My review of London Marriott Grosvenor Square
My last Marriott stay in 2021 is at London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square. The hotel is conveniently located 3 minutes’ away from Bond Street station. Don’t get it confused with JW Marriott Grosvenor House which is also in the area.
The lobby is a bit basic.
I’m upgraded to a Superior Room with Grosvenor Square View.
The room’s setup is very similar to Marriott Hotel Park Lane, except that it feels a lot cheaper and definitely not as classy as the latter.
It’s on the first floor and there isn’t really much of the view. The Christmas lights in the garden are pretty though in the night.
As a Titanium member I have access to the M Club at the -1 floor.
The lounge is big.
Breakfast is only free in the lounge which has poor quality. You must pay to have breakfast in the restaurant.
Happy hour starts at 5:30pm. Food options include three types of hot items:
- Samosa
- Onion bhaji
- Chicken and potato mash
Gym is located at the same floor.
The hotel and the stay are mediocre at best, and at its price point there are many better choices in central London.
My review of Marriott London Park Lane
Although Marriott has extended everyone’s status into 2022, I’m only a few nights short of renewing my Titanium status and I think it’s worth to reach for the 75-night annual choice benefit. And my next staycation is at Marriott London Park Lane.
I’ve stayed at the Hilton, InterContinental and JW Marriott in the area and I’m not a fan of the “Park Lane” location. Although it’s very central and near Hyde Park, there isn’t anything else around. The Marriott however, is at the north end of the lane and right next to the Marble Arch station, which makes it a much better location.
You can find minimal branding on the hotel building – I have walked past it so many times but never realised that it’s a hotel. The lobby is small but nicely decorated:
I’m upgraded to an Executive Room with Hyde Park View. As it’s not a suite I didn’t expect much space anyway, however the furniture is tasteful and you can tell the money spent on them.
The marble bathroom has a Japanese toilet seat – very smart!
The “Hyde Park View” room actually has a view of the Marble Arch Mould, which was so notorious and criticised that it ended up becoming a free tourist site. It doesn’t look as bad as in those photos to be honest – I guess more work was done to it after the initial reports.
My welcome fruit platter:
The executive lounge is on the ground floor.
The lounge is retro-themed and a bit lacking in light.
From what I understood Titanium members can only have breakfast in the lounge. There isn’t much variety or frequent top-up when I come at 10am. But to give them some credit the food quality is very good.
Happy hour starts at 5pm with three hot dishes:
- Fried noodle
- Samosa
- Fish and chips
Also standard cheese, fruits and desserts. The offering is about average by Europe’s standard, however given how many lounges remain closed or reduced service “due to Covid”, I think the hotel’s effort deserves some appreciation.
The swimming pool is good-looking:
And there’s a steam room too. Unfortunately there’s no jacuzzi or sauna.
So in summary: great location, luxurious room and good breakfast. If you can fare a suite upgrade I think it might be one of the best Marriott options is central London, at least out of the ones that I’ve stayed at!
My review of Sheraton Edinburgh Hotel & Spa
Edinburgh is my favourite city in the UK and I recently planned another trip up North, this time staying at the Sheraton Hotel & Spa having little in mind what to expect.
I don’t particularly like the hotel’s location – despite being near the Edinburgh Castle, it’s a bit of a trek to go to the city centre or Waverley station. From the airport I just took the express bus which is convenient.
The hotel has two entrances – to check in it’s easier to use the entrance by W Approach Road but otherwise the one off Lothian Road is much better for accessing Edinburgh.
I wasn’t aware it’s the COP26 week, and Edinburgh hotels are quite busy at the moment. Thankfully they still upgraded my four-night stay to a suite, which is super generous – it’s not very often I get a suite upgrade with Marriott without asking.
My room 559 is right next to the spa!
Big living room:
And bedroom:
Bathroom:
In general I’m quite happy about the suite, and the only complaint I have is about the lighting. As you can still it doesn’t feature many or big windows, and the lamps are pretty dim too. It’s not very pleasant to spend a long time in a dark hotel room.
The club lounge is located on the ground floor. I believe it’s a relocation and has just re-opened recently.
The new club lounge is huge, in fact I believe it’s the largest lounge I’ve been to in Europe. And unlike my room it’s very bright, with natural light pouring down from the ceiling windows.
Snacks and soft drinks are self-service throughout the day.
Evening happy hour is 5:30-7:30. There are some canapes bizzarely served in an afternoon tea set, and you can order alcohol from the lounge staff.
You can choose to have breakfast in the lounge or in the restaurant. Personally I prefer the former as it’s quieter, but in the restaurant there are some items (like omelettes) you can order which isn’t available in the lounge.
The hotel is most famous for their swimming pool and spa, and god it’s not a lie! The swimming pool is very beautiful with a sauna room on the side:
They are free to all hotel guests. There’s a separate section called Hydropool, and you must pay £10 per person per hour to use it unless you are staying in a room featuring spa access – it’s not included in standard club rooms or suites.
However, it’s definitely worth the money. The Hydropool is a thermal spa with interconnected indoor and outdoor pools. If you want to stay warm you can just enjoy some back massages inside, which isn’t too different from what you get in many other hotels.
Or you can cross the gateway to reach the outdoor area, and I have never seen anything similar in the UK before. I think winter is a nice time to visit the Hydropool, as the contrast between the cold air and hot water is pretty fun. It would be even better if it’s snowing.
And it only gets more amazing in the evening, with alternating colours lighting up your mood 🙂
If you stay at this hotel, make sure you visit the Hydropool and do not save that £10! I think the Sheraton has just become my favourite hotel in Edinburgh, and I’ll make sure to spend more time in the Hydropool when I come back!
My review of Hyatt Place West London Hayes
I don’t think I’m interested in completing my Hyatt Globalist challenge anymore, however since I’m just two nights away from renewing Explorist, and there’s an Amex offer around, I decided to give it a go.
The cheapest option in London (and the UK) is Hyatt Place West London Hayes – Sunday to Tuesday stay booked using the Hyatt Leverage code costs only £51 a night. It’s for a good reason though – the hotel is really in the middle of nowhere and there’s no public transport nearby. It’s close-ish to Heathrow, but it takes 10 minutes to walk to the bus stop that brings you to Terminal 2 & 3.
There are a lot of restaurants (mainly Indian / Fast Food) in Southall town centre, which is about 15 minutes walk.
The ground floor has a gym.
Reception and restaurant are on the first floor. Space is obviously more affordable when you are in the suburb of London 🙂 The communal area is quite colourful, which is non-intuitive as I thought Hyatt Place was more of a mid-range business hotel.
The guest room on the other hand, is just plain.
It’s an upgraded King Room on High Floor with Sofa Bed. I thought it’s a relative new hotel, however judging from how worn the furniture is I was probably wrong.
And behold, I hereby present view of Greater London, as in the room description…
I didn’t pay for breakfast so no idea how food and drinks are here. In summary, I don’t recommend staying here unless you need some cheap Hyatt night credits!
10 best Marriott hotel redemptions in the UK
After its merger with SPG , Marriott Bonvoy has now a massive footprint worldwide and become arguably the most popular hotel loyalty program globally.
One of the major fun you get from toying with such programs is exchanging your points for hotel stays, which can sometimes generate extremely outsized value at certain properties or during certain times. And today let’s have a look at such options with Marriott hotels in the United Kingdom.
Just a reminder – Marriott Bonvoy has eight redemption categories at the moment, and the number of points required for standard / off-peak / peak are slightly different:
1. Courtyard Oxford City Centre Cat 2 / 12,500 points
I personally make this hotel top of my list, given its great location and how expensive accommodation in Oxford can easily get – it’s trivial to realise more than 1.5p-per-point value if you are staying here in the summer.
I stayed here last year on points and was quite happy about the stay. Of course it is just a Courtyard so nothing to get too excited about, but the hotel is very new, and nothing can really go wrong at this price.
2. Aloft Liverpool Cat 4 / 25,000 points
It used to the best UK SPG redemption sweet spot in the past, as a weekend night cost only 3,000 points (or 9,000 Marriott points). Unfortunately the price has almost tripled nowadays and it’s no longer outstanding, but assume a point stay can still save you loads on event days.
The building itself is very stylish and full of history. I’m not sure why it’s converted to a low-end Aloft, instead of W or at least Sheraton.
Honourable mentions the Liverpool Marriott hotel is also Cat 4 and full-service, which may be more favourable if don’t care about the Aloft’s background that much.
3. University Arms Hotel Cat 4 / 25,000 points
I don’t think we can get away from mentioning Oxford but not Cambridge 🙂 Likewise the University Arms is one of the few decent hotel choices in the university town, but with a much longer history.
I stayed here last year in the summer and the experience was positive, however I can’t for my life justify paying £200+ for a night here. In terms of points it costs twice as much as the Courtyard in Oxford, but you can’t really compare an Autograph to a Courtyard!
4. Moxy Aberdeen Airport Cat 1 / 7,500 points
This is the only Category 1 hotel left in the UK now, which is definitely something not miss out. As it is an airport hotel, I can’t recommend it for tourist purpose. However, if you are a few nights short of reaching Marriott elite status, you could fly to Aberdeen to “buy” some cheap ones here 🙂 After all, 5 nights at this hotel should cost you only 30,000 points, assuming standard pricing.
Honourable mentions Aberdeen Marriott and Aloft Aberdeen TECA are both only Category 2 too.
5. Abbey Hotel Bath Cat 4 / 25,000 points
25,000 points a night is a bargain for a weekend getaway in Bath, although this hotel seems to close its redemption options at busy times.
The hotel is very boutique, but similar to many hotels in old buildings there were a few teething issues during my stay, including creaky floor and rain leaks from the window.
6. Trump Turnberry Hotel Cat 5 / 35,000 points (Update: no longer Marriott-affiliated)
One of the few top-end resort hotels in Marriott’s UK portfolio. It’s a pain to get there (from London) so I’ve never set afoot yet, but all my friends who’ve been there were quite impressed.
35,000 points compared to the retail price is a steal. However do check the website or Virtuoso as they tend to have pretty good sale prices from time to time with good perks including dinner or golf rounds.
7. Bournemouth Highcliff Marriott Hotel Cat 5 / 35,000 points
I went to Bournemouth for the first time recently and really liked the city. The Marriott is probably one the of the best located hotel in Bournemouth, with a great sea view and quick access to the beach.
Standing at 35,000 points, the redemption is not cheap, but more than reasonable in summer seasons.
8. The Langley Cat 7 / 60,000 points
Another luxurious resort in the Luxury Collection portfolio, and pretty accessible given its proximity to London. I did finally manage to stay here earlier this year in the Spring, and had an overall pleasant experience.
Since its opening its redemption price hiked from 35,000 points to 60,000 points in just two years but it was hardly a surprise. However its cash price usually hovers around £400, so 60k points still isn’t a lot to ask for.
9. Moxy York Cat 3 / 17,500 points
There has been a number of additions to the hotels in York city centre in recent years. Like Bath, accommodation cost is steep on weekend nights, especially when it’s warm.
Personally I’m not a big fan of the Moxy brand and there isn’t much information available for this new hotel. However if you just need a bed to sleep on it should be sufficient, and the location is great.
Honourable Mentions Moxy Southampton and Moxy Milton Keynes are another two moxies that opened quite recently, and they are both Cat 2 which requires only 12,500 points per night.
10. Leicester Marriott Hotels Cat 3 / 17,500 points
To be honest I know very little about Leicester or this hotel, and it seems quite far out. However the reviews are pretty good, and there’s an executive lounge which is good news to Platinum members 🙂
Save 20% on IHG hotel bookings with Railcard
IHG has partnered up with Railcard to offer cardholders a decent discount when staying at their hotels.
- Must book on the dedicated offer page
- Stay must include one Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday night
- Save at least 20% compared to the Best Flexible Rate
- Book at least five days in advance
- Cancel free of charge up to 3 days in advance
- One-night deposit required at the time of booking
You’ll need to present your railcard when requested upon check-in. In form the promotion is quite similar to what IHG used to have with Mastercard and Avis etc.
On the hotel list page you may see messages saying rooms are not available for the Railcard Partner Rate. Ignore them though and just click through, then you should be able to see special rate highlighted on the rate details page:
Here are some hotel rates I find for your reference (Partner Rate / BFR):
- Hotel Indigo London Leicester Square £191 / £239
- Crowne Plaza London Albert Embankment £160 / £201
- Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum £95 / £119
- Hotel Indigo Manchester Victoria Station £127 / £159
- Holiday Inn Birmingham City Centre £87 / £109
- Voco Grand Central Glasgow £103 / £129
From what I am seeing, the Partner Rate is in general cheaper than the Advance Saver and less restricted, which means it’s genuinely a good rate.
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
My review of InterContinental O2, London
The InterContinental O2 hotel was closed last year when the pandemic started, and then bid to become a quarantine hotel for LCY passengers arriving from Red-List countries. On September 18th, the hotel finally re-opened its door after more than a year’s break.
As a “new” hotel, it came with a perk – the award night pricing was relatively low at around 37,000 points compared to £200+ cash rate, at least on some dates. I happened to have an 40k Ambassador Free Night voucher from a recent promotion, and I thought it would be a perfect occasion to redeem it.
The hotel is located near the North Greenwich tube station, however directions are a bit confusing. Coming out of the station you should take the exit for the bus stop, and then you’ll see the signs leading you to the hotel. An alternative is to walk in and out of the O2 centre.
The location is not great for tourists, or anything to be honest unless you are attending an event at O2. Food and drink options are decent though in the shopping centre, and if you are a fan of Chinese hotpot Haidilao is a great venue.
Built in 2016, InterContinental O2 is possibly one of the youngest five-star hotels in London.
I saw in the app that I was pre-upgraded one level to a deluxe room, which isn’t quite generous given my recent experiences at InterContinentals and Kimptons. Upon my enquiry regarding further upgrade possibilities, they assigned me a club room on the 13th floor – with no club benefits of course.
The room is okay, nothing particular to pick on however I’d expect more from a new hotel. On the other hand it’s already showing age – many stains on the carpet, and the bath knob just dropped when I tried to turn it…
The view however, is absolutely stunning. Be sure to book or ask for a river-view room if you stay here.
Gym and spa are fully open now, and no prior reservation is needed.
Again, they are functional but I expect better facilities given it’s a new hotel (see Waldorf Astoria Berlin).
If you pre-book breakfast at check-in you can enjoy a special price of £20pp (as opposed to £25+12.5%), which should be further reduced to £5 thanks to the £15 Ambassador credit. I happily took the offer.
Unfortunately, it is the worst breakfast I’ve ever had at a hotel. There’s no cook-to-order menu and everything is self service except for a few egg-based items (they weren’t able to name them specifically). Variety and quality are appalling.
The bacon is extremely over-salted and barely eatable, which is also used as an ingredient of my omelette. There isn’t a single item in the entire breakfast spread that was acceptable to me. I’m not sure if things are ill-prepared due to the very recent reopening, or if it’s their usual standard.
Hotel staff are very friendly throughout my stay, but also unprofessional. It appears that the Ambassador credit cannot be used in conjunction with the breakfast offer but no one mentioned it to me at check-in, and they agreed to make an exception. I had to point out multiple times that I was the only guest and guess what, they still charged me for two breakfast in the end which took me an email to sort it out.
I believe the hotel has been generally receiving good reviews, but my experience this time was mostly a let-down unfortunately. If you have the 40k Ambassador as well which will expire in a couple of months, it’s not a bad idea to burn it here, but in terms of spending actual cash I’ll think twice.
12 “The Spectator” issues and £20 Amazon voucher for £12
“The Spectator” is a British weekly magazine on politics. I know them through an Avios promotion which ran last year – in fact by doing a Google search I think there’s another Avios promotion ongoing, however I don’t think it’s as attractive as the deal that I’m taking about today.
You can access the offer here.
- Pay £12 for a 12-week trial (12 issues)
- Plus get a £20 Amazon gift voucher for free
- After the trial it costs £39.99 per 13 weeks
I have never read The Spectator and I’m not a fan of politics myself so I cannot comment on the quality of the magazine. However even if you are not interested in the read at all, you are just paying £12 for the £20 Amazon voucher, which is a 40% discount.
Remember to cancel your subscription before renewal if you don’t want to pay for the magazine.