Review: Lincoln Plaza London, Curio Collection, part of the Hilton winter sale

This is our review of the Lincoln Plaza London hotel in Canary Wharf, London.

Hilton is currently running its latest sale for hotels in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

You can get up to 20% off participating properties for weekend stays up to 21st April 2025. You must book by 28th January 2025.  You can see full details on the Hilton website here.

To show you what sort of hotels you could book in the Hilton sale, the HfP team split up and visited three different properties in three different countries. Before Christmas we looked at the newly refurbished DoubleTree Amsterdam Centraal. Today I am in London and next week Rob will report from Paris.

After staying at what I thought was the sixth and last Curio Collection hotel in London last year we were served an early Christmas present. The Lincoln Plaza hotel in Canary Wharf re-opened after an extended multi-year closure since 2020.

I couldn’t let this go unnoticed and popped down to take a look and complete the set. You can read my other London Curio Collection reviews here:

• 100 Queen’s Gate (review)
• The Gantry, Stratford (review)
• Hart Shoreditch (review)
• The Trafalgar St James (review)
• Lost Property St Pauls (review)
• The Westminster (review)

As one of Hilton’s ‘collection’ brands, Curio brings together independent boutique properties, letting you earn and spend Hilton Honors points and enjoy your Hilton Honors status.

Curio hotels are of a high standard but do not have to meet strict Hilton ‘brand standards’, allowing the operators to exercise their creativity. We’ve generally been very impressed by the Curio Collection hotels we’ve visited.

We booked for cash via hilton.com but we will be reimbursed by the company. Hilton has not seen or approved this review. The hotel website is here.

Where is the Lincoln Plaza London hotel?

Although I live in London, it’s rare that I venture to Canary Wharf. Started in the 1980s to regenerate London’s former industrial and shipping heartlands, development continues at a rapid pace.

Many of the lower rise first generation newbuilds are now being demolished to make way for towers. Just a block away from Lincoln Plaza is an empty site earmarked for future development.

Canary Wharf is so unlike the rest of London that it isn’t for everyone. Although originally a financial district, in the last 20 years a spurt of residential towers means it has become a place to live and work. Friends who live there like the new build developments, the transport links and how clean – and planned – it all is. Waterside living thanks to the old quays is an added benefit. In many ways it feels a bit like a cold version of Singapore or Hong Kong.

The hotel itself is part of a larger residential development just south of the main commercial part of Canary Wharf. The closest station on the DLR is technically South Quays, but the stations are so close together here that it’s only a 10 minute walk to Canary Wharf itself with its Elizabeth Line and Jubilee Line services.

South Quays is largely residential – and therefore quiet. A Tesco Express and a Yohome Asian supermarket are just round the corner.

Thanks to the Elizabeth Line it’s an hour’s journey to Heathrow or around 30 minutes on the DLR to London City Airport.

Inside Lincoln Plaza London

The entrance to the hotel is not the most intuitive – it’s tucked into a corner of this multi-faceted building and faces a small public square with planting. Inside, it’s decked out in a faux-rustic log cabin effect with unsanded wood walls punctuated by blue and yellow furniture:

Check-in was quick with the polite staff. Unfortunately, I was not upgraded as a Diamond at this point as I was told the hotel has a very limited number of rooms above the category I had booked.

Rooms at Lincoln Plaza London

The hotel is spread across eleven floors, but as it happens I was on the first floor in a King Guest Room.

I was very happy with the room, which was semi-open plan with a bathroom, sink and wardrobe on the right:

The toilet and shower were behind the mirrored door, with marble tiling and a rainfall shower:

Above the toilet is a playful image of a royal corgi:

Toiletries are by Urban Apothecary in big pump bottles.

After the bathroom you have the mini bar, which is integrated into the wall:

A Nespresso coffee machine was available, as well as a kettle and Birchall tea bags.

Here’s the rest of the room:

The room was bright despite the gloom outside thanks to the variety of lights available. Mains sockets were available on both sides of the bed although there were no USB ports.

Opposite the bed was the large flatscreen TV:

…. and, by the window, a lounger and armchair by a low table. It’s a bit too low to use as a desk, really, and I could have done with a ‘proper’ desk to work from.

On the table was a small welcome postcard as well as a box of branded welcome chocolates from Lily O’Brien.

Gym and pool

In the rather utilitarian basement you’ll find the hotel’s health centre which is shared with residents of the apartments in the same building. This features a steam room (currently unavailable but due to re-open by the end of Janaury), a sauna and pool:

The gym, meanwhile, is also quite large – I assume owing to the fact it is shared with residents – and was well furnished with both cardio and weight lifting gear.

It is much, much bigger than this image implies but it was quite busy so I couldn’t easily photograph it.

Executive Lounge & restaurant

In short – there isn’t an Executive Lounge! However, Lincoln Plaza does offer a happy hour at the bar in the lobby from 5pm until 7pm with house wines and beers available. I went for some white wine which they brought out with some vegetable crisps.

The on-site restaurant is called Food Store and offers breakfast, lunch and dinner. It offers casual food including pizzas, which I overheard one of the staff say are made from scratch in-house and can be customised to your liking.

For breakfast, there is a surprising choice of hot items including staples such as hash browns, baked beans, bacon, sausages, fried or scrambled eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes. You also have black pudding and haggis, which the chef told me he likes to do midweek (at weekends it is less popular with the families that stay!)

Cold items include cold cuts, yoghurts, cereals and more:

…. and there is a small selection of pastries and breads too.

Conclusion

London is a big city and, depending on where you need to be, Lincoln Plaza London is well worth considering. Its residential Canary Wharf neighbourhood gives it a quiet feel but with three rail lines to choose from you can quickly be anywhere you need to in London.

Other benefits include amenities such as the pool and sauna that you won’t find at many other hotels, including the nearby Hilton Canary Wharf.

What was particularly pleasant about my stay was the staff, who were all super friendly, but who also seemed to know each other and other (longer staying?) guests well. It felt quite close-knit.

Rooms are currently available from £150 midweek or approximately 50,000 Hilton Honors points. You can find out more, and book, on the Hilton website here.

Canary Wharf hotels are usually good value at the weekend when business traffic falls away. Remember that the current Hilton weekends sale runs until 28th January for stays until 21st April.

PS. If you are reading this but are not a regular Head for Points visitor, please consider signing up for our FREE weekly or daily newsletters. They are full of the latest Avios, airline, hotel and credit card points news and deals to improve how you travel. To sign up, visit this page of the site or click any of the ‘Subscribe’ links on this page. Thank you.

---

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (January 2025)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

• American Express Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Rewards Credit Card (10,000 bonus Amex points)

and for small business owners:

• American Express Business Gold (20,000 bonus Amex points)
• American Express Business Platinum (50,000 bonus Amex points)

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points. 

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