hockeyinsider

That's a valid consideration for a first-time visitor to London who wants to do and see all the touristy things.

ohmark

While it's no doubt true there are some "touristy things" near the south bank and County Hall, there are also many of London's finest authentic tourist attractions within view and/or walking distance. Looking out the window or from a balcony and seeing Big Ben, Parliament and the Thames up close is still quite thrilling to me--and it's not my first London rodeo. Not so much the Eye, though (speaking of "touristy").

SkiAdcock

The last time I was at County Hall I had a room w/ a view of the Eye & the folk on the Eye had a view of me! I ended up closing the curtains because it felt strange to know people were looking in my room. Plus the Eye blocked the river view.

Cheers.

hockeyinsider

I had the same issue when I stayed there in November, post-renovation. I had a gorgeous view but anyone on the Embankment (thousands upon thousands of people every day at almost any hour -- day or night) could see into the hotel rooms.

I get the hotel is semi-historic -- it really isn't that "old" -- but you would have thought they could have done something to darken the windows from the outside to give privacy to guests.

SkiAdcock

I had people waving at me from the Eye, which is when I decided to close the curtains!

Cheers.

ohmark

I waved back. They smiled. So did I. By the second day, I'd had enough waving, so I didn't. Would never close the curtains on the view, however.

As to folks on the embankment, they've never been close enough to my room to even notice. With the number of rooms at County Hall that face the Thames, I think it's unlikely that someone on the embankment or a passing boat is going to fixate on your particular window.

sig05

We stayed in the Exec suite above Gillray's. Never noticed lurking eyes from the Eye whether it was blissful ignorance or being exhausted from walking around all day.

SkiAdcock

My view was the Eye. No Big Ben views for me from the room. One year my non-status colleague got the balcony room - and I got no upgrade at all. Service was indifferent on multiple stays. One year they handled a fire evacuation poorly, which resulted in me writing HQ about it.

The property does have great views & for those who are first timers to London, it's a good location. It also has a good size pool.

The great thing about London is that there a # of nice properties, so it's not like FTers don't have a lot of choices. You're a fan of CH; I'm a fan of JW. Horace is a fan of PL.

It will be interesting to see if CH is actually going to enforce the new 80GBP charge for 3rd guest & 40GBP charge for children in the exec lounge. If it does I think those with family will probably choose a different property.

Cheers.

spideysense

I'm currently in an Executive Suite at this hotel, and I have the following observations:

1) The Exec Suite is beautiful and large and I'm very happy with it. Great layout and furnishings and I particularly like the tile in the bathroom!

2) Love the bed and sheets. I slept for 11 hours uninterrupted, and it's been a long time I slept like that!

3) There is a bit of noise from the street level, and there is also constant construction noise. Annoying but bearable.

4) I usually stay at St. Regis or Ritz properties, and this is the first time in a long time I've been to a Marriott, so I have to say that the service is quite poor relatively speaking. Maybe it's good for Marriott, but definitely not for someone spending £1250 a night on a suite. A few examples:

-I called multiple times for my dishes to be picked up as the fish dish was stinking up the entire room. It took 3 calls and 1 hour and 20 minutes for he dishes to be removed.

-I aksked for ice in the exec lounge and was told sorry, we have no ice. The person didn't even bother to ring someone to fetch any. Just sorry, too bad.

-It takes a number of calls for guest services to answer the phone. Sometimes you just give up.

-Simple requests took very long to act on. It feels like the hotel is critically under staffed.

-Food from the room service menu is very bland. Even Indian dishes have no flavor.

djohannw

Does not look out of the ordinary for me. For a weekend in December I currently see ~300GPB per night which is slightly lower than the last three years when we were in London in that time frame (310-330 GBP).

As I did not want to pay so much money I did a LNF the first year (down to 150 GBP), used points the second year as I could not find a LNF and skipped the County Hall all together in favor of the Sheraton Grand last year. For this year no decision has been made...

Greetings - Dirk

hockeyinsider

This is why I stay at the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House. For the most part, service is equivalent to a Riz-Carlton. I've stayed for 5 nights every November for three years. The only inconsistencies are housekeeping -- sometimes turndown service isn't until 8-9 p.m. -- and the valet, which never returns the shoes when collected for shoe shining on time.

BrightlyBob

I stay in London a lot and have been meaning to cross this off my list for along time, but it's always been way too pricey. I finally managed to get it for £260/nt. and it doesn't get much cheaper than that, frequently the cheapest non-cancellable is over £500/nt, so it's a good value place to redeem those points even with the Post-Brexit £!

Service is definitely NOT JW, and for me, despite the cracking upgrade, I don't think I'll return, not because it was a bad place, but because you really are paying for location and since I get to London a lot, the location is not worth the premium to me.

hockeyinsider

I have a sentimental attachment to the Marriott County Hall because when I was in college it was the first hotel I ever stayed at when visiting London. It used to be really good with service above a typical Marriott. I think, unfortunately, the service has went down to a standard Marriott -- nothing special, not even turndown service.

The reality is the County Hall room rates are about the same, if not more, than the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House, which is a better hotel.

I still think the Marriott in Maida Vale is the best value in London, if you don't mind taking the subway or using Uber.

ClubCenturion

Taking the family for a UK trip and found this hotel. It seems to have great view either Big Ben or Thames River with the london eye from what I gathered from Google.

Any of you ever stayed there and recommend some booking advice for this hotel?

Need to book in before end of day tomorrow.

SkiAdcock

There's a very long thread re: the property:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/marri...unty-hall.html

Cheers.