2RETIREDTRAVELERS

I am trying to book 2 ecerts for an upcoming stay in London. Most of the hotels
I would prefer are blocked. So I have narrowed from the remains to either Park Plaza Westminster Bridge or Park Plaza County Hall ? Is one better than the other? Thanks for you thoughts.

Happy

I had the same thought process in the Spring when trying to make speculative booking before the great devaluation. I ended up choosing County Hall and booked the upgraded redemption (Family studio) after carefully viewing the pictures online and read the reviews on TA. We were VERY HAPPY with County Hall for the room we got. Now with e-Certs you can only book standard room so the studio would not be available.

County Hall has some elite recognition - we stayed there for 2x2 total 4 nights under 2 bookings. On first booking they had upgraded us to executive studio, had a fruit plate and some candies waiting in the living room. The front desk combined the 2nd booking and told us no need to do check out / check in again while proceeded to program our card keys for all 4 days. On the 3rd day they sent up a 750ml red wine and also a fruit plate. So we got amenities on both reservations.

My suggestion is to carefully compare the pictures online of both hotels - they are very accurate. The decor of Westminster Bridge is a lot bolder to County Hall which has a neutral, more soothing theme unlike that at Westminster where it has the flashy old movie star's big head portrait splashing across the whole wall, and in bold Red and Black color background. We prefer a soothing background for our hotel room, so that immediately rules out the Westminster. The layout of the studio at County Hall also is superior than that at Westminster but again, this does not concern with you with standard room being the only option.

Other things to consider:

County Hall is much smaller than Westminster Bridge just across the street.
The lobby at County Hall is rather small but also no people mooring around all the time like at Westminster. Restaurant is fairly reasonably priced for London standard and not more expensive than the many restaurants in the South Bank area about 10 min walk from the hotel along the front main street.

Westminster Bridge is a very busy hotel full of tour group bookings. There are always a lot of people hanging around the lobby which is much bigger. It probably has 3 or 4 times more rooms than at County Hall. So it could give a crowd feeling at busy hours.

Location is excellent - I would return to the County Hall area than the Hype Park / Mayfair area. The nearby South Bank has a very lively restaurant scene at night. We found the popular ones almost always require to wait for a table (most of them dont take reservation). The stroll along the riverbank both day and night is very pleasant, and of course the Abby and Parliament is less than 10 min walk across the bridge.

2RETIREDTRAVELERS

Happy, thank you for your thoughtful review! I was leaning towards the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge but you have given us food for thought. I would probably be happy at either one but I was hoping for the Radisson Blu Edwardian, Hampshire london at Leicester Square but the certs seem to be blocked- the certs are not as they were represented by US BANK. We waited 8 weeks to get the certs only to find a lot of the rooms "Not available with the certs" even though they have nights available with points.

KiwiRob

I've stayed at Country Hall, it's an nice property, I haven't stayed at Westminster Bridge, the hotels are almost next door to each other, so location wise there's nothing in it. Country Hall upgrade Gold Elites, I recieved a large room upgrade, I think it was a Junior Suit, on a high floor, it had a nice view over Country Hall, fruit platter and bottled water, breakfast is pretty good and it's a 10 minute walk to Waterloo Station.

DesertRat

there are other threads on this topic. Westminster Bridge is big but terrific. Pool down below if that matters to you. Close to two different tube stations and right in front of stop for 453 bus, which takes you near many central London sights.

aapee

Been to both several times, would say both of them are good choices. Always got an upgrade to a studio, so can only compare those (well, once got a suite at County Hall, never Westminster Bridge).

County Hall
+ friendlier
+ good status recognition
+ never had a problem with a late check out
+ self service laundry - good, if you stay longer
- breakfast time the elevator queues can be long

Westminster Bridge
+(/-) more modern decor and bigger tv's
+ better breakfast
+ pool
- the service can be, well, rather mcdonald'sy

The executive studio layout in all the rooms I've had at WB have been the same (kitchenette and bathroom in the middle). Most of them in CH are similar, but there are also different layouts at least at CH - some better, some worse, at least in my opinion.

Boraxo

Has anyone had success in reserving a paid upgrade @ County Hall prior to your stay when using an e-cert?

The e-cert will only allow me to reserve a regular room, and I need a studio that will also accommodate 2 children. The website price to "upgrade" was more than the rack rate. Any success stories calling Carlson or the hotel directly?

Also wondering about the noise levels at PP County Hall. I am pretty noise sensitive and normally take an interior room at the Marriott GS. Concerned about traffic and trains here.

KiwiRob

I don't know about the e-cert but I do know about the trains, you can't hear them at all, the closed part of Waterloo Station to the hotel are the old Eurostar platforms, they aren't in use anymore. Last week I had a studio on the 10th floor overlooking Waterloo station, no noise at all. You can also get interior rooms at Country Hall if you want them, they are very dark.

Novagal

I second the person who said service is very mcDonald's. I stayed at the
Westminster. As a Gold member, no early check in. Then the hotel then provided a room that was half-cleaned. They brought in housekeeping
to make the sofa in the living room area (we had a suite with 3 people) and decided to camp out in the room until we tipped him. Then upon requesting and confirmed for a late check out on the morning of only to be berated at the front desk at check out stating "Ma'am, you do know the check out is 12 and it is now 1."


That said, lovely location to the Christmas village and amazing views of the Big Ben!