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Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars is (finally) open

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The long-delayed Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars is finally open.

This was, if you remember, the former Crowne Plaza London The City hotel – a well regarded property that many considered the best IHG hotel in London. It benefits from being walkable to St Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe.

20 months ago, in October 2021, Hyatt announced it was poaching the hotel – one of a number of IHG defections which included the Holiday Inn/Staybridge Suites in Stratford and the Crowne Plaza London Embankment.

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars hotel

Hyatt Regency Blackfriars was announced first but has faced multiple delays. The original opening date was March 2022.

It isn’t fully open now. The website says:

Please be kindly informed that we are currently continuing the enhancement of the Hotel and our guest’s future experience. There may be limited visual and noise disturbance from June 2023 to August 2023. Work will take place from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM from Monday to Friday and in limited hours over weekends. We have one restaurant and one bar available whilst our second restaurant remains temporary closed. Please be assured that our team will do their utmost best to minimize the possible inconvenience caused to you.

I’m not sure which restaurant is currently open. The well regarded Chinese Cricket Club has returned, offering contemporary Chinese influenced food. There will also be NYnLON, a neighborhood-style bistro, and The Leaf and Cane, ‘a 1920s inspired hideaway offering a vibrant atmosphere and delightful street food paired with crafted cocktails and premium rums’. The mock-up photo I was sent looked impressive.

The hotel appears to have no Executive Lounge, even though there was one in the Crowne Plaza days.

Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars is a Category 5 hotel, with redemptions from 17,000 to 23,000 World of Hyatt points per night. Cash prices are in the £400 range over the summer so points is potentially the way to go.

All stays up to 31st August will earn 500 bonus World of Hyatt points, as part of Hyatt’s standard ‘new hotel bonus’ promotion. No registration is required. I think this applies to reward stays as well as cash stays.

You can book on the Hyatt website here. We will pop in at some point in the coming weeks.


World of Hyatt update – April 2024:

Get bonus points: World of Hyatt is not currently running a global promotion

New to World of Hyatt?  Read our overview of World of Hyatt here and our article on points expiry rules here. Our article on what we think World of Hyatt points are worth is here.

Buy points: If you need additional World of Hyatt points, you can buy them here.

Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from Hyatt and the other major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.

Comments (25)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • The Original Nick. says:

    The T&C’s for the Radisson Offer conflict. It’s very odd. There are two different pages. One of them states stays have to be made by the 30th November, not September.

  • NorthernLass says:

    Good news about a high-end (hopefully) IHG property in southern Spain, especially with the imminent departure of Mr & Mrs Smith. It sounds as though it will be inland, however, like the Aysla, so might struggle to compete with the likes of Puente Romano and Marbella Club hotels. I’d definitely consider it for our annual spring visit as we’re a bit past beach club age and love exploring the mountains and hinterland!

    • NorthernLass says:

      Just done a bit more digging on this and it looks as though it’s going to be a refurb of the currently closed Hotel Los Monteros which is unfortunately right next to the N340 but only about 10 mins walk from the beach.

      • NorthernLass says:

        Doh – not had my coffee yet and just spotted that I could have worked that out from the article 🤦‍♀️

    • Mark says:

      We are currently staying at the Ikos just down the coast from Marbella. It’s not points related but the stay so far has been outstanding. It’s all inclusive which isn’t everyone’s bag but the champagne on tap and fillet steak in the a la carte restaurants is not to be sniffed at!

      • Gordon says:

        Ikos also have a few properties in Greece, I am looking at trying one next year, I am not sure which one it is but one property includes a complementary use of a mini for the day?

        • Gordon says:

          Ikos Dassia Has the complementary mini hire!

          • lumma says:

            Does it come with a driver, due to the free flowing champagne?

          • Gordon says:

            That’s an optional extra!

          • Gordon says:

            I am actually in secrets cap Cana resort and spa at the Moment and they have fillet,T Bone and Ribeye steaks in the a la carte restaurants along with lobster options and free flowing champagne it’s further but I’m not driving anywhere!
            And it’s a complementary 9 night stay because of issues with hurricane Fiona last September, Now that’s not to be sniffed at!!!!

  • Stu_N says:

    Re Hyatt, I always wonder who is paying these rates. My work has a cap of around £325 for London which I think is pretty decent, and was increased last summer. Even then it’s a struggle to find anything acceptable within 15-20 mins walk of Bank for that.

    • Hotelier says:

      Companies will have corporate rates agreements – doubt companies will be paying £400 a night for their employees.

      My hotel retails for £900++ and corporate rates sit between £250-£350/night

      • Rob says:

        It’s very rare you see much difference. A quick Google search will bring up loads of Hyatt corporate rate codes but if you test them out (I don’t recommend booking because you should be asked for ID at the front desk) the discount is rarely huge. Main benefit is usually flexibility – you’re paying the Advanced Purchase rate but can cancel.

        It is possible that some hotels signed long term corporate deals 3-4 years ago locking in a rate which now looks crazy given what the public will pay for cash but those will start to fall away.

        • Hotelier says:

          Went back to this as was curious about people’s thoughts. I can guarantee you contracts are being renewed yearly and as we speak for next year. Big firms will fight for any 10% increase on those £250-£350 rates… many (most?) luxury hotels will have these rates, of course production of those accounts is very big… there might be restrictions on super peak dates ( minimum 7 night length of stay) but rate still the same.

      • Andrew. says:

        This is why you should always do your best to retain access to sites like PAW when you change firm. It allowed me to continue to access negotiated corporate rates for the firm I left 12 years ago.

        It has its quirks – eg the Corporate B&B rate is technically only one breakfast per room – but I’ve yet to stay in a hotel that has an accounting system that has identified the difference between number of breakfasts authorised and number of guests booked into a room.

      • Rizz says:

        Same here, regularly booking top hotels in London at £300-350 rates (through a corporate TA who has access to them, these are not some codes you can google and input at checkout).

    • Rob says:

      Everyone except your company is paying these rates, it seems. London is forecast to have 76-78% hotel occupancy this year, and that includes the dank dark days of November and January when most are very quiet. Average London hotel rate is currently £212 but that covers everything from ibis Budget to Claridges and across the full year. £325 only gets you something marginally above average (4-star at best) and in peak season it’s going to be 3-star.

      Our old friend Holiday Inn Express Wandsworth (overlooking Wandsworth Council’s dump, backing onto an active construction site, surrounded by busy roads on all sides and with a petrol station out front) is £281 on Monday.

      Pleased to say my 45k IHG redemption at InterCon Park Lane for July is looking increasingly good value with cash rates now at £870.

      • NorthernLass says:

        We are at the IC PL on Wimbledon final weekend at the 40k intern rate! I’ll be happy if they can find us a broom cupboard, lol.

    • Richie says:

      BTW There’s an upgraded Travelodge with 15 mins of bank.

  • Tariq says:

    At those kind of prices, it’s going to face tough competition from the Westin, which sounds like it has much better facilities.

    • tony says:

      That’s my thinking, too. When the CP opened it was a rare beast but lots of better hotels in the area now. Going to need a proper refurb to warrant charging > 500 a night.

      Need to stay down next week and it’s a challenge but given price momentum at the moment I think London hoteliers realise they’ve been a bit too ambitious.

  • Hilda M says:

    I’ve a one night booking (a Friday this month) booked at the HR Blackfriars under the offer 15% off & breakfast – worked out at £306 – will be interesting to see if I get an upgrade (am Globalist)

    I don’t have fond memories of the old CP as it was the only hotel I was ever walked from (at 1.30am and as a RA!) Received profuse apologies the following Monday from Guest Relations and offer of a guaranteed suite on my next visit: I didn’t go back.

  • Lady London says:

    I know you’ll know it Hilda but the one thing I have learned the hard way is that for hire cars and hotels always get there as early as possible from around the middle of the day.

    It’s always the late arrivals that get landed with the fallout from any problems that have built up during the day. Including one memorable time when I discovered that the only hire car left in Geneva at 11.30pm, a battered Toyota parked in the darkest furthest away corner of the concrete car park, had what looked to be bullet holes through the headlight glass.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      I agree. I always try to check in early as the chances of getting the poor room/walked is so much higher the later it gets.

      Only time I’ve ever got to a hotel late c1am was the CP Gerard’s Cross booked last min because of how plans during the day transpired. the front desk was super helpful admitting they were oversold but determined I’d get a room as top tier IHG and a returning guest.

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