jonmck

I purchased a package deal and I can stay at any Marriott in London that has availability during the time I want to visit.

CHOICES I THINK I HAVE NARROWED DOWN TO:

London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square
London Marriott Hotel Park Lane
London Marriott Hotel County Hall - Westminster Bridge Road
Renaissance Chancery Court London - 252 High Holborn

Any others I should consider? Looking for 5 star hotels. Would like them close to a tube station and also close to attractions.

Thanks!

Kellye

My daughter and I stayed at the County Hall Marriott last summer. It is VERY convenient to the tube station. They were undergoing some renovations when we were there, but it was nice enough. We stayed on Marriott points and didn't get a deluxe room or a room with a view, but we were only there to sleep so that didn't matter to us. The standard room was spacious and clean...and quiet. Those halls are very long though--it can be a long way from the elevator to your room. My daughter walked down and checked out the pool and said it was nice--we didn't swim though--ours was a brief 2 night visit. Our favorite feature was the umbrella in the closet...we guessed that was a London feature. We found it charming.

Kellye

I guess I should also mention that the London Eye was right outside the hotel; when you came out of the hotel, you looked straight at Parliament. It was an easy walk through the park to Buckingham Palce and the Cabinet War Rooms were also within a short walk, although we didn't make it there.

janisj

Any of those would be fine but my choice would be County Hall or Chancery Court.

The County Hall would be my 1st choice IF I could reserve a river view room. Absolutely iconic views of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, the towers of Westminster Abbey and the Eye just outside your window.

If not, then Chancery Court is maybe the nicest of all 4 but w/o the views.

ccrosner

We stayed at the Chancery Court last August on points. It was convenient to the Holborn tube station which was a good hub. Room was as pictured on their website. Very nice, not huge. Lovely, large bathroom. We could walk to Covent Garden but usually just took the tube everywhere.

I would have liked to have stated at the Park Lane or Grosvenor Square as I think they are more upscale, but they weren't available on points.

CarolA

County Hall gets outstanding reviews on www.flyertalk.com

I stayed at the Ren Chancery Court over Christmas. My room was HUGE and the hotel was very nice. Great service, wouldn't hesitate to stay again.

Jeff801

I've stayed at all 4 of the hotels you listed, and my first choice for a combination of location and comfort would be the Park Lane, followed by Grosvenor Square.

Both are near the full service Bond Street Tube Station and the shopping of Oxford Street. They are also very convenient to Carluccio's and a Pret a Mange for breakfast and within walking distance of theaters.

BTW, the Park Lane has 110v North American electrical plugs and is, to my knowledge, the only hotel in London that does not require plug adapters. And, if they offer the 50 Pound upgrade to the club floor, we would take it, given the cost of meals for two in London.

janisj

It depends on what you want - Neither the Park Lane, nor Grosvenor Sq are near much in the way of sites. The Park Lane Marriott is across the very busy Park Lane from the NE corner of Hyde Park. And the Grosvenor Square property is in an area that is very quiet at night just off of Grosvenor Sq.

I personally would prefer the other two.

wombat7

Agree with janisj regarding the locations. Staying on Park Lane is too busy in my opnion. I prefer County Hall over Chancery Court - but I must express a bias as County Hall is my hotel of choice when in London (when I am on expense account). I stayed there half a dozen times last year and am en route to my second stay of this year. have never had a bad experience there. Rooms are good size, beds are wonderful, I love the location - I like walking out in the morning and agreeing that indeed "earth does not have anything more fair' (well perhaps it does - but it is a great view.

Any downside? Well the rooms can be a very looong way from the elevator/lift - if I remember the count Room 401 is over 200 paces. So if you are in 401 and forget something and have to go back to the room make sure whoever is waiting for you has a paper to read.

But I do like the hotel - my last stay was a combo points/pay and I was wondering what room they would give us. We got a wonderful room and they out a fruit basket in the room.

And no I don't work for Marriot - though I think I sound like an employee.

Also very easy to get to from LHR by tube if that is your fancy.

Oh one more downside - hte entrance reno is STILL not finished so you need to use the entrance on Belevdere (road parallel to river)

Dukey

The last time I stayed at the County Hall I had one of the balcony rooms which overlooks the Thames...wonderful place to be.

IMO the Chancery Court is more "convenient" for a tube station because it is CLOSER to a tube station than the County Hall (which requires a walk across the bridge).

The only other hotel I would consider, and it is not a Marriott, would be the Covent Garden Hotel but you'll pay plenty to stay in it and IMO the cost is worth it..but no indoor pool and further from the tube than the Chancery Court.

wombat7

Should not have mentioned Room 401 - it is closer to 300 paces

Shoudl laos have mentioned that there are North American sockets in the rooms as there are in Chancert Court (I think) - but that is not that uncommon in London

jonmck

Thanks! I think we will stay in the County Hall location.....is there a floor or section of the hotel that we should request? I do want a room that has a view of Big Ben/River and is also close to the bank of elevators. I heard there is only one bank of elevators.

wombat7

There is one bank of "lifts" - there are a few rooms with an inside view - ie they look into the centre of the hotel -an inner view like many of the older hotels in NY.

If you can get a river view room - great but they are premium rooms. I always seem to get rooms that overlook Jubilee Garden - ie the green space between CHM and the South Bank. I am currently in room 401 (the great long march room) but it is still fine.

Key thing is to avoid the inside views (don;t think there are that many of those).

Feel free to ask any further questions - I am back here again in a couple of weeks.

I hope you like the hotel

BTW breakfast here is expensive - but then it is in most hotels in London

soogies

saving for me

sf7307

soogies, as long as you're "saving", here are my thoughts. We've popped into the County Hall Marriott, and stayed at the Grosvenor Square and Renaissance Chancery Court. I like the location of the Chancery Court the best -- half block from the tube, working neighborhood, walking distance from so many places (including the theatre where we saw Dirty Dancing), our room was quite large (actually we had two rooms, the king was quite large, and the room for 3 was downright huge). The common areas are elegant and the service was very nice. Beds, of course, are outstanding. We also liked the Grosvenor Square -- not a bad location, and also only a couple of blocks from the tube. We had a room on the executive floor (we used points and paid a supplement) so that was very nice, because I could get up and go into the lounge for coffee and read the newspaper, while others got up and ready).

I've only seen pictures of the Park Lane so can't comment on that one. I don't think you can go wrong.

nytraveler

I wouldn;t consider any of them 5* hotels in the US sense - perhaps in the european sense. More like solid 4*.

sf7307

I completely agree with nyt's assessment of their star rating. These are quite upscale Marriotts, but they're still Marriotts.

taggie

I'll add my 2 cents on the Grosvenor House on Park Lane for soogies (since you're saving this old thread).

I stayed there via Priceline a couple of weeks ago on my latest trip.
The hotel was very nice - good sized room, gorgeous marble bathroom, king bed with excellent linens. Eating in the hotel was out of the question - way too pricey. So getting breakfast involved a walk every morning. Internet in the room was exorbitant (something like 20 GBP per day); they have a "free" computer in the lobby but it was always in use. That ticked me off - if they have the rooms wired they should provide internet for free. If you want tea/coffee making facilities in the room you have to ask at the front desk and they will bring you a very nice tray of things.
I found tube access inconvenient from that location. It's quite a walk up a very busy and unappealing Park Lane from Hyde Park Corner. Marble Arch (on the central line) is much closer but IMO a less convenient line.
Walking east from the hotel, through the Mayfair neighbourhood, was much much nicer than walking along Park Lane. But overall I didn't find my experience in the neighbourhood/hotel to be that fantastic. Next time I'm going back to S. Ken and likely the Rembrandt. Less posh but still lovely enough and just more convenient IMO.

sf7307

I just checked the map and Taggie is right that the tube is farther away than I remembered.

Chancery Court, though - exactly half a block to the Holborn Tube.

soogies

Very kind of you, SF7307 and taggies to add your current information for me!

We'll only be in London two nights and we'll be using points. One night will probably be at a Marriott Heathrow as we have an early AM flight.

My husband definitely wants to see the National Portrait Gallery, so we were also thinking of Hilton Trafalgar (also with points).

Personally, I just want a nice place to stay, quiet and with comfy beds. I don't mind walking a bit to the tube. We also will not be in a rush to "see everything" as we have been to London a couple times before. This trip will be an "easy does it" wander around.