London gains a Hyatt Regency hotel as Crowne Plaza The City rebrands

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• KBuffett says:

  21 Oct21 October 10:32

  What is the Churchill Hyatt Regency like?

  • tony says:

    22 Oct22 October 00:08

    I stayed there once. We had a 1 br suite which could be connected to another room. There was a tiled floor under the connecting door. Said room was being used as a knocking shop for the evening, I kid you not.

    Hyatt did at least take the problem seriously – eventually – but I guess that’s high end hotels in W1 for you….

• Jonathan says:

  21 Oct21 October 10:53

  Crowne Plaza starting to feel like a bit of an unloved and purposeless brand.

• Chris says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:44

  Interesting fact. There’s some stone pillars at the entrance, which are pretty much all that remains of the old Fleet Palace.

• MKB says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:44

  As IHG Spire Ambassador and Hyatt Globalist, hopefully I should now get (a) guaranteed rather than discretionary access to the lounge, and (b) there will actually be a decent food/drink offering in it. All good news I think, as long as the room rates stay affordable.

  Another vote here for the snug street cellars. Also enjoyed a Sixties music night in the bar on one visit.

  • Tony says:

    21 Oct21 October 13:54

    Presumably that revolves around the lounge remaining open. Unless they knocked through, it would be tiny compared to the Churchill’s lounge so might not fit with the brand or number of top tier members who expect admission.

• Sam says:

  22 Oct22 October 00:37

  Kimpton Fitzroy is a beautiful…from the outside only. As soon as you walk out of the communal areas (I.e. ground floor, the staircase bit on the first floor and basement levels), the other parts including the rooms just seem small, mundane and no different from a 3/4-star standard garden estate hotel.

  A changeover from Crowne Plaza to Hyatt (even if Hyatt Regency) is certainly an upgrade. This property has a lot of potentials and I’m glad the owner recognises it’s worth more than a holding a Crowne Plaza brand.

• Sam says:

  22 Oct22 October 00:42

  With two London hotels leaving IHG in a row, I’m sure there’s a lot more to tell…perhaps the management fees, but the recent changes to reward nights payout (with the new calculation, the hotel receives payout that’s even less than than staff rates in some instances) must be part of it.

  • Rob says:

    22 Oct22 October 01:52

    I think there are simply too many now. People who seek out IHG brands have so many options in London that the actual impact of the brand is probably slim.

    Moving to Hyatt is expensive – guaranteed lounge access and brekky for elites, compulsory suite upgrades etc.

    Similarly moving to DoubleTree cost Kensington a lot of breakfast revenue and extra lounge costs. They must really hate IHG.

    • Sam says:

      22 Oct22 October 20:52

      I think a lot of these benefits e.g. Lounge access, breakfast, unsold suite rooms are fixed costs so the marginal cost of providing them is minimal.

      i.e. the cost of running AC and lights in the executive lounge with 10 pax vs 50 pax is probably the same; the amount of food cooked at buffet breakfast every morning is more or less the same.

      I still believe there is something to do with some new calculations which the owners see a huge impact on their revenue…could it also be IHG defaulting payments which they agreed to make?

      Would be really intrigued to see the new commission/management fee % of the two hotels compared with the one IHG proposed.

      • TGLoyalty says:

        22 Oct22 October 22:55

        I disagree you staff and cater your breakfast/lounge etc for your expected daily footfall

        Having 40 more people a day to feed will increase costs.

        • Rob says:

          22 Oct22 October 23:38

          Marginal cost of a breakfast is low but if people would otherwise have paid (and CP City is a hotel where 90% are on work trips) it is money lost.

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