joey965

I will be using a Marriott category 9 seven day certificate this summer. Trying to decide between Marriott Park Lane,

hockeyinsider

Ugh. "Best" is pretty relative. "Best" could mean "best" location, "best" amenities and treatment for Marriott elites, "best" property design and decor, "best" staff, and so forth. Another consideration: Are you traveling alone?

The consensus seems to be that elites have the best upgrade changes at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. However, it's summer. All of the hotels in London are going to be busy. Upgrades across the board are more limited. Additionally, many super-rich Arabs decamp to J.W. Marriott and the Mayfair neighborhood to summer heat of the Middle East.

I would avoid the Marriott County Hall because while that area of London is always busy it is going to be absolutely overrun with tourists in the summer.

I've always thought that since most of the London hotels are category-9 you might as well redeem the points at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. I also like to save some money, which is easy to do thanks to the executive lounge there. But as I said, I imagine it's going to be crowded. If your dates are flexible, you may wish to consider late visiting in late May/early June or late August/early September. London from late June to mid-August is horrible, especially anywhere near the tourist sights.

I do think it will be interesting to know whether the Marriott Grosvenor Square property is less busy now that the U.S. Embassy has moved. Both the Marriott Grosvenor Square and the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House were the preferred hotels for embassy business.

joey965

Thanks for your input. I should have been more explicit about the word 'best'. I am Gold so a good Executive Lounge is important and we are two 65 year old women so comfortable beds and proximity to the Underground is also a high priority. After staying up late last night researching I was leaning towards Marriott Park Lane, but I will now do a little more reading about the J.W. Grosvenor Square.

hockeyinsider

If you value the executive lounge, I think, especially for a gold, that the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House is going to be you best pick.

SkiAdcock

Please note the difference. It is a bit confusing. There is the Marriott Grovesnor Square & there is the JW Marriott/Grosvenor House. Many US folk get them confused because Grosvenor is in both names & they're both close to the former US Embassy (RIP), although Square a tad closer. Park Lane is the closest to the Marble Arch tube stop. It's literally steps away & has a decent lounge, although smaller than JW because PL is a smaller property. JW is a larger property, so better chance of upgrade & also larger exec lounge. I don't like Grosvenor Square exec lounge because it's basically in the basement. Both Grosvenors are a 5 minute walk from Marble Arch tube stop (I've timed it). Park Lane is a 15-second walk.

Trivia- non of the UK folk (or Middle East) call the JW the JW. It's called Grosvenor House because basically it's been that for almost 100 years. Black cabs, mini cabs, private clubs, journalists always refer to the JW as Grosvenor House & that was part of the reason it's part of the JW name (via contract).

Cheers.

ords

Just throwing this out there, but I stayed at the Renaissance St. Pancras up near Kings Cross for two nights. Yes, it's a tad out of the way up north, but for transit, it offers plenty of opportunity with the Underground. As for a lounge, The Chambers Club is really something unique.

Luxury London Club Suites St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel London

aaupgrade

Caution! Joey965 is MR Gold and will not have access to the Chambers Club unless he books a Chambers Suite. As a Plat this is my favorite property because of the Chambers Club, but MR Golds do not have access included as it is considered a Club not an Executive Lounge. MR Golds do receive breakfast in the booking office which is quite good IMO.

Those are the facts. To argue/discuss the merits of the Club not being an Executive Lounge please refer to the 7 years of discussions in the https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marr...-2011-a-6.html thread.

hockeyinsider

And Grosvenor is pronounced, unlike its spelling, "grove-nor." It's yet another example of weird British English pronunciations.

EuropeanPete

To be fair, the name Grosvenor has been pronounced that way since well over 150 years before the creation of the United States, so isn't it more that the knowledge of how to pronounce certain words has simply been lost in the US? It's not like the English language as known on both sides of the Atlantic doesn't have words with silent letters.

ords

I'm not disputing the facts and that's why i linked the Chambers club page specifically that outlines what you wrote. Need a Chambers suite or plat to gain access.

pvn

It's a French name, hence the pronunciation.

NDS88

Quick poll - traveling to London on business this Sunday, be there 3+ weeks, work will be either traveling around the UK or at office near Moorgate. Currently booked at Gros Square, had been thinking about St. Ermin's or St Pancras instead or doing 1 week at each. Traveling alone, enjoy quiet hotel room @ night w/ great shower for morning, will mostly be social stuff @ museums / plays. Marriott Platinum.

​​​​​​​Any advice?

hockeyinsider

Well, if work is paying, you might as well do the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. It has bigger rooms than the Marriott Grosvenor Square. Also, as it's a bigger hotel there is a better chance at an upgrade. If you book for Sunday, they'll probably email you tonight or tomorrow at which point you could probably confirm an upgrade.

The Marriott Maida Vale is one of the most recent renovations. It's not a great touristy area, but the last time I stayed there the neighborhood was quite. Plus, it was easy enough to get elsewhere in London from there. The bathrooms have a walk-in shower in lieu of a bathtub/shower combination. The last time I checked they also had some paid rates that included a good amount of bonus points, which you could maximize by breaking your stay up into two or three reservations. Who knows, maybe if you call the hotel itself you can get a good discounted rate for three weeks of business.

Alternatively, you could hotel-hop, which is always fun and would maximize your points.

BillBurn

I'm lifetime platinum and have stayed at all three multiple times in recent years, but lately have been staying mostly at St Pancras. If you can swing a Chambers room there it's a no brainer compared to Grosvenor Square and St Ermins. Even with one of the regular rooms in the back (as a platinum they will likely give you a 1 category non-chambers upgrade) I would prefer it over the other two. It has the best transit connectivity of the two (can get there directly from LHR, easy tube trip to Moorgate, and right next to two major train stations), has the best lounge of the three by far (which only platinum, not gold, get access to) and the King's Cross area is getting very lively thanks to Google's big building spree. It is not as close to the major tourist spots, but with all the tube lines there it's not hard to get to them.

I haven't had any issues with noise at any of those three hotels, although St Ermin's is in the quietest neighborhood (right next to Scotland yard). I thought St Pancras would have more noise issues (there is a very busy street right in front), but the insulated glass they put in when they renovated seems to keep all the noise out and regular rooms are in the back by a relatively quite side street.

As to showers, all the rooms at St Pancras have dedicated showers with rain shower heads while at St Ermins and Grosvenor Square most, if not all, of the non-suites have combo shower/tub setups. The only issue with the showers at St Pancras is that they have no wall/door on the back side which often leads to some water on the floor and is kind of weird at first.

St. Ermin's has a great feel to it, but there's no lounge (they do give Platinum's free breakfast in the restaurant), the standard rooms are tiny (even the executive rooms are generally small), and there's not much in the way restaurants/nightlife directly around it, although it probably has the best location for sight seeing. Grosvenor Square is a great location for shopping and restaurants but the rooms are generally pretty small there (I don't recommend staying in anything smaller than an executive room there), the lounge is in the basement and very utilitarian, and there isn't much in the way of public spaces, so it really feels like a strictly "in and out" business hotel. In comparison, St Pancras is a big and lively destination for both locals and travelers.

All that said, staying a week at each wouldn't be crazy as none of them are terrible, all three have distinct characters, all are close to tube stops that on are on lines that will get you at least close to Moorgate in a reasonable amount of time and all are in different neighborhoods so you'd definitely get an interesting sampling of city over a three week period.

SkiAdcock

Great summary BillBurn!

Cheers.