TWA Guy

Taking my wife to London for our 20th anniversary and she's never been to Europe. I'm Marriott Platinum and looking for nice but not overly fancy or stuffy hotel in a great location. Any thoughts? I've only stayed at the Marble Arch Marriott in London and the Renaissance LHR. Was looking at the JW Grosvenor House. Thanks!

BillBurn

Grosvenor House has a good location and there's a decent chance of an upgrade given your status and the large number of rooms. Room quality can be a little uneven though. Grosvenor Square is nice too but only if you stay in one of the larger rooms as the entry level rooms are small and don't get much light (the garden balcony rooms are nice). Some people really like the county hall for its Thames river view rooms.

Another one to consider is one of the Chambers rooms at the Renaissance St. Pancras (very expensive but you can use points and pay a supplement). Probably the most impressive rooms and physical hotel in the Marriott portfolio in London but the location means you will take the tube a lot unless you really like to walk.

hockeyinsider

Are you using points or paying cash?

hockeyinsider

It will be interesting to see if the clientele at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House or Marriott Grosvenor Square changes with the new U.S. Embassy opening elsewhere in London. Both hotels do a brisk business with Americans, particularly those on government business. I've seen the secretary of State at the J.W. before, for example.

TWA Guy

Points, thanks!

TWA Guy

Thanks!

hockeyinsider

Well, since most of the desirable London-area properties are Marriott category-nine redemptions then you might as well redeem points at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House, as it's the most upscale of the properties. I suppose you could The Edition is more luxurious, but you won't get any real elite benefits there. Plus, the lounge's offerings are enough for breakfast and dinner, meaning you can save a lot of money by not eating at London's very expensive restaurants.

DELee

How long will you be staying in London for this trip?

David

TWA Guy

5 nights

DELee

Also, what time of year?

David

TWA Guy

Late June

DELee

https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...l#post27911471

Bringing some info over from the Hilton Honors forum as well as agreeing with LongingForORD to make sure that your reservation, wherever it is, is annotated that you're there for your anniversary.

That being said, I'll let the HH FT folks continue with their many recommendations and principally focus on MR properties in and around London.

First off, I'll point you at my post from last early year (More Data in Graphical Form: London Marriotts and Maps (as of: 02/11/17)) that shows the MR properties in different views in and around London. Given your status and focus on Central London, I'm going to address the (mostly) Category 9 properties within 2 miles that the Marriott website points us at. (I just updated it last night because I'd forgotten about it and what a certain stupid photo storage website has done to put up a paywall.)

Since you're focused on points, the Grand Residences is not accepting reservations for points.

If you're willing to accept what you'll get for points only, all of the Category 9 Central London properties offer a base room that will run 180,000 points for the 5 nights (4 nights + 5th night free). Some will be more comfortable than others. The Grosvenor Square (GS) only offers this room for points as does the Edition (but for 240,000 points). One option that's fewer points is St. Ermin's at 160,000 points.

All of the other Central London properties are offering, as BillBurn highlighted, a 180,000 point stay plus a GBP supplement to guarantee a nicer room. This varies from 50 GBP _per night_ at the Park Lane (PL) for a Superior Room to 1500 GBP _per night_ for a Premium Park Suite at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House (GH). That's a decision between you, your wife and your bank account if you want the larger/nicer room - points only get you so far here.

From posts here in this thread over the years, the individual property threads as well as using my notes in the wiki section of this thread, Grosvenor House has the largest number of rooms _and_ suites and the largest number of reported upgrades. I've not seen any upgrade data for St. Ermin's. St. Pancras seems to have had a number of contacts from the staff and at check in for offers of upgrades that aren't quite the supplement cost per night that the website offers.

Why I asked about when you were going was to ascertain the likely competing demand for suites. Obviously, with the cosmopolitan composition of others who'll be staying at these Central London properties, I suspect that late June will be in fair demand and the likelihood of an upgrade may be low. Also, others MR elites will be staying on points as well so you won't be an unicorn by any means 'tho a significant anniversary stay may help.

Here's an example of what my wife and I received from the Park Lane in our room when we stayed there for 6 nights on point in April of 2017 (think American spring break demand and a non-milestone wedding anniversary):



The kids also received items in each of their rooms as well. We (my wife and I) also received a cheese plate and wine on another night.

As a points only view, when my family and I stayed in London last year, we only used points for our 3 rooms for those 6 nights. That totaled up at 675,000 points - a significant majority of the points in my account. Since this was a family vacation, the objective was to get to and from London with the least cost and still stay somewhere nice. The Executive Lounge at the Park Lane is perfectly acceptable and I would recommend it but I do not have the breadth of stays that others who've been travelling to London - I've just done a bit of research in order to do what worked best for my family for last year's visit.

Good luck and let us know what your decision(s) are.

David

hockeyinsider

St. Ermin's has, by most reports, the smallest rooms even by London standards. I know when I stayed there in November 2014 as a platinum on points, my room was so small that it wasn't comfortable to spend any significant period of time in the room. If you're going to London with a spouse, I don't think this would be an ideal situation for a variety of reasons, not least where are you going to put the luggage and clothes?

I also second the comments that an upgrade in June, at least outside of the first week or so, when many U.S. schools haven't adjourned for the summer, will be difficult. If you haven't already booked airfare you may wish to reconsider visiting London in June, July and August. May and September are very nice and have considerably fewer tourists.

Out of curiosity, I made a dummy booking on Marriott.com for 5 nights in the first week of June. The paid rates for the top properties are all between 300-400 pounds ($412-$549) per night. At that price, I'd rather use points. But, if you wanted to do cash, the Marriott Maida Vale is as low as 136 pounds ($186) per night. Another relatively good value is the Threadneedles, Autograph Collection property, which has paid rates of about 200 pounds ($274) per night. Both those rates are low enough that if I had the cash I would pay the cash rate.

You could also considering booking say the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House and seeing if they can confirm an upgrade pre-arrival. Every time I've stayed this has been the case. Normally, the guest relations staff emails you about two weeks before your arrival. So, if you were unhappy with the lack of an upgrade you could try another hotel. I did this a couple years ago with Marriott's Paris properties. The first hotel that confirmed an upgrade received my business. I've now returned twice and always get treated well -- all three times on points.

ohmark

For first-time visitors to London, the County Hall is the clear no. 1 choice, IMO. It is "nice but not overly fancy or stuffy," and "in a great location" for touring London. Most of the rooms overlooking the Thames have jaw-dropping views and, as a platinum, the odds are excellent that you would be upgraded to one, even if you reserve a lower category on points.

hockeyinsider

Outside of the views, the Marriott County Hall's lounge has been downgraded. The evening food is pretty worthless now, though alcohol and soft drinks remain bottomless and complimentary. St. Ermin's is in a good location for all the sights in Westminster, but is a Marriott Rewards category-8 redemption property. You could save some points staying there without sacrificing much in the way of location. Room size will be smaller, though.