Hilton London Tower Bridge

100   Recommended
Room 816 , Double Deluxe Plus
May 10, 2017 by

 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended
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Hilton London Tower Bridge
 Map | 1 Review | 100% Recommended

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Room 816

Double Deluxe Plus

Liked:
Location
Service
Food
Amenities
Room
Stats
Room
Double Deluxe Plus

We hadn't stayed here in a while and wanted to do a fairly last minute London trip, it used to be our favourite hotel (before the Conrad and Bankside hotels were part of the network) and the rates were good so we decided to give it another try.

We booked using points, 84,000 for two nights on a weekend which we found to be very good use and value for points. In the past I seem to remember this hotel wanting 80,000 points for a night at peak times so since the recent changes this seems great value for London to me.

I have posted reviews in this thread in the past (before the new FT review format) so you can check those out on the Hilton FT forum hotel thread in post # 146 (text only, review in 2011), posts # 186 and 187 (text and pictures, review in 2012) and post # 234 (text and pictures of the exec lounge in its current 'dress', review in 2013). All of these reviews were before the latest renovation work was done in the rooms and lobby area (and before it became a Jamie's restaurant) but are still useful as many points made are still valid.

I only took a few pictures this time as my wife was with me and I didn't have time to get any good pictures before she took over the room and starting spreading her bits about!

For those that have seen the youtube video about the DYKWIA mentality and 'diamond members' throwing a strop, this will bring a laugh: (I didn't act like a Giraffe though, I behaved, honest!)

My Hilton Giraffe.jpg

Room

I didn't take any pictures but it is still very simialr to an older 'exec floor' room in my previous reviews, albeit with a different colour scheme. (now warm earth tones instead of the more comtemporary red glass panels in some areas in the past.

I haven't seen towels be managed wirelessly before so this was a bit of a surprise to be honest...I hope it is only needed for managing which hotel the towels belong to rather than hotel guests walking away with them!

Modern RFID towel management.jpg

EDIT: I realised that I hadn't said much about the room so:

-Nespresso machine in the room with 4 different coffee types for pods.

-Bottled water in room (all still water though)

-Bathrobes and slippers in room

-separate shower (and very large with good pressure and plenty of hot water) and bath (full size and well placed in the bathroom, similar to photos up thread mentioned in opening to this review)

-decent bed, not as good as some we've slept in but still decent enough, certainly on the firm side.

-power points on each bedside so you can easily charge devices.

-smallish TV, my guess was a 32 or 37 inch wall mount TV but functional and with reasonable channel selection.

-the usual room safe, ironing board and iron in room. Plenty of wardrobe space to hang things up.

-opening window to outside fresh air. Not a great A/C control and it didn't work that great when we did use it (to heat or cool, YMMV).

-wifi did keep kicking us out but worked well when we would get a connection for a few minutes.

Check In

I checked in online using the app as I noted I had been upgraded two levels from a double room to a double deluxe plus room (which is the new name for an exec room here). I took the room they had selected for me as it was a nice corner room and still convenient for the elevator but not right beside it.

I used the main entrance check in desks to get our room keys as I was not sure if they still offer check in at the executive lounge (or even where that was located now) and this was fine. The single front desk agent was busy with a first time stayer so I did wait a minute or two for someone to come out from the back but this was not a problem or a long wait and there was no queue. I was greeted as a hhonors member and asked if I needed any infromation on the hotel or if I still remembered my way around (a nice way to ask instead of just launching into the usual spiel)

You could try to check in at the exec lounge (it used to be possible) as you can get to the 9th floor (where the exec lounge is located still) but you won't be able to enter as it is key card controlled, so you'll need to buzz to get a staff member to come and assist you. The desk at the entrance to the lounge is still there so they may be able to do it but I did note a diamond member roped off area at the ground floor reception area so imagine they may not do exec lounge check-in anymore.

A picture of the reception seating area, with curtains to help privacy if desired, quite nice and classy:

Reception Seating area.jpg

Service

We found the front desk staff friendly and helpful in our limited dealings with them but maybe just a bit more run of the mill in comparison to our stays back in 2012/13 from memory (when the staff here were truly outstanding.)

The lounge staff were a mix of great staff and didn't want to be there staff, generally there were plenty of staff in the lounge and they did go around quite often trying to keep the lounge clean and offer assistance. The great staff in the lounge were truly excellent, friendly, helpful and polite while constantly working to make it a nice experience and deal with the very heavy use in the lounge, whereas the poor staff were obvious and you simply avoided them when they did make the effort to do a sweep of the lounge area.

Breakfast staff in Jamies were also excellent and they were always very busy but still had a smile and genuinely cared about the work they did and dealt with the high turnover of guests and non residents that were eating there (for breakfast only...we didn't eat here otherwise).

Overall, staff were excellent. Not quite as good as Bankside but very, very good and giving Bankside a run for their money for the most part.

Dining

We did not eat here in the evenings or use the lobby level bar area so can't comment on those aspects.

We did use the lounge for evening quick pit stop before going out to eat in London and we also used Jamie's restaurant for breakfast each morning.

The lounge had a good variety of nibbles and drinks and it looked decent enough that one could scrimp and not bother eating out afterwards if so inclined but we just tried one or two bits and had a quick drink before heading elsewhere.

Jamie's restaurant is very nice for breakfast, busy by all means but very good and as wizla once said, I think it is also now my favourite breakfast location in a Hilton in London. Why? The cooked breakfast was great, excellent thick and big rashers of bacon, cooked to perfection (still juicy and not dried out but equally not undercooked), very nice, ripe fried tomatoes that were outstanding for flavour, two types of potato dishes and decent beans. Besides that there was very good fruit selection with fresh offerings that were juicy and decent sized along with berry compote and the great granola we all talk about in some of the Hiltons. The pastry / bread selection was a bit more limited in quality but not choice (several choices of breads and pastries but they were a bit dry and good but not great. The juices were good and plenty of choices and the coffee...ah, the coffee, you could have the stanard flask of coloured water if you so wished but equally, you could use the barista machine that produced some very good specialty coffees. (quite a queue though as freshly ground beans each time and it does take a bit of time to do the drinks right)...great tasting though and worth it.

I'd go back to this hotel for the Jamie's restaurant alone and it beat the Bankside restaurant in my opinion. (for that matter, it also beats the Conrad for quality and choice but not for noise or setting).

Location

The hotel is well located, close to tourist sites and the Thames and also close to the rail station and tube network. Plenty of tips mentioned in the hotel thread so will leave it with the fact that it is convenient.

The tube stop is London Bridge on the Northern line or Jubilee line, about 200-300 metres from the hotel.

Overall

A great hotel, newly renovated and with nice quality rooms, common areas and a great exec lounge (with an outside terrace, unique in London for Hilton network). The Jamie's restaurant is great for breakfast and the lounge is great for an evening (if extremely busy, similar to the Waldorf for how busy!)

We'll stay again if the value is good, as it was this time. Bankside was 93k points for a weekend night whereas this was 40k...

Not sure about cash rates or value for money but worth comparing to the Bankside hotel as both are brilliant and great examples of Hilton brand in London.

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