We’ve finally been able to travel freely (-ish) again in England since last week. Whilst I’ve been fairly busy moving to my new flat, I’m adamant that the year end is coming and I must stay a few extra nights to hit Marriott Titanium!

My first stop is the Park Tower hotel at Knightsbridge, obviously due to it being on the Amex-£400-offer list, and thanks to my friend who gifted the offer to me. As with the Westbury Hotel at Mayfair, it also belongs to the Luxury Collection brand of Marriott.

The hotel is only one-minute walk from the Knightsbridge tube station, surrounded by Harrods, Harvey Nichols as well as other luxurious accommodations 🙂 The shape of the hotel however, hmm let’s say I don’t see the beauty in it at all!

Just re-opened its door one week ago, the hotel is a bit understaffed at the moment and some of them have to act multiple roles. The reception was empty and the guest relations manager ended up helping me with the check-in. She was very nice.

I was upgraded to a Panoramic Room on the 15th floor (17 in total). As you can see from the floor plan, every room on this floor is more or less panoramic I guess 🙂

I don’t think there’s much difference between the room and a standard one, apart from its aspect and being on a higher floor. There isn’t any nice touch I could sense, which is a shame as I thought PTK was a better hotel than the Westbury Mayfair.

The view is very nice admittedly.

I received a chocolate three-pack as a welcome gift.

I had problems with the wi-fi: it just never connects on my laptop although everything works fine on my mobile. I ended up using the wi-fi from Mandarin Oriental instead – they are just opposite the street and I’m glad they have very strong wi-fi signal 🙂

Breakfast is served in a banquet room on the first floor temporarily. Today is the first day the service returns since the first lockdown, so I’m the very first guest of their breakfast buffet since March 🙂 To be honest I’d prefer in-room dining if it was free.

As a Platinum member the breakfast the complimentary. Unfortunately the porridge and coffee are not tasty, however I really like the pancakes.

The fitness centre is open but by appointment only. There isn’t a swimming pool as far as I know.

Overall I’m not very impressed by the stay. The room is okay but nothing really stands out, which is something I’m looking for when paying £250 for a night. Hopefully I’ll get to try the other Marriott’s in the area and report back 🙂

Thanks to American Express I could have a free £400 stay at Marriott hotels. My original plan was to enjoy some sun at Ritz Carlton Abama, which unfortunately ended up being cancelled due to England’s lockdown rules. So I booked a Luxury Collection hotel – the Westbury Mayfair in London for a staycation instead.

Amongst the UK hotels on the offer’s participant list, The Westbury is probably the lowest-rated one, but also the cheapest – it can be had for £200 a night, which means you could stay two nights for free.

The hotel is fairly centrally located, and right at the centroid of four tube stations – on the other hand it means it’s not very close to any of them, and you should expect a 10 minutes’ walk to the stations.

I was given a Luxury Room on the top floor – it’s said to be one of the best in this category.

For a non-suite it’s a very spacious room. And with the small living area many hotels will probably call it a Junior Suite.

The key design is intriguing. They look like traditional keys but are digitally encoded. There’s no key hole on the door, but you insert your key into a panel on the wall to open the door.

Due to Covid most in-room facilities are removed. You could request them to be sent to the room though.

The bathroom looks very nice with those marble walls.

The best part, of course, is the balcony. It’s large enough to accommodate a group of 5 to 8 people, and it’s not a common privilege to have such a big balcony overlooking Mayfair!

Breakfast is served in the Polo Bar but you could also have it sent to the room for free. Apart from the usual Continental / Full English sets there are also cooked-to-order options such as Eggs Benedict and waffles, however I’m not sure if they are included in Platinum’s free allowance.

Food qualify is ok, and service could definitely be improved. My avocado was missing on the first morning, then orange juice and scrambled eggs on the second…

Note that 5% optional service charge will be added to your final room bill, which is the first time I see it in Europe. I find the stay very acceptable, especially considering my low expectations after seeing its mediocre TripAdvisor / Booking ratings. I’m hoping that hotels are allowed to re-open from early December, so that I could still try the other luxury Marriott hotels in London with the Amex offers…

Oxford and Cambridge are not only university towns, but also very important tourist destinations. Unfortunately there are few branded hotels in both towns, and it’s tricky to find a bargain for hotel stays on peak dates.

This has improved with the expansion of Marriott. At Oxford, the new Courtyard hotel is an excellent deal at 12,500 points, and I enjoyed my stay in a Tower View room a few months ago.

For Cambridge however, the University Arms hotel, which is a member of Autograph Collection, is an option in a totally league, yet equally a great bargain at 25,000 points a night.

Located within proximity to the town centre, University Arms is a great base to explore Cambridge. It’s a 15 to 20-minute walk to the train station.

The hotel has three gates, opening to the Regent street. It’s easy to miss though as the gates are hidden inside and only one of them bears the hotel’s name, and Google Maps led me to the wrong side of the building!

The £80m refurbishment in 2018 obviously wasn’t wasted. Every detail of the hotel has the feel of class and elegance to it, and one thing I noticed is the many paintings on every wall in every room.

I was upgraded to a Superior Room with Park View. The room is bigger than what a Superior Room normally is, and looks very new.

Although the small “living room” is a bit awkward in terms of where it is. And the desk could have been larger.

The thing I like most about the room is the balcony, overlooking the Parker’s Piece:

The bathroom has also got a beautiful touch. Note that only some rooms come with the bathtub and / or balcony, so make sure you book the correct room type or request on the app if it matters.

I’m still confused with Marriott’s Platinum welcome amenity. Officially at Autograph hotels only 1,000 points or $10 F&B credit is provided, however since there’s no club lounge at this hotel, you could also choose between breakfast and 750 points in addition.

Breakfast is served in the Parker’s Tavern restaurant.

You could choose one side, one main and drinks from the menu. Weirdly I’ve read on Flyertalk that only filtered coffee is complimentary and you must pay for cappuccino etc.

I’ve only had porridges and pastry on the two days, and wasn’t very impressed by the quality.

The hotel is definitely worth a stay if you ever visit Cambridge and I don’t doubt it being one of the best in town. Thanks to Marriott, I’ve got the opportunities to try out more and more hotels at affordable cost!

Le Meridien is a legacy brand brought over to Marriott Bonvoy from the SPG programme. I’ve stayed at two Le Merdiens in the past (Marrakesh and Munich) and neither experience was great.

I’m going to give the London one – Le Meridien Piccadilly a try this time, partly because it is the last chance remaining – the hotel is leaving the Marriott group at the end of November.

Its location at the very centre of London is excellent. You could walk to so many major attractions from this point, and the tube can bring you non-stop to many spots, including Heathrow airport.

I was upgraded to a Junior Suite on the 7th floor, from a standard room.

Although not having a separate living room, it comes with a study, and the bedroom is huge. I think “junior” is really an understatement.

The bathroom is likewise fairly big, with both a shower and a tub. Although aged, the shower has great water pressure and it’s got multiple little shower heads from different angles that makes sure you are cleaned very well…

Its prime location doesn’t only come with benefits though – windows are not facing the main street but there are still notable noises.

The hotel is very old and I don’t know when’s the last time refurbishment happened. One major issue is, although my room is not lacking in socket-outlets, most of them are of an obsolete design and incompatible with modern devices:

I could find only two usable ones, both of them in the study.

Breakfast is served in the restaurant. I really like its design, especially the glass ceiling / window which allows lots of natural light pouring in.

It’s a Saturday, and I was shocked by the fact that I was the only guest throughout my entire meal. You could order a set of Full English, Fitness or Continental breakfast, and there are other items that are payable.

The executive lounge is still closed, which is the case for many hotels in the UK and Europe. To my surprise, this hotel has decided to offer proper compensation for it: free soft drinks are provided to lounge guests all day, and select items from the menu are free from 5pm to 7pm – this includes starters, burgers, sandwiches and pizza. I guess it must be much better than the usual lounge offerings!

It is by far the best Le Meridien I’ve ever stayed, and it’s a shame to see it leave Marriott. I was told by the front desk that the hotel is joining Kew Green – however I found that it’s just a management team, not a franchise, but it’s not joining any major brand that’s for sure.