Review: Hampton by Hilton London Waterloo hotel

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• Michael C says:

  14 Nov14 November 07:06

  We stayed here in early March for Globe visit, and loved it. Room for 3, great price, decent enought breakfast.
  As Rob mentions, the downstairs open area is excellent. I often work online 0400-0800h, and there was a lot of bright spacious areas with sockets for me to spread out in.
  V close to Lambeth North tiny (=no queues) tube, and a short walk to Waterloo.
  Great for an easy weekender.

• David says:

  14 Nov14 November 07:11

  We tried to book this hotel using the workspace day use rate as we needed to work away from home for one day. Two days after booking we received a generic e-mail from them. They wanted to know what the purpose of our booking was saying that bookings for overnight stays for leisure/tourism weren’t allowed, even we’d booked a day use rate. They said they could cancel the booking if the reason given wasn’t appropriate.

  Additionally, and more importantly, they said they were only open for bookings for essential and key workers at this time.

• MattB says:

  14 Nov14 November 07:20

  Perfect timing as I was looking to book this hotel for a few nights before Christmas, and was planning to ask here for opinions! It’s £201 for 3 nights which would trigger the amex £50 back offer so naturally appealled to my frugal side and It’s cheaper than booking equivalent flexible rates at our usual go to premier Inns. The only other contender was bankside Doubletree which is about £120 more, not sure of it’s worth it considering facilities may be unavailable? We are both gold if that makes any difference.

  Are there any reasonable parking options in the waterloo area, or are we better off leaving the car further out and just tubing it in?

  • Michael C says:

    14 Nov14 November 07:32

    No lounge or anything, Matt. Waterloo totally walkable if train to there fitted in. Otherwise, I’d look for a JusPark.

    • memesweeper says:

      14 Nov14 November 09:46

      JustPark a space at the South Bank Centre.

  • 1ATL says:

    14 Nov14 November 07:48

    Not sure what days of the week you’re intending to travel but many on street parking bays in the vicinity are free at weekends

    • Sloth says:

      14 Nov14 November 08:12

      Don’t forget you will need to pay the congestion charge now tho 🙁

      • Lady London says:

        14 Nov14 November 11:55

        Do you have to pay if you’re just in parked on the street in the zone?

        • Jonathan says:

          14 Nov14 November 15:03

          Yes. Odds of being caught are low but it’s the presence of your vehicle on a road in the zone that generates the charge not driving it.

• Bagoly says:

  14 Nov14 November 09:16

  Yet another decent desk that would frustrate me by having a lamp with a large footprint.
  Why don’t more designers put lamps on the wall – they can still be adjustable, and they don’t even have to have the wire buried.

  • the_real_a says:

    14 Nov14 November 15:40

    Because when they break you need a qualified electrician to replace them – costly, and takes the room out of use until you can book one! A few years ago i project managed the companies office refurb. Not my area of work at all but it was a fascinating learning experience for the economics of design! And funny enough the exact topic you mentioned came up quite often.

  • cinereus says:

    16 Nov16 November 16:18

    +1. Desk already looks far too small and too shallow to be useable. Using all that desk real estate for a lamp just makes it even worse.

• lcylocal says:

  14 Nov14 November 09:21

  I know this are fairly well though I have never stayed in the hotel, but it looks good from the street.

  Lower Marsh had a very good lunchtime array of hot food stalls. It largely been killed this year by the office workers who used it for lunch working from home, but hopefully it will spring back up in due course.

  For anyone visiting and unfamiliar with central London the location is also very close to the Imperial War Museum.

  If arriving into Kings Cross or St Pancras you can easily avoid the tube to get here. Just take a Thameslink train to Elephant and Castle (10 mins walk) or Blackfriars (12 mins if you are at the front of the train and exit from the south bank exit).

  It would also suit anyone who doesn’t mind a little bit of walking for a whole range of things north of the river. Parliament Square is 10 mins walk over Waterloo Bridge and Buckingham Palace another 15 mins from there. Trafalgar Square or Covent Garden are probably less than 20 mins walk over the Hungerford footbridges.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    14 Nov14 November 22:17

    Agreed about the food market in Lower Marsh. I used to work close to there, and I loved going there for lunch. There’s also a few quirky shops, cafes, a number of decent restaurants and several good pubs in Lower Marsh, so there are good options turning left as you approach Waterloo as well as turning right into The Cut.

    I’ve also walked past the hotel lots of times and thought it looks inviting, but I don’t think I have ever been inside it other than the restaurant. It used to serve (excellent) Goan food, but I think it got turned into a more generic hotel restaurant, which is a bit of a shame.

• GERRY says:

  14 Nov14 November 09:23

  Are any of the Hilton lounges open ?

  • AlanC says:

    14 Nov14 November 09:52

    Before the current lockdown Newcastle Gateshead Lounge was open to Diamond’s only as a “Tea and Coffee Lounge”. Unmanned and no F&B. Just use of the coffee machine and a plate of packets of biscuits.

    • GERRY says:

      14 Nov14 November 15:17

      Not great then

• 1ATL says:

  14 Nov14 November 09:29

  Any chance you can try out Hilton Bankside one day? It’s been on my radar for a while but I’ve always ended up booking the Mercure further up the road when needing to stay in the area.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    14 Nov14 November 09:46

    If you mean Hilton bankside and not a doubletree it is well reviewed and very well liked.

    I’m sure there’s been one here is the past and plenty of talk on flyertalk.

    You will not go wrong booking it.

    • Rob says:

      14 Nov14 November 12:19

      I was meant to visiting Hilton Bankside last week – to trial Hilton’s ‘WorkSpace’ product, the version which includes lunch etc – but it got culled due to the new lockdown. We will do it in December.

      Meanwhile, we are covering Marriott’s Bankside hotel on Monday!

      • 1ATL says:

        14 Nov14 November 17:00

        Looking forward!

      • RK says:

        14 Nov14 November 18:49

        States at Marriott Bankside prior to Lockdown, great service and food being served in the restaurant.

      • MT says:

        15 Nov15 November 01:08

        I have stayed at both Hilton and Marriott Bankside properties in the last couple of months(For completness top tier in both). The Hilton in theory should have the edge wih a pool (lounge when open) whereas Bankside(Marriot Autograph Collection) is less your typical property. I did enjoy a couple of stays at the Hilton Bankside and it ticks the boxes but it just felt well a bit Hilton and boring after a while, some rooms are nice but others are quite dark and the way they are decorated don’t help.

        The Marriott Bankside which reopened later than the Hilton after the original lockdown is a property I have stayed at twice and still deciding on. Initially it felt like it might be a bit to cool in its own mind and as such not inviting, but actually it grew on me as the stay went on and some very helpful friendly staff. The rooms are good and a bit more character to Hilton, the breakfast is certainly better if you value quality over quantity.

        I would not stay at Hilton Bankside again as the staff were fine but despite several stays always just going through the motions, whereas Marriott Bankside has some character and the staff do see to care and more genuine, but can occasionally seem like they have a attitude. To me Marriott wins on this one and is backed by the fact I have a couple more stays this year booked there.

        Practicality wise there is nothing wrong with Hilton, the issue is it just feels like well a Hilton and at the moment the last thing that appeals is dull, while Bankside (Autograph Collection to be accurate) has character!

    • 1ATL says:

      14 Nov14 November 17:00

      I mean Hilton Bankside hence me mentioning Hilton Bankside and not Doubletree 😉

      Thanks I’ll take a look. Walked past it many times but it was always disproportionately expensive compared to Citizen M and Mercure whenever I’ve checked which are a stones throw away from this Hilton. Mercure have the top floor terrace rooms and suites which I’ve nearly always been upgraded to on arrival via Accor status (the perfect smokers room!). Now that’s lapsed I’m less loyal and curious as to what the Hilton rooms are like.

• Lady London says:

  14 Nov14 November 12:02

  This particular Hampton is generally much more expensive than other Hamptons to stay in. This for both business days and, especially, Saturday.

  Does anyone know if work is still proceeding on the new Peninsular Hotel next to the Lanesborough at Hyde Park Corner in London?

  If it was.open by now it would be jolly useful now that Peninsular have said you can arrange for a night to eu from 0600am to 1000pm following day, for now, at n extra charge.

  • Rob says:

    14 Nov14 November 12:08

    Building is progressing well, the building is topped out and most of the windows are in.

    • Lady London says:

      14 Nov14 November 13:00

      Tx. With the Peninsular, that will make a nice selection of really top-end hotels for Knightsbridge. Peinsular, Lanesborough, Berkeley, Mandarin Oriental. I would include the Jumeirah but believe it is old 1970’s building and not refurbished. And for some reason I had thought Harrods opened a hotel opposite on the Brompton Road? forgot to look last time as havent been in-store for awhile.

      • DB2020 says:

        14 Nov14 November 13:25

        LadyLondon,

        Don’t forget the Bulgari Hotel, 171 Knights Bridge.

        The Jumeirah Carlton Tower, on the corner of Cadogan Place and Sloane Street is being refurbished completely.

        There is also the Belmond Cadogan, 75 Sloane Street, to add to the list.

        • DB2020 says:

          14 Nov14 November 13:26

          *Knightsbridge not Knights Bridge! Auto correct is a joy.

      • Michael C says:

        14 Nov14 November 17:35

        And MO Mayfair!

        • Rob says:

          14 Nov14 November 18:47

          That’s just a front for sticking the MO name on a pile of apartments sold for cash in the same building. 80 apartments vs a 50-room hotel. Not sure how long MO will bother to stick around running the hotel once its banked its fat commission from the apartment sales.

      • Peter North says:

        14 Nov14 November 18:05

        It will be a while, until finished as they are strengthening the structure with extra RSJ’s to accommodate a small helipad on the roof.

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