They are now taking bookings for 1st November 2011 onwards. Standard rates loaded are currently in at £200 Mon-Thu and £130 Friday nights and £110 at weekends. There are a few fluctuations in the prices, but these appear to be the baseline markers at the moment.

The prices for weekdays in particular seem high and will probably need to come down to become competitive on non-Excel show dates in particular.

The website description says "Opening November 1, 2011" but I tried several different days and saw no availabillity.

The website says it's going to be a Cat 4. Given the above prices, for C&P that's an OK redemption, and perhaps weekdays on points it's also OK, but it's really not good value to use full points on a weekend.

If anyone is interested in following this property on Facebook and/or Twitter to stay in the loop with what’s going on at the hotel, here’s a link to the social media page on the website:

http://www.aloftlondonexcel.com/socialmedia

Happy Tweeting. :)

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Um ... what exactly is the start date?
From http://www.aloftlondonexcel.com/socialmedia


ALOFT LONDON EXCEL - OPENING NOVEMBER 1, 2011
Sandstone Lane, Royal Victoria Dock · London, England E16 1EH, United Kingdom · Phone: (44) 020 7290 7170
Local Time: 9:22 AM · Weather: Fair,15 °C
OverviewPhotosLocal AreaAloft Roomsre:fuelw xyz barNeat StuffSocial MediaOffers

Aloft London ExCel is opening soon
Join our Social Scene
Discover the latest news on what's happening at Aloft London ExCeL - Opening January 1, 2012 by joining our social scene

The Aloft London Excel now has a confirmed opening date of October 31, 2011. They can be booked now for the opening date and beyond:

http://www.aloftlondonexcel.com/

Best regards,

William R. Sanders
Social Media Specialist
Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

[email protected]

Hi - Any hints on booking this property for the Olympics?

i will be in london just a couple of days before this property opens....i wrote to the property about the possibility of staying here even though the property would not officially have opened but have received no reply....in the past i'm managed to get a room at 2 different properties a few days before they opened to the public so hoping for the same here....

Keyser, you have a PM.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Hi everyone,

I would like to share an animation on the Aloft London Excel with the Flyertalk members.

[email protected]

Thyetus Lee | Social Media Specialist
Starwood Customer Contact Centre (AP) Pte Ltd

Looked at a few weekends in January, and prices are around £63 per night including VAT and taxes. Very reasonable for London, in my opinion.

That's much more like it. The prices when I posted in April were clearly there at the high end to cover themselves whilst they got their revenue planning in place. Midweek rates are also pretty reasonable too in advance.

thanks for the pics thyetus....

The rates are very reasonable for this hotel at 63 pounds sterling per night. Plus VAT I assume. However this location seems way out there. The surrounding area is probably really bad for tourists. Anyway how bad is the location for me to get from here to various parts of london. I know I would have to take the DLR to the tube. Appreciate any info. It is a new hotel and the price is right, however....

Rob

How long would it take to get from the hotel to the Le Meridiean Picadilly?

Hmmm as I say a little clearer signposting would be helpful. There aren't many of these brand properties in Europe (are there any others?) so I would expect many Plats to be as surprised as I was. OK I vaguely remembered reading something about this on FT after I checked in but many customers are likely to be hearing this for the first time. A little early signposting of this would help both property and customer surely?

There are 12 suites at this property all other room types are simply king or twin and I assume identical. Given the type of property it is and the somewhat extraordinary price of midweek regular rooms I would have thought they might seek to push paid upgrades harder at check in to maximise revenue. I would have paid the difference in regular rate at around £100 for an upgrade if offered but I only thought of this after I settled in the room and couldn't be bothered attempting to explain the concept of a paid upgrade to the front desk staff, they seemed to be struggling with rather more basic concepts than that.