The Hilton Woking hotel is open

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• JohnTh says:

  2 Nov2 November 05:32

  Wow – finally Woking is open. Yippee (sort of). Unfortunately have lost Diamond in the years we have waited so will have to pay for Exec lounge room!

  • Nick says:

    2 Nov2 November 06:23

    Yup John, It’s been ‘going on’ for years, as you say, and the construction, which is right on the main thoroughfare, has caused some major traffic issues for a lot of that time too. I pass there at least 2-3 times a month. I still can’t get my head around having the Doubletree as well now (It was a Holiday Inn previously). Maybe they’ll hive it off? I’m sure I’ll give it a try soon, as it does look pretty good from the site, and with an Executive Lounge. The views (beyond Woking!) should be great too, from the Sky Bar.

    • JohnTh says:

      2 Nov2 November 10:02

      DoubleTree is quite old with small rooms and a lot of traffic noise at the front.

      • Tariq says:

        2 Nov2 November 18:47

        Yes, definitely overdue for a reflag.

• BJ says:

  2 Nov2 November 07:07

  So if Woking itself is not the attraction, what is? What is it a good base for with a car? Is the 10 minite extra train journey to London versus the Hampton at Croydon worth it? I’m thinking 5 night stays where I might want to spend two days in London and three days out by car. Incentive would be to save a stash of cash or points relative to a London hotel. Thanks!

  • Swiss Jim says:

    2 Nov2 November 07:35

    I’m not sure why anyone would chose to stay in Woking. But as a base for a split London / other trip I guess it’s an option. Woking is pretty well connected – destinations would include Guildford, Windsor, Portsmouth, Southampton, New Forest. Isle of Wight I’d say too much of a stretch and would relocate. Some lovely walks of course.

    • Matarredonda says:

      2 Nov2 November 08:56

      Great walks in the Surrey Hills as well.
      Excellent train service into London or South to, for example Southamton

  • TGLoyalty says:

    2 Nov2 November 07:49

    Proper Hilton will always be better than Hampton but I think It’s exactly as you describe good base to reach central in about 30 mins via train and explore local areas by car.

    Not a bad base for nearby events in Goodwood or Farnborough etc , McLaren is nearby for some corporate traffic.

    • Nick says:

      2 Nov2 November 10:58

      There are quite a lot of companies based in and around Woking and it’s underserved by hotels for their visitors – this is the original reason for it, not tourism. That said, it’s a bit of a hub locally, with the theatre being one of the two biggest/best in the Home Counties (along with Windsor) which will attract weekend stays.

      If the hotel is underoccupied, however, I can easily see it being overspill for Heathrow, they’ll end up doing deals with airlines for EU261 duty of care with the national express connection.

  • Doug says:

    2 Nov2 November 10:59

    A visit to the Maclaren base is good

  • BBbetter says:

    2 Nov2 November 13:04

    The pizza express there is popular.

    • BJ says:

      2 Nov2 November 16:06

      Do they do them without cheese?

  • BJ says:

    2 Nov2 November 16:05

    Thanks all for feedback.

  • Tariq says:

    2 Nov2 November 17:07

    The last time I stayed at the Doubletree, they seemed to trade on visitors to Legoland Windsor.

• Hackinjack says:

  2 Nov2 November 07:37

  I’ll be staying on Sunday night, will drop a review on Google, unless Rob (@raffles) would like an exclusive 😉
  Sunday is supposed to be half decent weather, should get some good photos.

  • Rob says:

    2 Nov2 November 09:08

    Don’t need a review but a few lines here would be great.

    • Hackinjack says:

      2 Nov2 November 12:24

      Sure thing.

      • Hackinjack says:

        7 Nov7 November 09:30

        This is a very nice hotel. shame it’s 4 years late opening. I’ve lived in this area most of my life, and as a frequent user of Hilton hotels, both for work and leisure I was keen to see what it was like.

        The lounge is not yet open, though elite honours members are provided with complementary canapes and drinks in the OXBO Restaurant in the evening instead. They poured freely, to the extent of decanting a bottle of red wine for us and leaving it on the table. This arrangement was actually a big improvement on some of the tick box lounges in, for example, Hilton Bournemouth. I did sneak into the unfinished lounge (it was open) and it will be impressive when open.

        Views from the LOFT sky bar are great, well worth a visit.

        We didn’t get a chance to sample the restaurant as it was not open for lunch and we only had one night booked. I would say that although there are some early day teething problems with some of the processes and communications the staff appear well trained and are excellent ambassadors for the Hilton brand.

        We were sufficiently impressed to rebook later in the month when we will have some friends from the north visiting and meet them there.

        Overall a very good experience, we left wanting to stay longer.

  • Ian says:

    2 Nov2 November 09:22

    Don’t get your hopes up. Parts of the hotel are not yet open including the lounge.

    Going to cancel a planned stay.

• Peter says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:24

  Woking Council is effectively bankrupt as a result of undertaking the development of which the Hilton forms a part. This is an extract from an article in The Economist (29 August 2023) headed “A blunder costs a British town billions”: “The quiet commuter town of just over 100,000, south of London, went into emergency financial measures in June, after racking up debt worth £1.8bn ($2.3bn). That’s a giant sum for a council with an annual budget of only £24m. Officials borrowed funds, then blew them on risky commercial investments, including a pair of tower blocks (30 and 36 storeys), a grandiose hotel (24 storeys) and a giant car park with a spiral ramp. These now loom over the Surrey landscape as a sorry reminder of their ineptitude.
  Outlining the investment plan in 2014, the council’s then chief executive, Ray Morgan, had likened Woking’s prospects to those of Singapore. Instead the town has become a byword for spectacular financial failure.”

  • Tariq says:

    2 Nov2 November 17:08

    Similar story in Peterborough with the HGI.

• Lee says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:26

  Hi. Anyone know if the All Plus Voyageur (which I don’t have but am considering) 20% would add to this 25% ?

  • RussellH says:

    2 Nov2 November 11:55

    My partner recently re-booked a hotel at the sale price. Voyageur price was €326,25. Special sale price €260,64. That was yesterday. Today I (not Voyageur) am offered the same room for €256,89.
    Read into it what you will.

  • Guernsey Globetrotter says:

    2 Nov2 November 12:46

    The Voyageur discount doesn’t stack on the regular member bonus which is already 10%, so the headline 20% rate is misleading, so factor that into your value calculation.

• L Allen says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:35

  The Avis site is showing 5 Avios per pound. Does the extra get added on later on the booking process?

  • Rob says:

    2 Nov2 November 10:36

    Offers is mentioned on the Avis BA site so I assume it posts correctly in the end.

• Matarredonda says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:35

  Should have opened in 2020! Delayed by pandemic then some of the from panels fell off which took 18 months to resolve.
  Woking Council been desperate to get open for the income it will generate and this overall development was funded by the Council and main reason
  for their bankruptcy.
  The complete development including shops and accommodation is imo pretty impressive. Unfortunately with the Councils bankruptcy some surrounding works not completed.

• Chris says:

  2 Nov2 November 10:53

  Isn’t it about time that someone (government, trading standards???) banned the practice of advertising discounts when they are not like for like?
  If I advertised a new top of the range car with 20% discount, but you only got a basic model when you used the discount, that would be mal practice.
  How do they continue to get away with it?

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