lexdevil

If work is paying and you don't have to spend the stupid number of points it costs for a reward stay, the London Edition is in by far my favorite location. Between Tottenham Court Road and Oxford Circus tube stations, you've got easy access to the Central, Northern, Bakerloo, and Victoria lines. The hotel is on the border of Fitzrovia and Soho, so you're surrounded by great food (Portland, Bao, Hoppers, etc.) and high street shops. You're also a short walk from theatres/ Leicester Square. A thirty minute walk will even get you to the Quality Chop House, which should not be missed. Two words of advice if you go: Confit Potatoes.

Important caveats. There is no lounge and you don't get much for your Platinum Status. That said, they will upgrade you to a better room, but not one of the suites. We've been back several times despite this because the service is very good and the location is super.

If you really want the lounge experience, I'd do the St. Pancras Renaissance or Grosvenor House. I don't think the Grosvenor Square has anything to recommend it over these properties. I'd say the Renaissance has the best lounge, followed by the Grosvenor House. Despite this, I often opt for the Park Lane. Its lounge is good, but no match for the other two. I choose it because I like its rooms better than the modern wing of the Renaissance. I also prefer it to the Grosvenor House because it is closer to the tube (it makes a difference at the end of a long day), and I like its smaller size. I'm not a fan of long walks to get to my room.

aaupgrade

I have also stayed at all three properties you are considering. BillBurn's post is spot on.

While I like all three properties, I am partial to SPR because of the Chambers Club. My travel is for pleasure and I tend to walk (a lot) instead of using the tube, and routinely walk to south to the South Bank/Thames, over to Westminster, up to St. James, Hyde and Green Parks, and through Piccadilly and Leicester Square back to the hotel. I do take the tube or trains for longer journeys so that is quite convenient. The other hotel choices work well for me too, but I don't need to be close to anything as I enjoy exploring. I usually stay 5-7 nights per stay and as such a self service or wash and fold laundry is two short blocks away which is quite convenient. Not something needed for your business stay, but perhaps may be of interest to others. As others have mentioned SPR is great for Plats, not so much so for Golds.

hockeyinsider

Don't forget that the J.W. Grosvenor House is undergoing renovations to rooms. As a platinum, you're bound to get a renovated room. Especially if you reach out ahead of time. The guest relations normally email you about 72 hours before arrival to confirm your stay. I could be mistaken, but I don't think the Renaissance St. Pancras has updated or refreshed rooms since it opened in 2011.

NDS88

Thanks all the advice folks, unfortunately rates spiked while I was dithering and I missed the window on all these properties being within `approved corporate'. Ah well.

hockeyinsider

Even the Marriott Maida Vale?

DELee

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David

hockeyinsider

That's not bad but I've see specific rate packages at the Marriott Maida Vale with 10,000 points-plus.

SkiAdcock

Well, unless the 10K is valid during the 5K promo, it's irrelevant. And just because MV ran a promo of 10K in the past doesn't mean it will run one in the future. The downside to the 5K is it's APR, so one really needs to be sure they're doing the trip.

Cheers.

flyer121

I’m attending Wimbledon this summer and really like great club floors/lounges I plan on converting SPG to Marriott for the booking and plan on getting the Club Floor Lounge access via Marriott GOLD. Thank you for your help.

BillBurn

Well the Chambers Club at the St Pancras Renaissance is the best Marriott London lounge and I don't think it's close call, however you won't get free access as a gold (only Platinum), so you'll have to stay in a Chambers room to get access. Click for a reasonably recent review.

The M Life lounge at the JW Grosvenor House is also nice and fairly new. I would avoid the Marriott Grosvenor Square.

Given you are going to Wimbledon you might want to consider the Marriott County Hall as that's right next to Waterloo station, but I've never stayed there and don't know what their lounge is like other than it is a new M Life lounge.

dayone

Agreed. Transportation convenience should weigh much more heavily than lounge options.

lexdevil

Yes, but the County Hall lounge is decidedly meh.

hockeyinsider

It is an "executive lounge" at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. I highly recommend it. The food is generally enough for a dinner at night and the open-bar lasts about four hours. Technically, cocktails aren't on offer but I've seen servers get cocktails for guests upon request.

The old concierge lounge at the Marriott County Hall is now a M Club. Unless it's changed since December, you get a pathetic choice of three small, single-serving appetizers. Think three pieces of shrimp. If you want more, you have to pay for it. It's really, really cheap. When I was there, the hotel was dealing with a mice problem, too. The staff was catching mice in the lounge!

There are no complimentary spirits or cocktails. House wine and a Spanish sparkling wine were, however, complimentary. Staff always kept your glass full, but the wine was cheap.

I used to love the County Hall, but the service standards have gone down. The housekeeping is now outsourced. Even the staff complain about the housekeeping contractors. Still, it has an amazing location, particularly for anyone who cares about all the quintessential touristy sights in London.

For the price that the Marriott County Hall charges (whether cash or points), I'd stay at the J.W. Marriott, Marriott Park Lane, Renaissance St. Pancras or the Edition before going there. If you're going to pay as much or more than the better hotels you might as well stay at the better hotels.

GregWTravels

Trip Report for the Residence Inn London Bridge (near Borough station) - https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29828311-post3.html

dcsnowwake

anyone stay at the new Residence INN Kensington? They have a 2 bedroom suite pretty cheap (1700 pounds for 7 nights) as there is 5 of us going there for the US match in November and cheaper than multiple rooms. Have not seen any reviews here. If there is another hotel with a 2 bedroom suite that is as cheap I am all ears.