside the "free" drinks period. However, the staff said they wouldn't charge us, and then insisted we have another couple after that It got the point where we were getting up to leave, one of the ladies came rushing up to us with a bottle of wine to top up our glasses. We eventually got out around 23:45.

Breakfast also seemed a lot calmer. Maybe because a lot of people choose to take breakfast in the Booking Office?

evapor8

Good morning all.

I think that the St Pancras makes its' own rules with regards upgrades (as I understand it a Gold won't get an upgrade from a Barlow room to a Chambers room) but if I book a Chambers room (Junior Suite in this case) is there any possibility of an upgrade to a better Chambers room?

Thanks,

Chris

VickiSoCal

All Marriott properties make their own rules with regards to room upgrades.

evapor8

Thanks ...

SkiAdcock

Anyone staying here June 30th? Saw this on the Marriott website:

"Marriott and UMG are setting out to engage a new generation of experience-seekers, travelers and music fans to deliver unique #WithTheBand experiences. Starting this summer, the partnership will premiere live performances for hotel guests at select properties across Marriott International’s portfolio of brands around the globe.

On June 30, 2015, the St. Pancras Renaissance London Hotel will feature a live performance by pop sensation and ‘The Voice Australia’ judge, Jessie J, kicking off a series of exclusive, on-property performances on five different continents."

Cheers.

ohmark

Any restaurant recommendations in the area? (Read through the last 3 years of posts and didn't see anything.) Will be staying in Chambers grand jr suite, so I assume snacking/breakfast will be taken care of. Also interested in any opinions of restaurants in hotel. Thanks.