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Hi everyone, merry Christmas – I’m looking for some advice regarding a stay that I may make in London before 22nd December to take advantage of the Spend £200, get 9000 MR points Amex offer. I also have the Spend £200, get £50 statement credit offer which I can hopefully split the final bill across the two cards.
I was considering three hotels.Conrad London, London Bankside and London Tower Bridge. I can see Conrad is around £125 more expensive per night at the standard room rate than the other two and I imagine is a step up in class. I am Diamond member, so would hope for a good upgrade from standard room to Executive Room and would like to stay for 2 nights. I’ve read the Tripadvisor reviews for what they are worth, and without further information was thinking I would try the London Bankside hotel as I like the general comments about the Executive Lounge and the breakfast.
Could anyone that knows these hotels well provide any advice that may assist me in selecting the hotel? Many thanks.
I’m going to piggyback on your thread, as I wanted to ask a similar question. I’m looking to book a 60-80,000 Hilton redemption for next year and wanted to ask thoughts on the best London hotel to choose. We need to be near-ish St Pancras so the Euston one is an obvious choice but wondered if others are better? Not too fussed about room amenities, but good bar/breakfast would be nice. Thanks all.
We’ve stayed at all three and were at Tower Bridge last month.
As Diamond we were treated very well at Tower Bridge, Executive Room, Breakfast in the Restaurant,Sandwiches & Cake between 3pm & 5pm, hot food and really good choice on alcohol in the evening between 6pm @ 8pm. Half a bottle of cheap Red in the room and complimentary soft drinks in the fridge.
I don’t like Bankside and the evening offering at Conrad was three small canapés but lovely wine to accompany them.Haven’t been to Bankside or Conrad but another positive review here for Tower Bridge. Logistics are good if you are coming into London Bridge Station and connectivity also handy for tube from there etc. As mere Gold status we booked, back in August, a basic room and were upgraded to lounge access. Agree with @Cabal that lounge offer is decent there and the roof terrace gives a good view of the Shard. Borough Market within easy striking distance and also lots of other F&B options around including on the Queens Walk and towards Tower Bridge.
It doesn’t have a pool like Bankside does but it ticked our boxes!
We stayed at the Conrad St James at the weekend. It’s a decent hotel in a good location opposite St James tube. There is some significant construction work taking place across the street…we didn’t experience any noise during the weekend but you may want to check with the hotel directly before booking.
The Exec rooms are nicely configured and fairly spacious (proper bath, etc) and the Exec Lounge provides a few treats as follows:-
* Breakfast 7am to 10.30am Monday to Friday and from 7am to 11am on weekends
* Afternoon Tea from 2pm to 4pm
* Evening Canapés and Drinks from 5.15pm to 7.15pmThe mini afternoon tea was the highlight. Not sure the Conrad is worth the premium over Bankside.
+1 for Tower Bridge — unlikely to be unhappy with it
I’m going to piggyback on your thread, as I wanted to ask a similar question. I’m looking to book a 60-80,000 Hilton redemption for next year and wanted to ask thoughts on the best London hotel to choose. We need to be near-ish St Pancras so the Euston one is an obvious choice but wondered if others are better? Not too fussed about room amenities, but good bar/breakfast would be nice. Thanks all.
Depends whether you value location or quality. Euston is more than a bit dumpy. My personal favourite: Trafalgar St James is better than Hilton Euston by an almost ridiculous margin as the trade-off for a 10 minute tube journey…
Thanks for the great advice folks. I’m going to book Tower Bridge, sounds like the best of the three options. 😊
Think the shortlist was great so you’ll def. have a good time wherever!
Personally, we’re back (yet again) to Bankside on Sunday, but also
have 10-yr old to factor in, and the pool and free sweets tend to swing it!
Also great for Old Vic/Globe/South Bank (but conversely slightly out of the way
for other areas, of course).We did one pre-Xmas at the Conrad and it was indeed lovely, but you’d also
hope for some bright crisp weather to make the most of the park, etc. We got soaked!Trafalgar also lovely, and stellar location, although I am a bit of a sucker for an
expsansive lobby, which it’s missing. Great breakfast room, though.Bankside basic rooms are very comfortable and to my eye were indistinguishable from executive rooms. Breakfast is excellent, especially for a Hilton. Location for the West End, which is pretty much the only reason we ever go into London, is OK in that you can have an Uber arrive within 1-2 minutes.
If you care about these things, the bar in the hotel is good. Not the sexiest place but they do a decent cocktail which again for a Hilton is a plus.
I tend to be pretty anti-Hilton as a brand, but Bankside is a decent hotel.
Hilton bankside is my favourite Hilton in the UK, and ive spent 150+ nights in hiltons in the past year.
The conrad is ok but i find it a bit stuffy and on each occasion ive stayed there they havent had the stuffed bulldog at check in.
Exec lounge bankside
Breakfast conrad
Location banksideAnd usually bankside is quite a bit cheaper than the conrad
Would agree with all the comments of @Masaccio and @Phatbear
Fwiw, as Bankside is so popular, we’ve not had a Hilton Gold upgrade but have
had exec. lounge thrown in instead: great deal, as the basic rooms are fine.Have yet to try the Bankside Sunday bottomless brunch-lunch (egg dish followed by Sunday lunch!) but
it gets great reviews!Maybe Bankside’s generous interpretation of Lounge access criteria is why the hotel is so popular ,
Diamond should be guaranteed access and Gold only when upgraded to an Executive Room but I’m sure their generosity generates plenty of repeat businessI enjoyed Bankside when I stayed there last year, rooms are quite dark though! But, as others’ said – managed to bag lounge access (and it was nice) on Gold.
ALWAYS stay at Bankside when in London. Staff are very friendly, beds comfy, lovely pool, showers great. As Diamond, like the Exec lounge(offering is generally much better than other London Exec lounges) and the free breakfast is plentiful and fresh. Really enjoy the walk along the south bank to Trafalgar sq or across the Millennium Bridge to St Paul’s. Non exec v Exec rooms seem very similar but nice spec.
From my recent stays (Nov 2023) I enjoyed both my stays at Bankside and The Westminster. If you can get lounge access and really want a pool, go for Bankside. Otherwise, I preferred the room design of The Westminster.
I missed this reply. Thanks for steering me away from Euston. We’ve booked Bankside.
I’m going to piggyback on your thread, as I wanted to ask a similar question. I’m looking to book a 60-80,000 Hilton redemption for next year and wanted to ask thoughts on the best London hotel to choose. We need to be near-ish St Pancras so the Euston one is an obvious choice but wondered if others are better? Not too fussed about room amenities, but good bar/breakfast would be nice. Thanks all.
Depends whether you value location or quality. Euston is more than a bit dumpy. My personal favourite: Trafalgar St James is better than Hilton Euston by an almost ridiculous margin as the trade-off for a 10 minute tube journey…
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