SkiAdcock

Rahmanbar, thanks for the detailed report! Much appreciated. If I wasn't now hooked on Grosvenor House (not to be confused w/ Square, which I also like), I'd stay at Ren CC as it does get great reviews which you've confirmed. Of course given the current exchange rate of approx $2.04US to 1GBP I might end up at LHR Ren for a cheap stay

Cheers.

chichow

but what about nicest room?

I can get pointsaver awards at Regents...and frankly i am more concerned about the bed and the room.

How would people compare the room at Regents vs. Country Hall.

TOMSURFER

I am a regular stayer at Regents Park.

You should be aware it is a long way from the centre and nowhere near Regents Park. Look at Swiss Cottage on the map.

The beds will be exactly the same as County Hall - new beds and Marriott fluffy bed linen. I think the rooms with two double beds are the best as they are bigger than the ones with one queen bed. The "Leisure" rooms have a settee in them and are the biggest, but you won't get those unless you are upgraded. (I'm a plat prem and generally get one)

Be aware that the hotel is near to the end of a full refurbishment. The new air conditioning is a centralised system which cannot be commissioned until the rooms are finished, so at the moment the refurbished rooms have NO air conditioning at all. (this has been going on for SIX months).

I regularly hear guests giving the reception staff a hard time because the hotel does not advertise the fact that the room air conditioning is not working.

If you intend going in the next 6 weeks I suggest you ring up to find out if the air conditioning is working yet. Don't believe them if they say "next week". The rooms are unbearable when it is hot, although the UK summer is currently very wet and quite cool.

Tom

7Continents

Being 35, from a big city and having been to London 12 times in the past 6 years, I would tell you to seriously consider Renaissance Chancery Court. You can walk to Tottenham Ct. Road in 10 minutes, hang a left and be in the hippest part of London 2 minutes later. It's close to a large number of cheaper (note the use of cheaper not cheap) places to grab food and snacks. The Chancery Court is a quiet place to come home to with beautiful rooms and great service, never a tour bus in view, and a 5 minute walk to a good Tube station (Holborn). It's central enough that a taxi ride anywhere fun won't kill your wallet and an impressive lobby to bring any one you pick up back to. I walked to the fireworks on the Thames last New Years. Oxford St. with all it has to offer is also a 10 minute walk. All the Marriotts near Park Lane are stuffy and a bit of a trip to anywhere fun, anything further away is a hassle if you want to run back to your room for a shower or something you forgot. I walked back and forth from this property sometimes 4 times a day while I'm there.

dg4255

Depends on where you are flying to/from and what you want to do. I almost always fly into London City and therefore take the DLR to the Marriott West India Quay. Especially on a Friday evening, there are easily 5000+ people mingling at the myriad of bars and restaurants the are located right there. In addition, this hotel is now 100% smoke free, the breakfast in the Curve Restaurant is fabulous, and with very easy access to the Tube, I can get most anywhere I need to be within 10-15 minutes. Add in the shopping at Jubilee Place, it is a real London experience without the crowds of annoying tourists. This hotel is practically brand new and the rooms are impeccable.

cyberdad

7Continents makes a good point. I'm a Grosvenor Suqare guy myself (with CC and GH each tied for a close second). Others like Marble Arch, Kensington, India Quay, County hall, etc.

Back when the thread began, I and others made the point that the choice of a London Marriott (or any other hotel, for that matter) largely depends on why you're there and what you're looking to do.

Generally speaking, visitors choose Regents Park or Maida Vale as something of a comprimise between being "close in" and staying within a tight budget.

Not a bad strategy. But when comparing room rates, you should also consider how much time and money you'll be spending on transportation. The cost of "upgrading" to a more desirable location may be somewhat mitigated by the need to spend less on transportation.

In the case of CC, you can also stretch your budget by substituting a run to the Sainsbury's mini-supermarket up the street as an alternative for a couple of restaurant meals.

In actual practice at GS, Mrs. Cyberdad and I sometimes like to hit the food court's at M&S or Selfridges to get takeaway for a lovely lunch in the room. Or we'll go over the the Westfield Shopping center adjoining Bond Street tube for a "wine and cheese" type of takeaway option.

Either way, the experience is thoroughly enjoyable with the added benefit of making our battered dollars go farther!

ohmark

Thanks for the suggestion. There has been very little posted here about this property and it sounds like a nice alternative.

Maybe one of these times I'll try it out (and add an annoying tourist to the crowd).

StephanyKR

I am currently staying at the Marble Arch and wanted to offer a more recent trip report. In a nutshell, fork over the extra 20 quid and stay somewhere else.

Check in
Upon arrival it took them at least 30 minutes to check me in. I am not sure why but she kept me so long. I was told I would get a room on the executive lounge floor but no dice.

Location
Being a youngish (27) professional traveling alone, i did NOT feel comfortable in the neighborhood. I was jeered and started at the entire walk (about 15 minutes) to the Marble Arch Tube stop. I also frequently return from work after dark and would often take a cab from the tube stop back to the hotel as i was so uneasy. I have lived in London over a year now, and have never felt unsafe, save one time I got lost near Bethnel Green, so it really does take a lot to make me uncomfortable. There is no way I would stay here with my child.

Executive Lounge
The lounge was not impressive, offered views of the tops of some nearby buildings and was crowded with families and children. Many times the attendant was on IM with the sound turned up and was near impossible to sit in there for more than 10 minutes before being driven crazy. I usually can sit and read in the CL or do some work to get out of the room, but not here. When the lounge actually was not full, on several occasions, the attendant was IMing when almost every table had old plates and glasses scattered around. Very disappointing.

Rooms
I was allegedly upgraded to an executive room but I cannot see how. I have never stayed in a smaller hotel room even in New York. I was on the 10th floor (second from the top) and still had a view of onlly the neighboring buildings) The curtains were dingy and torn. The bathroom was dirty with a circa 1970 tile bath. I could not even keep the door open when I was in the bathroom there was not enough room to move if I did. On the plus side the bed was the newer Marriott fluffy bedding. In addition I was surrounded by what sounded like 30 kids who continued running up and down the halls slamming doors until 10 or so when I finally called down to reception. We security came up to ask them to keep it down they slammed the door in his face. He knocked again, this time the father answering but, from what I gathered, could not undertand a word security was saying as kept saying 'what' then finally said 'ok' to make security leave. ( I really felt bad for the security guy as he was just doing his job) The neighbors continued the screaming/running/door slamming until 11:30 or so.

Club
The healthclub was ok, and did have a pool. Nothing to write home about.

TV Channels (stay for three weeks and you start to care about tv)
The 5 basic British channels, 2 sky sports, 6 or 7 channels in arabic, CNN

Overall, I would not recommend this hotel to ANYONE. As I have 2 more weeks left of a three week stay, I have already booked into a different Marriott.

Perhaps I am being too harsh, but I JUST stayed at the West India Quay Marriott and could not have been more pleased with the staff, the unprompted upgraded suite, the lounge (both staff, food, views, and silence), the seafood restaurant (try the miso cod) and the location. Just make sure you get a room at least on the 6th floor to avoid any DLR noise.

GlennTheBaker

Myself and Mrs Baker have just returned from our weekend trip to Chancery Court. I am at a loss to explain just how good this hotel is.

We arrived at 2pm on Saturday. I told the desk clerk my name and she immediately asked me to wait one moment. Seconds later, Jessie from Guest Relations appeared and said she had managed to secure us an upgraded room and that she would escort us there. We went up to the 7th floor and she showed us to our room - which was The Tower Suite, right at the top centre of the hotel and immediately beneath the dome-topped tower at the front of the building. She even took us up inside the tower itself so we could see the dome from the inside!

We went out fairly soon after check-in and didn't return until very late but we were amazed to find a bottle of champagne waiting for us in the room.

I cannot find one bad thing to say about the stay. In fact, I found the whole experience quite overwhelming (in a very good way!). I intend to write to Bill Marriott himself and praise the hotel and staff because we were treated like Royalty from start to finish.

Colin

Any recent comments on this property?

It seems pretty easy to get this hotel for $200/night via Priceline. Any Priceline room crap practiced here?



Note: No need for UpgradeMe to post one of his typical do a search comments. My posting is quite deliberate.

SkiAdcock

I stayed there in '04, so I don't have any more updates than previously posted by others. If you don't get an update here, try checking Tripadvisor. I did that recently for a dif Marriott property that didn't have many updated reviews on FT, and there were quite a few there.

Don't know if you can priceline it but Grosvenor House (5 minutes away) is my absolute favorite of the London Marriotts, and even some FT die-hard Parklane folk are switching over. GH (not to be confused w/ GS) just went through a major renovation. I think it's just the pool area that isn't open now (PL does have a nice pool/health club). I think the rebranding of GH to JW Marriott is to take place in early '08.

Wow - the days when we think PL $200 deals are good - shades of London & NYC!

Cheers.

State fan

Anyone know which Priceline zone includes or is closest to Renaissance Chancery Court? I am trying to find a spot within a close distance for some relatives while we stay at CC.

chichow

The CC was very nice. The room views were bleh, but the property was nice and there is a prie temp (sp?) right there along with the Sanisbury.

cyberdad

Some of the rooms have views of the little courtyard area. Not exactly spectacular, but better than the street view. Next time you might want to ask for one of those.

mktozd

After years of saving up Marriott Rewards points, I am hoping to be able to use them for a trip to London. I see that the Renaissance Chancery Court gets very good reviews, but I was hoping for something closer to Knightsbridge or Mayfair.

What do people thing of Grosvenor House? Park Lane? Others?

My goal is the find the best Marriott that I can get using points. Thank you.