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My review of Conrad London St James
Just a short review of my staycation at Conrad London St James. I got an impressive Impresario deal – £390 for three nights with $100 hotel credit, and the usual breakfast / room upgrade benefits which I would get for being Diamond anyway.
The hotel is located right next to the St James tube station. The location feels a bit like Park Lane, in that they are both quiet areas in central London next to a Park. However to me St James is much more favourable because there are many more shopping and dining options nearby.
The hotel opened around 7 years ago, which is fairly new for a 5-star hotel in London.
I’m upgraded from a Superior Room to an Executive Room. From recent reports online, the hotel is usually more than happy to upgrade Diamond members to Junior Suite or even One-bedroom Suite if there’s availability nowadays.
The room is not luxurious in any way, but quite neat with its modern design.
If I remember correctly all rooms feature separate bathtub and shower room, which is a plus.
The Executive Lounge is located on the first floor. Many hotels in the UK has chosen not to reopen their lounges or even permanently shut them even after the lockdown is over, so I’m glad that the Conrad has done the right thing here.
Evening canapes are served between 5.30pm and 7.30pm. It’s all table service, however there’s unlimited refill for your food and drinks. A few options are provided for beer, wine and even champagne.
At that time the restaurant was still closed, so I could only use the £80 credit at the pub.
Breakfast is also mostly table service, and Diamond members can choose whatever they want from the menu with no surcharge. There are a few cold plates which you can pick up yourself.
The hotel has no swimming pool. Here’s the gym:
After checkout I found out that they forgot about my Impresario credit and overcharged me, and it took quite a few messages for me to sort it out. I did bag quite a lot of points from this stay though, thanks to the Triple Points promotion and double points offer from Impresario.
My review of Hilton Newcastle Gateshead
For my bank holiday trip to Newcastle, I was tossing between the Hilton and the Indigo. After I saw the amazing deal Hilton was offering though, for £65 a night I decided to grab the deal quickly which turned out to be wise.
The hotel is great for its location and view over River Tyne.
It becomes a problem for me after a couple of days though. Newcastle is quite hilly, and the hotel itself is on a hill, and I just don’t want to get out of my room anymore after a day of ups and downs!
The lobby is nice for a drink or two, while you admire the views:
I get upgraded from the basic double room to an King Exec Plus room.
Albeit a bit basic, the room is fairly specious and spotless. Furniture arrangement is a bit weird due to the unusual room plan, however I like the separate workspace which feels like a mini office.
Again, impressive view from the room:
The executive lounge is still closed unfortunately and there’s no alternative offered to Diamond members. The hotel is fully occupied during my stay, and the breakfast gets so busy that they opened the ballroom for use as well:
Food quality is a bit meh though.
Overall I quite like the hotel, and I even think it has the potential to become a Curio or Conrad, but with substantial refurbishment and rebranding of course.
Great Hilton & IHG Deals: 3-for-2, $100 credit, breakfast, room upgrade and more
A lot of us are probably looking forward to some summer staycations in the UK at the moment, and if you fancy a luxury one within budget, you may find this article useful.
First of all, if you hold the Amex Platinum or Centurion card, it’s always worth checking the FHR options on Amex Travel. Many London hotels are doing Complimentary Third Night at the moment, for example:
Baglioni is a Leading Hotels of the World member, which means you could take advantage of the Amex cashback offer if you have them to reduce the cost of three nights down to £540. Don’t forget to sign up to the free LHW membership offer too, which may help you fare a better room upgrade and earns some points.
But most of the good deals can’t be booked via FHR. Hilton Impresario and IHG Luxury & Lifestyle, which are the luxury booking programs offered by the two hotel groups respectively, offer similar stay benefits with FHR, and are both running 3-for-2 deals with some of their hotels.
You must contact a qualified travel agent to book the rate though. If you happen to speak Chinese, or know friends from China, there’s an app called Badazhou which enables you to book such deals very easily. You can scan the following barcode using Wechat to claim free membership:
If not it’s a bit tricky to book such rates. Virtuoso supports some of these hotels where you can book online, otherwise you’ll have to find a qualified agency using google and talk to them.
Here are some of the best deals I found on Badazhou. Note that Amex has targeted cashback offers for both hotel groups so check your cards before making any bookings.
- Rate: £490 for 3 nights (Deluxe Room)
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out; double Hilton points
One of the five-star hotels in London that I stayed earliest, and probably the best Hilton property in London. The rate is insanely good for a five-star in London, not to mention the many benefits on top.
InterContinental Park Lane, London
- Rate: £930 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; Club benefits; early check-in and late check-out
I’ve redeemed my credit card free night voucher for a one-night stay in June. The rate still looks a bit steep to be honest. and I’m not sure their Club Lounge has re-opened – in which case I suppose you’ll get $100 credit instead.
Hotel Indigo Kensington, London
- Rate: £303 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; $50 credit; early check-in and late check-out
A “budget” option for London, especially if you like museums or luxury shopping. Note that breakfast isn’t included and the credit is lower, due to Kensington not being a top brand.
Kimpton Charlotte Square, Edinburgh
- Rate: £488 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
My favourite hotel in Edinburgh so far (review here), which I can genuinely recommend.
InterContinental the George, Edinburgh
- Rate: £453 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
Also a conversion from former Principal, and I intend to try it out next time I’m in town.
- Rate: £600 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; $100 credit; early check-in and late check-out
- Rate: £635 for 3 nights
- Benefits: Room upgrade; breakfast; round of gold or afternoon tea; early check-in and late check-out
Hotel Indigo Victoria Station, Manchester
- Rate: £99 for 1 night
- Benefits: Room upgrade; $50 credit; early check-in and late check-out
I’m not sure about Hilton, but for IHG you must stay by June 30 to take advantage of the 3-for-2 offer.
Other IHG offers:
- Save 20% on IHG hotel bookings with Railcard
- IHG Europe offer: 10% off, £80 credit and room upgrade with Mastercard
- IHG Luxury & Lifestyle: 3-for-2, $100 credit, breakfast, room upgrade and more
Triple Your Points in Hilton’s Q2 Promotion (and Current Status Challenges)
Hilton has launched a new promotion for Q2, which will start immediately after the current promotion expires.
You can sign up here. From May 3 to September 6, every stay of two nights earns double points, or triple when it’s of at least three nights. Note that it is based on the checkout date – if your stay starts prior to May 3, but ends after, it will be eligible for this promotion; otherwise the current promotion applies.
For Diamond members, it means that you earn 40 points per $ spent (excluding taxes and fees), which is a decent return; and now you can even earn points on up to four rooms booked under your name. Unfortunately with the ongoing devaluation since the introduction of dynamic pricing, Hilton points aren’t worth much nowadays.
A reminder of current status match or challenge opportunities (read more here):
Status Challenge If you hold elite status with another hotel program, you could enrol in this challenge where you kick start with Gold status immediately. Stay 5 nights within 90 days to keep the Gold, or 9 nights to elevate to Diamond.
MVP Gold Complete 4 stays after registration to get Gold status. This challenge is meant for athletes and those affiliated with sport organisations, although there doesn’t seem to be any enforced checks.
Corporate Travellers If you work for a large corporation, get Silver status right away, and then stay 8 / 16 nights within 90 days to upgrade to Gold or Diamond. Work email address is needed for verification – replace dell in the URL with your company’s name to see if you are eligible.
Are There Any Good Deals at Hotel Week London?
In a bid to encourage (domestic) travellers to visit and stay in London, the capital city is hosting a Hotel Week London event which intends to offer some attractive hotel deals.
You could find more information here. The event is from May 28 to June 6, although most hotels will run the promotion for stays up until the end of June.
There are around 30 participating hotels at the moment, most of which belonging to major hotel groups such as Hilton and Marriott, together with a handful of independently operated ones.
Before you get too excited, I’d recommend to read through the terms as many of the so-called deals are laughable. Novotel Canary Wharf wants £189 for a standard room – without breakfast even, and the hotel was typically priced at under £100 for a weekend night pre-Covid. Pullman St Pancras, which is also an Accor hotel, has an asking price starting from £190, and it usually sells for circa £120 during sales.
That said, there are still a few highlights that may be interesting.
100 Queen’s Gate, a Hilton Curio Collection Hotel
- Book a two-bed Family Room, and enjoy a complimentary second night
- Upgrade to Duplex Suite Family Room subject to availability
- Free breakfast for up to 4 pp
- £50 hotel credit per stay
- Guaranteed late check-out
You can book on Hilton’s website directly for the first night, and then contact the hotel to add the second. The price I was quoted was £462, which isn’t bad for the package.
London Marriott Hotel Park Lane (Rate Code 12092)
St Pancras Renaissance Hotel (Rate Code 12092)
- 25% off if you book two rooms
- Includes breakfast, early check-in and late check-out
- Complimentary upgrade to Executive Room for the first room
Hyatt Regency London – The Churchill
- 20% off Best Flexible Rate
- Breakfast and £25 hotel credit included
- 10am check-in and 6pm check-out
The Tower Hotel (promo code LDNHOTELWEEK)
- Special price of £99 per night for a standard room
- Reduced price of £79 for May 28th, 29th and 30th
3000 Emirates Miles for One Hilton Stay in the Middle East & Africa
Since the refurbishment of its loyalty program a couple of years ago, it’s no longer possible to earn Hilton points and airline miles at the same time when staying at their hotels. However, they still run occasional promotions where you can earn bonus miles on top of the usual Hilton points.
There is now one such promotion, and you can register here.
- Register and book by 18th May
- Stay once by 31st August at participating hotels
- Earn 3000 Emirates Skywards miles
- Limit to first 1,000 registrants only
You need to select Emirates as your preferred travel partner in your Hilton profile.
All participating hotels are in the Middle East and Africa, so not many can take advantage of it. And unlike the previous Miles & More offer, you can only earn the bonus miles once.
Given the limited number of slots available, I’d recommend to sign up now if you believe there’s any chance you visit the regions this summer. Remember that you will still earn full Hilton points and night credits for the stay, so there’s nothing to lose.
Donate $5 and Earn 2000 Hilton Points & 250 Delta Miles
If you’ve ever been to the US, you must have heard of the name Lyft. Lyft is a major competitor to Uber in North America, and it has partnered with several frequent traveller programs which allows you to earn points or miles when you ride.
They have just launched a Lyft Up initiative to help those who can’t afford to travel to vaccination centres in the US. Any Lyft members can make a donation, and even better it comes with returns:
- 2000 Hilton points, and
- 250 Delta Skymiles (limit to first 15,000 members only)
The minimum donation amount is $5, and the offer runs until May 31. Even if you don’t travel with Delta, 2000 Hilton points are worth around $10 already.
To participate, you’ll need to link Lyft to your Hilton and Delta accounts first. A mobile phone number is needed to create or login to your Lyft account, and my UK number works fine.
Remember to add a credit card to the wallet before proceeding to the donation page.
It’s unclear how much time it takes for the points to post. But anyway, it may be worth spending a few minutes and $5 to bag the some points and miles.
All Hilton Diamonds can now gift a Gold card
We know that Hilton’s Diamond members can gift a Gold or Diamond card if they’ve stayed enough nights a year. However, as a response to the current tough situation, the benefit has now been extended to all Diamond members regardless of the number of nights they’ve achieved this year.
Now through 31st January, any Hilton Diamond can gift another person a Gold card, and if you are a Lifetime Diamond it is upgraded to Diamond instead. The gifted status is valid for 365 days once activated.
If you qualify you should have received an email containing the unique code and just share it with whoever you like. Note that it’s targeted at those who are Diamond on 1st December, so if you hit Diamond on 1st January due to the new policies you won’t be able to benefit.
It doesn’t conflict with the old gifting rule – if you’ve stayed 60 nights this year, there are two Gold cards for you to gift in total.
Hilton’s Gold is relatively easy to achieve but comes with great benefits. Hilton has been excellent in responding to the pandemic since the very beginning.