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Laundry in London

Good Evening Everybody,

We are doing a two week Europe trip and would love to pack less. We are staying at the JW Grosvenor in London and then heading into France prior to a cruise. We will have one night in the new AC hotel in Marseille. Does anyone know if the JW has self serve laundry or laundry nearby? If not do AC hotels in Europe have that as an availability? As mush as I would love to pay $6 per t-shirt to have the hotel send it out, I think I could find a better use for that money!

Thanks for the help!

JW does not have self-serve laundry on-site AFAIK. Having said that, he website says it has laundry on-site, but I don't if that actually means a washing machine/dryer. (which would surprise the heck out of me given the calibre of JW). My suggestion would be to contact the property directly in advance.

There is a service in London called

https://www.laundryheap.com/?gclid=C...FUwkgQod-CEKtQ

that can handle things, but don't know how pricing stacks up.

AC Marseille doesn't seem to have on-site laundry (which does surprise me a bit given it's a AC).

Cheers.

I dropped off a huge bag here: http://www.marshalllaundry.co.uk/ and they had it all clean for me the next morning for 14 pounds.

I do a lot of international travel and I just google "bag laundry service" wherever I'm staying. I can always find local laundromats who'll do laundry "by the bag" and will pickup/deliver for a much lower fee than what the hotel charges.

Interestingly enough, a lot of hotels send their laundry to these same places - if you're willing to make a minimal effort and contact them yourself, you'll save a TON of money.

Shameless plug for Sydney, AU travelers in the CBD: Wash On The Rocks!

Travis

I have used Laudryheap.com while staying at that hotel. Just left it at the concierge desk for them to pickup and it was delivered back to my room the next day. Much cheaper than using the hotel service.

Thanks for all the help!

There's not much more economical than the hotel sink, and travel laundry packets, and a travel sink stopper (in case your sink doesn't have a good-enough one).

Now, it won't work well for bulkier clothes, but for a couple T-shirts it might be practical. But for drying time, it's easier to do (at least a full day before check-out) on a multi-night stay, than trying to fit both washing and drying time into a one-night stay.

But that's the same with most hotel laundry services (that are not coin-operated washers/dryers): They only tend to be "leave it in the morning and get it back later in the day", which again doesn't work on one-night stays.

So the AC wouldn't work anyway, given that you're staying there only one night, unless you were able to find a coin-operated laundry nearby.

FYI: In some cities in the world, there are laundromats aplenty, if there are a lot of people living nearby in small apartments with no washer/dryers. On the other hand, in places where most everyone nearby lives in single-family homes, there tend to do no laundromats except perhaps a washer and a dryer in a campground nearby (if there are any campgrounds nearby).

On September 11, 2015, in another thread (and now buried deep within it), I asked:

Do any of Marriott properties (hotels branded as Marriott, JW Marriott, Autograph Collection, Renaissance, or Edition) in London have laundry rooms with self-service coin-op (or complimentary) washers and dryers?

We're going to spend a week in London as part of a 3-week European Vacation. We don't want to bring enough luggage for 3 weeks of clothing.

I'm not looking for a laundry service or dry cleaning service. I've learned the hard way that when Marriott.com says "laundry on-site," it only means that the hotel's laundry service uses machines that are somewhere within the building rather than miles away. I've also learned the hard way that third party hotel booking sites cannot be trusted for laundry information.

Cost is not the primary factor (although hotel prices tend to be ridiculous).

We're looking for the ability to put our dirty clothes into a washer (and then into a dryer) ourselves, resulting in clean, dry clothes. We want our clothes to stay under our control. We want them washed and dried at temperatures we choose with the products we choose.

If anyone reading this thread has experience with self-service laundry at London Marriott-family hotels -- either success or disappointment -- I would appreciate replies.

There was this reply:

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaupgrade (Post 25413814)

I use the launderette 3 blocks from St. Pancras Renaissance. It's either do it yourself or they also have a wash and fold service for others that may prefer this.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/St.+...3!2d51.5275693

You can also search for Launderette near other Marriott properties. Do not search for Laundromat as that is an American term and will yield zip.

I responded:

Thank you.

I did some Googling, it seems there are no launderettes in Mayfair. There is a launderette north of Marble Arch called the Lila Launderette. It's at 11 Seymour Pl, London W1H 5AN, United Kingdom. It's walkable from Marriotts in Mayfair (Park Lane, Grosvenor House, or Grosvenor Square), though not convenient.

A TripAdvisor review of the London Marriott Grosvenor Square Hotel praises the hotel because "Complimentary laundry room including soap is a bonus." That would be great if it's true. If I can confirm that, I'll switch my Grosvenor House reservation to Grosvenor Square.

I don't understand why not all Marriott properties have guest laundry rooms, with complimentary or coin-op washers and dryers. Not every guest uses laundry rooms, but not every guest uses exercise rooms, business centers, or other common Marriott hotel features.

Then came this reply:

Quote:

Originally Posted by carpediem22 (Post 25420635)

Elementary, My Dear Watson (er, Horace)! Providing these facilities would cannibalize their paid laundry revenue, which is quite substantial. Heck, most hotels would, if only they could, stop giving out free tea/coffee sachets and a kettle in the room.

Hotels should be in the business of providing the services that travelers want. It's part of being competitive. Most hotels in the United States offer a choice of laundry valet service or self-serve machines.

Another reply had a suggestion not involving self-service:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Boraxo (Post 25421039)

If you stay at Marriott GS, you might try Blanc, 79 George St. It's not self serve, but the price is very reasonable compared to hotel laundry as they charge by the kilo not per item. The only downside is that regular service takes a couple of days. Whatever you do I would avoid Buckingham across the street from GS - absurdly high prices.

I still have our reservation at the Grosvenor House JW Marriott. I assume we'll wash what we can in our sink and drag our dirty clothes to Lila Launderette toward the end of week.

Launderettes in Central London seem to be few and far between. There are two Launderettes not too far from the St. Pancras Renaissance Hotel. Based on my Googling, there are no launderettes with a reasonable walking distance of Marriott County Hall or St. Ermin's Autograph Collection.

If I'm mistaken about launderettes in London, please post corrections.

Horace, there are reports by 2 FTers who stayed at the JW re: laundry services where it was drop off/pick up (or just picked up/dropped off by the service & so no extra effort required) & they seemed to be pleased w/ the service/pricing. In Vicki's case she was dealing w/ an entire family's laundry!

I'm a bit perplexed why you don't check out those (and I created a wiki on them based on the reports). Unless you're totally into using up part of your time to do laundry whilst in London (given the prices the 2 FTers used are cheaper than the hotels) I truly don't get it.

I can't speak for others but the day I drag my dirty laundry to somewhere a gazillion blocks away is the day that hades freezes over. I want to save $$ so in future I'd use the 2 services & not head over to Lilla or St. Pancras.

Cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SkiAdcock (Post 26052140)

I'm a bit perplexed why you don't check out those (and I created a wiki on them based on the reports). Unless you're totally into using up part of your time to do laundry whilst in London (given the prices the 2 FTers used are cheaper than the hotels) I truly don't get it.

I would not hesitate to use a recommended laundry service for my travel clothes.

However, my wife has made it very clear to me that she does want strangers to handle her laundry. It's not a matter of price or convenience.

After London, we're taking a cruise on a ship without self-serve machines, so we need to start the cruise with clean clothes in our luggage.

On our final day in London, we'll "enjoy" the English launderette experience, just like the few London residents who don't have any other choice.

Uh ok. If your wife's clothes need to be 'personally' handled by her as she puts them into the commercial machines that will probably shrink them that's fine. But I truly don't get the I must do it myself thing. Presumably you're doing the undies in the hotel room, so it's just regular clothes being picked up/dropped off. Not like it's her knickers.

I like to experience lots of things in London as the locals do, but I can say traveling in multiple countries over multiple years sitting next to the washing machine/dryer, whether in London or other cities, just isn't my thing. If there's a pick up/drop off that's cheap I'd go for that - and then go sightseeing or out to a great meal whilst my laundry was being done.

BTW - you might want to ask the Londoners who 'don't have any choice', that 'if they had a choice' would they still sit there next to the machines. My guess is their answer would be a resounding heck no :p :D

But if you must give up your final afternoon or evening, might I suggest you pack a picnic to help you while you're waiting? You could get a bottle of wine, some cheese/crackers or other munchies & make it a bit more fun :)

Cheers.

in the mayfair area:

Sole Man
1 white horse Street

not only do they do laundry but can do shoe repair as well, a couple of pubs down the street from there as well

Thanks for the additional suggestion.

Cheers.

Quote:

Originally Posted by VickiSoCal (Post 26040165)

I dropped off a huge bag here: http://www.marshalllaundry.co.uk/ and they had it all clean for me the next morning for 14 pounds.

have also used them quite often and find them to be great! We're almost on a first name basis, now....even if I stay at St. Ermin's, I take the tube to take my stuff there.

At the aloft London Excel there is a coin laundry at the ground floor, I realize that this property is very inconvenient unless you have business in canary wharf area. I lived here for almost 1 month now and yes I work in the canary wharf area. Just one more data point.