GE Hotel as Hyatt

100   Recommended
March 20, 2007 by

 Map | 4 Reviews | 100% Recommended
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Andaz Liverpool Street London - a concept by Hyatt
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So I (finally) got back from London. What was meant to be Sun-Friday went Sun-Mon due to the storm in NYC. The good news is, I stayed at both the GE and the Churchill in the same trip. I moved to the Churchill for the weekend because it has a better tourist location.

This post will likely (and should) be moved to the review thread, but I think it lives here on its own for now because the transfer of the property to Hyatt is relevant and newsy. I will not review the Churchill, but will note some key comparisons. I have also posted pictures of basic king rooms in both hotels at the link below.

It should be noted that the GE room is the smallest I have had in the hotel - so your mileage may vary.

GE Hotel: First the basics.

Location

The Great Eastern Hotel (GE) is located adjacent to the Liverpool St station, which makes it very convenient for business in the City of London, and particularly the financial institutions HQed in Broadgate.

It is clearly positioned as a "trendy" boutique hotel along the lines of a Royalton (NYC) or W hotel - small rooms but well designed an appointed. There are 4 restaurants and one pub: Aurora serves expensive new french food in an opulent setting, Terminus is a cafe/bar, Fishmarket is a smallish stylish seafood specialist, and Miyabi which is a tiny sushi bar. The George is a beautiful pub frequented by suits from the nearby brokerage houses.

The hotel is in a converted building, so the rooms vary greatly in size and shape, even at the same price point. Some face an interior atrium (which can be noisy when there is an event in the atrium), some the street, and some top floor rooms have large "portholes" for windows. New visitors are routinely shocked by the sound of the toilets, which are louder than the concorde when flushed. The vacuum water system must have seemed like a good idea, but in practice you can have a heart attack when any drain is activated. Truly, it sounds like someone smashed an airplane window.

Service

Service and amenities are excellent and efficient across the board, with the obnoxious but expected gouging for internet (GBP15/day) and breakfast (GBP20) typical for business hotels. There is a small but nice gym in the basement, the only downside to which is walking through the stylish lobby in sweats and trainers on the way down.

Changes since Hyatt took over:

The restaurants and bars appear to have retained their staff and quality, although Hyatt has opened Aurora for a high-end breakfast option, which I didn't try. For those knowledgeable about the London foodie scene, this was likely the biggest concern. Conran became "Sir Conran" upon the quality of his restaurants, so there is reason to be worried that Hyatt would dumb down the offerings. Most importantly to me, the bartender at Aurora remains, who makes the best martinis in London. There has always been great turnover in waitstaff, and in 10 visits I have never had the same sommelier, so it appears to be business as ususal.

Bath amenities have changed from Ren (a cult product) to the Hyatt Regency "White River Crossing" products. The Ren store in the hotel has closed, replaced by a florist. The GEH branded boxes containing Qtips, etc. remain.

The tiny but cool "library" off the main lobby has been taken over by hotel staff. The concierge station also off the main lobby is closed, and the concierge moved to a temp desk by the elevators.

The old TV/stereo/DVD players have been removed and replaced with medium size flat screens. They have added Ipod speaker docks and will lend loaded Ipods if requested. I like the flat screens, but losing the DVD/Stereo is a real bummer, since the GEH used to have a great music and movie free lending library in the concierge area. Now if you want to watch a movie, you have to pay GBP12 *each* ($23 USD!!!) via the Hyatt TV, and you can't rewind or fast forward, just pause stop and play. BIG bummer. Also, they haven't yet rolled out the keyboards for the internet on TV, so it you purchase the GBP25/day full package, you can't surf the net on the TV. Aesthetically, the loss of the TV stands also has left a silly looking cord jungle which they'll want to clean up, since it really sticks out in such an otherwise tightly designed space. Also, Hyatt has installed room-key operated lights and climate control to save energy when you are not in the room.

The staff seems well trained, well coiffed (a comment that will appear silly to anyone who has not stayed at the GEH, and will seem perfectly normal to anyone who has), and has a good attitude, which is very promising.

Overall

Special Hyatt notes - the presence of the White River Crossing amenities implies this will be a Regency. The basic rooms are far to small to ever be a Park Hyatt. It is unclear how they could have a Regency Club, since they will need to totally refurbish, or close one of the event/restaurant spaces in order to have a club lounge. Also, the layout and funky room footprints will make a "club level" near impossible.

And a brief note on the Churchill:

In general the Churchill has a better tourist location, brighter & airier rooms, and less food choice. I found my rooms at the Churchill on average smaller than those at the GE.

As of 3/2007 the Regency Club and Health Club are being remodeled and are closed (I don't know the finish date). They have commandeered a small banquet room for the bar/snacks area, and two smallish rooms have been converted to sitting/TV areas. The "gym" is a bike and three treadmills stuffed into a room. All are on the 2nd floor behind the dedicated Club check-in desk, while the Club rooms are on the 8th and 9th. The staff is making a gallant go of making the best of it, but it is clearly a pretty lousy situation. Club rooms are identical to regular rooms with the following exceptions: Upgraded bath condiments (Molton Brown), upgraded linens, fruit and water, Qtips/makeup pads.

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