Which is in your opinion the best of the 2 hotels as far as service/rooms/location? Thank you!

I personally love the Peninsula but do a search on this forum. This had been debated ad nauseam .

I agree, read all the comments that have been written here. I, personally, also prefer the Penn and have stayed at both of these fine hotels. I did a + - chart after staying at both, and they were in a tie, almost, as far as service, rooms, and location. The choice is yours. Either one would be excellent.
Carol

the location is virtually the same as they are opposite one another....the oriental may be deemed to have the preferable location as it is on the main business side of the river but i persoanlly do not see it as an advantage...
i can not speak for the rooms at the oriental, but the pen rooms are very nice and ALL face directly on the river. they are lavishly furnished and well tended to as i suspect that they are at the oriental...
the lobby of the oriental is very busy most all the time....the penn has a quieter setting as people do not pass through there just to check it out like they do at the oriental...
i always feel as if you are being watched at the oriental whereas at the penn you move around more freely without big brother watching...there is not an obvious security pressence at the penn, whereas at the oriental there is one....this is not necessarily bad btw....

they are two nice hotels with slightly differing styles...

Penn is newer and usually a better value as the room prices are lower.
Ans as people have mentioned no "sizes you up" at the Penn.

They are both wonderful hotels but veru different. I personally find the Oriental far superior in terms of service, warmth,charm and atmosphere. it oozes history and old world elegance. Peninsula has larger rooms with much more high tech. The Oriental is the better location since it is on the "right" side of the river. Read all the other posts and decide which suits you better. Again, both are excellent hotels but they are different.