Marriott’s Every Night Counts promotion is coming to an end, and I’m participating one last time at the Aloft Birmingham Eastside hotel while visiting a friend in Solihull.

If you are looking for a central hotel IHG is your best bet. Somehow none of the Marriott hotels is ideally located. The Aloft is right next to the Aston University, and about 20 minutes’ walk into Birmingham’s New Street station.

From my limited experience, Aloft and Moxy share similar design concept of their public areas, although Moxy has more of a sexy element when it comes to guest rooms.

The hotel has a big ground floor, with a colourful bar by the entrance.

It’s not really a busy day but I didn’t receive any room upgrade. When asked about upgrade availability the receptionist told me “your room was pre-allocated this morning”, which isn’t really an answer. I didn’t bother to pursue as I just needed a bed for one night.

The room is about what you’d expect from a budget brand, basic but clean. It’s weird that Aloft usually positions itself in the four-star league, whereas in terms of quality and price it’s more on a par with Holiday Inn, Hampton or Ibis.

As a Titanium member I could choose breakfast as the welcome amenity. Breakfast is served in the Tempo restaurant, next to which is a Refuel station where you can purchase snacks.

Standard buffet:

Gym room:

Overall the hotel is okay, however unless you need to be in the area or the hotel’s rate is very good, I think there are plenty of better choices in the city.

After one night at the Bristol Hotel to spend my D$, I extended my stay by a couple of nights at the Bristol Marriott Royal Hotel. The hotel has a good reputation, and it’s not every day that you see a hotel call itself Royal.

The hotel is on the other side of the canal, opposite to the Bristol Hotel. It’s a more lively area with quite a few shops and restaurants nearby. It’s a lovely weekend and the park in front attracts many sunbathers.

The hotel boasts its Victorian style, and has been welcoming guests for 150 years. The design of its public areas is very carefully curated to reflect its history and elegance, and I can’t say I’m not impressed.

Although it’s definitely not at that level, the hotel reminds me of Hotel Bristol in Vienna in a lot of ways.

Unfortunately the hotel is fully booked, and I was only given one-level upgrade to a Superior Room. Some guest rooms are located in the Royal Wing, but from what I can tell it’s not really physically separated or come with additional perks.

The room is okay, just what you’d expect from a standard Marriott hotel, and there isn’t really anything Royal about it.

The room is back facing and very quiet.

Breakfast is served in the restaurant, which is complimentary for Platinum members and above.

Pastry offering is excellent – the croissants and pains au chocolat are very fresh, and amongst the best quality ones that I’ve had at any hotel for a long time.

However, only black coffee is free and you’d have to pay for Cappuccino etc, which is quite stingy.

I’m not a fan of hotel gyms in general, but this one is quite nicely decorated.

Some reviews I read online spoke very highly of this property, which almost made it an attraction in Bristol itself. I also agree it’s a good one, but nothing outstanding – it’s possibly one of the top accommodation choices in the city, however don’t be fooled by the Royal name, as it’s still just a four-star hotel.

I was pondering about another Spa day, ideally near where I live, and Marriott Regents Park became the winning choice. I stayed here once back in 2016 and it wasn’t a great experience, but I’m only looking for a swimming pool and a club lounge so wasn’t too fussed.

Despite what the name suggests, the hotel is actually by the Swiss Cottage station, and the Regent’s Park is quite some distance away (although Primrose Hill is around the corner).

I booked a family room with two double beds (accoms. 4). Not many central London hotels offer this room type, so if you usually travel with family it’s worth keep in mind.

The hotel underwent some renovation work in 2016. Room looks okay for a four-star Marriott hotel.

It comes with a balcony, which is also rare in London.

As a Titanium member I’ve received a bottle of white wine and a box of chocolate.

The wellness centre is on the ground floor, and you can see everything from the picture below.

I didn’t visit the gym. There’s no jacuzzi but the sauna and steam room are decent. However, the pool is a disaster – half of it is extremely shallow making it extremely difficult to swim, plus there are constantly a bunch of kids plunging and throwing stuff which makes it even less pleasant. If you are just here to entertain your children it’s fine, but think twice if it’s for properly swimming.

Breakfast benefit here (for Platinum and above) is very confusing, but eventually they didn’t charge me. I’m not sure if the club lounge has breakfast offering at the moment.

It’s served at the Carluccio’s restaurant. I’m very surprised at how busy it is on a Monday morning and I didn’t manage to take any photos…

The buffet is adequate, with some egg dishes cooked to order.

Club lounge is also on the ground floor, and a bit on the small side. Evening canape is provided from 5.30pm to 7.30pm.

There are two curry dishes (chicken and peas). They are quite tasty, but putting them in such tiny containers is really annoying.

Alcohol drinks are available until 9.30pm. Desserts are also available after 7.30pm.

This concludes my short stay. It’s not an outstanding hotel, but it’s got some unique features: close-ish to Regent’s Park, big family room that accommodates four people, pool and club lounge. With kids it’s possibly one of the best options in London, and the many families staying here would agree!

If I’m to name the three most insta-famous Marriott hotels in London, W Leicester Square and Marriott County Hall are the two that I have already stayed at and was generally satisfied with. The last one must be Renaissance St Pancras though, which is even more eye-catching than the previous two:

You cannot possibly miss the architecture when coming out of the St Pancras or Kings Cross station. Many years ago I remember seeing Taylor Swift shooting an MV here 😛

Due to the Flexible Redemption system that Marriott recently introduced, the hotel has actually dropped in pricing for a few dates. I booked a Saturday night for only 40,000 points.

It’s impossible to capture the entire building in one photo, at least not with my phone 😛

The Great Northern Hotel on the other side of the road looks like a poor dwarf…

Reception is just by the lobby bar when you enter the hotel. I was here for a UK blogger’s Christmas party a couple of years ago.

Before I write any further, you must understand the set-up of the hotel. It consists of two wings: The Barlow Wing which has all the normal guest rooms, and the Chambers Wing which has all the suites (including Junior Suite). Chambers Wing guests enjoy additional benefits such free ironing service, Eurostar VIP transfer, and access to the Chambers Club as pictured below:

The Chambers Club is defined as a Club, not an Executive Lounge, and the hotel only hands out complimentary access to Titanium and Ambassador members if you’re not booking a Chambers Wing room. If you are staying as a Platinum, I’d recommend to use your suite upgrade voucher for an upgrade to the Chambers Wing.

The common area in the Chambers Wing is very impressive.

As it’s a rare chance of staying here, I used one suite upgrade voucher too. The best suite I could select was only Grand Junior Suite, and unfortunately it’s the suite I finally got assigned to – a proper one-bedroom suite would be a lot nicer.

The room is quite old, and its style reminds me of Waldorf Astoria Edinburgh.

I know what to expect though after reading so many online reviews, so it’s not a let-down. The best feature of the room is probably its view:

It looks pretty Hogwarts-y at night – the hotel is actually seen in two Harry Potter films, when the St Pancras station is staged as the Kings Cross as it’s fancier.

The Spa Centre is on the -1 floor in the Chambers Wing. I’m not sure if Barlow Wing guests need to pay extra to use it.

The gym:

There’s no swimming pool but a big jacuzzi instead. It’s quite old though so keep your expectations low.

Steaming room and sauna:

The Chambers Club was closed for a very long time since Covid started, and now it’s on a trial run, open 4.30pm to 10pm Tuesday through Saturday. The Chambers Club will go back to operating seven days a week in May.

You can follow the staircase to spot what’s happening inside the St Pancras station.

Beverages (including alcohol) are available the whole time. Happy hour is between 5.30pm and 7.30pm.

There’s a nice spread of snacks and desserts. A few hot plates are available for order too, including fried chicken, grilled aubergine and truffle fries.

The Chambers Club is good, but not good enough to differentiate from other Marriott hotels and exclude Platinum members, in my opinion.

Chambers Club doesn’t serve breakfast yet, so all guests have it at the restaurant Booking Office 1869.

The buffet is okay – some of the snacks / desserts are exactly the same as what I saw last evening in the Chambers Club…

In additional to the buffet, they only do omelettes and boiled eggs, which is disappointing. Hopefully breakfast at the Chambers Club will be better.

To summarise, it’s not a great hotel, as you can see the room is everything but glamourous, and if you’re not staying in a suite it’s only gonna be worse. However it’s more about experiencing the splendid architecture and its history, so I’d still recommend to try it out once should you have the chance.

Today we are talking about Montcalm East, the only London Autograph hotel with a swimming pool. This is just the second time I’m staying at an Autograph hotel, (after University Arms), and I wasn’t even sure what benefits to expect at this brand.

The hotel was once called M by Montcalm, but joined the Marriott family under a new name in 2021. It’s in the Shoreditch neighbourhood, and only a short walk from the Old Street station.

I checked in on Friday, and reception was super busy for a hotel in east London. Unlike what I had imagined, most of the guests appear to be here for leisure rather than business.

I’m staying in a Feeling Superior room on the 11th floor. Most room types are not very different except for bed size (King or Queen). The top two floors (16th and 17th) are called Sky Floors.

The room is very modern with “high-tech” everywhere. You use the bedside panel to control everything in the room including the electrical blinds. Bathroom floor is heated.

I’m not sure about its necessity though, for example it’s very hard for me to figure out which button turns on the light when I wake up in the morning. The yin-yang slippers are fun.

There are many tall buildings in the neighbourhood so unfortunately there’s not much of a view. Stay on a higher floor if you could, as the noise level is significantly lower (the hotel faces a busy street).

Spa centre is on the -1 floor.

Swimming pool is not huge, but equipped with neck and back massage on one end.

The jacuzzi is very well heated.

Shame but the sauna is out of order.

Experience room:

The facilities are not better than the Westin, but design-wise it’s way fancier.

Breakfast is complimentary for Platinum members and above. In addition you can choose 1,000 points or $10 credit as the welcome gift.

The breakfast buffet has a decent spread, but is nothing to write home about.

The hotel used to have an executive lounge, but cancelled it after becoming an Autograph. It’s also famous for the Photo Lab experience, although I didn’t give it a try.

My stay is quite enjoyable: the room is newer than many actual new hotels in London, and the spa is very nice. The area is also good for food and night life, so it could be a great option for a weekend in London.

Interestingly there’s a lack of top-end luxury hotel presence in London, given what an important role the city is playing internationally. When it comes to Marriott, there’s no St Regis or Ritz Carlton, although the former is going to be erected soon thanks to the conversion of the Westbury hotel.

On the other hand, the first Westin hotel in the UK opened its door November last year. However I wasn’t very temped, as I have seen how hideous it looks from the outside…

The other side of the hotel, which is at the river bank, has a less disturbing appearance. The hotel is about five minutes’ walk from the Mansion House station.

The main entrance leads to the ground floor and concierge. The flowers display is probably the prettiest decoration of the hotel.

Reception is on the fourth floor, and then you’ll need to walk down the hallway to take another lift for guest rooms, and the lift has two sets of buttons which have different functions. This is one of the many confusing designs this hotel has.

There’s actually a hidden but much more convenient north entrance which accesses the fourth floor directly.

The hotel advertises many different room types on their website, i.e. Signature / Classic / Privilege / Luxury. But in fact they are all identical in terms of size and facilities, and the only difference is how high or low the room is.

I wasn’t given any upgrade and assigned a Signature room on the sixth floor. You can definitely tell the newness of the room, but nothing stands out at all.

Despite of its location, there are no river view rooms in the hotel.

The main reason I wanted to give the hotel a go is its spa, as I heard it’s very good. The spa centre is at the second floor.

Sauna and steam room:

There’s a no natural light, and the sauna is electric which doesn’t feel hot enough. I was overall underwhelmed.

Westin Club is on the fourth floor, open Sunday through Thursday.

It has no view either.

Breakfast buffet：

Happy hour is from 5pm to 7pm. Two hot dishes are available including fried chicken wings, which is sufficient for me.

A few types of bottled beer are offered, but wine-wise they only provide one kind of red wine.

As a new (five-star) hotel, the Westin unfortunately doesn’t tick many boxes at all, and I’m not sure why the two friends who’d stayed here recommended it to me.

They have also reduced themselves recently to the misconduct of charging 5% service fee. Remember that it’s an optional free (which is why they get away from not including it in the total rate), so you can always ask them to remove it from your bill.