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My review of Kimpton Fitzroy, London
In a bid to use up my IHG offers on Amex, I needed to book another hotel stay by end of August. The only hotel on the list that I hadn’t tried yet was Kimpton Fitzroy, so it became the obviously choice although I didn’t think I would be a fan.
The hotel is located right next to the Russell Square station, within proximity of the British Museum and University College London. I like its location – with a park around the corner, quiet-ish but in the meantime a lot of things to explore nearby.
The hotel opened its door in 1900 and is a Grade-II listed building. It was a Principal Hotel before the group was acquired by IHG in 2018.
I booked a LuxLife 3-for-2 rate, which includes free breakfast, $100 in-hotel credit and room upgrade subject to availability. Even though I booked the cheapest single room under the 3-for-2 promotion, it still set me back £478. Needless to say £160 a night is quite expensive for a 120-sqft room!
Looking at recent reports this hotel has been very stingy when it comes to room upgrade and it’s near impossible to fare one above the standard double room, which is why I didn’t bother to pay more for a better room. Just like how I expected, I received a one-level upgrade from standard single to standard double, which is anything but generous considering my Spire Elite status and the LuxLife rate plan.
Fortunately, some of the standard rooms are much larger than the others, and mine is one of them.
The room’s size is not great, but at least there’s plenty of space to move around, unlike what my friend and some other people have suggested. The bathroom is big enough, nicely furnished with a brand new bathtub.
In general it’s got the Kimpton feel although is slightly lacking in decorations. There’s also a small balcony although you can’t go outside.
The windows don’t appear to be double-glazed though, and being on the first-floor means you can expect some road noises. TV is broken as well, so on the second day they moved me to a different room on the seventh floor.
It’s quite similar so I didn’t take more photos, but has a more conventional rectangular shape. It’s atrium facing so much quieter.
In addition to the LuxLife benefit, IHG members are also entitled to £15 food and beverage credit, so in total I have £90 to spare during my stay. There are a cocktail bar and afternoon tea restaurant on site, however for proper dining you should visit the Burr & Co.
For my first dinner I ordered the Salt & Pepper Squid and King Prawn Curry:
Both taste EXCELLENT and I’m genuinely impressed. My only complaint is the portion – I can easily have three portions of the curry in a meal 🙂
Breakfast is also served here. Again decent quality but the menu doesn’t have a big range.
There’s a social hour daily between 5pm and 6pm, where complimentary wine and beer are served in the restaurant. Service at the Burr & Co is top-notch, hotel-wise just so-so.
At the end of the day, the hotel room’s condition is a lot better than I had imagined, and the restaurant has definitely been the highlight of my stay. However I still cannot justify paying £250+ a night for it considering all the alternatives in London, but if you have a free night voucher or some points to burn it may be worth a try.
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 Intercontinental the George, Edinburgh
In a bid to take advantage of the IHG LuxLife 3-for-2 offer (which actually ended up being extended), I planned a spontaneous trip to Edinburgh where there were two participating hotels. Since I’d already stayed at the Kimpton once, although I quite liked it I decided to give the InterContinental a try.
Location-wise I prefer the InterContinental. It sits right next to St Andrew Square so fairly central, with a few restaurants, pubs and cafes next door. But on the other hand it’s very quiet at night so you won’t be bothered by any noises.
The hotel is comprised of multiple buildings, and has quite some history to it. Built in the 18th century they didn’t have a pre-defined purpose at the beginning. Some of them was used as an office building by an insurance company which eventually turned into the main building of the hotel. A couple of the other buildings started operating as hotel later, and eventually occupied the entire block.
Hotel rooms are split into two sections: Townhall which is more original and recommended by the hotel staff, and Forth Wing which was the purpose-built hotel, and therefore may lack in some uniqueness comparatively.
I received a four-level upgrade to a Junior Suite.
I must say it’s probably my favourite hotel room in the last couple of years. It’s got such a boutique feel which even becomes a bit weird for an InterContinental, as you’d usually find this kind of design at Kimptons.
The room is not huge, but all space is very well used, and the small living area is quite cozy.
The only downside is it being on floor 1 so privacy could be a slight issue.
The bathtub is quite classy too. All bath amenities (Agraria) come in bottles of 100ml which is quite generous,.
Bottled water is replenished daily as an Ambassador benefit. I also received some Gin & Tonic plus some fudges probably due to the LuxLife rate plan.
The only onsite restaurant is the Printing Press. LuxLife comes with $100 credit, and combined with the Ambassador $20 credit I have a total of £90 to spend. Unfortunately I’m not a big fan of pub food and the menu is quite limited.
Breakfast is served in the same venue and all a-la-carte. Food quality is a let-down though – the eggs benefit are overcooked for example, and you don’t see any yolk coming out when cutting through them!
A major issue is the lack of pool or spa here, which is I believe why it’s always slightly cheaper than the Kimpton. However, if you really want to they could book Kimpton’s facilities for you, but remember it takes about ten minutes to walk there.
If you are edging between the InterContinental and the Kimpton, I think both are really worth visiting but here are some tips: the Kimpton is more thoroughly refurbished, with a much nicer public area, and more importantly swimming pool and spa, and potentially better food. However the Intercontinental has a better location, very unique and lovely rooms and is usually cheaper.
My review of Andaz London Liverpool Street
I’ve never set foot in any Hyatt hotel in my life, largely due to their poor footprint in UK and Europe. However I spotted an awesome deal from the Andaz London hotel, and decided to have a staycation in east London for a few days!
The rate I booked was Hyatt Prive with complimentary third night. For three nights in a King Deluxe room I paid a more-than-reasonable £340, reduced further to £240 thanks to the Amex Hyatt cashback deal. The rate also comes with free breakfast, $100 dining credit and room upgrade, which is very useful since I obviously have no status with Hyatt.
Being the first Andaz hotel in the world, the property is formerly the Great Eastern hotel dated back to 1884. It is just around of the corner of the Liverpool Street station, so transport connection is not a problem. There are also many dining options and shopping outlets in proximity, although the location may be not ideal for tourist purposes.
At check-in I’m told that room upgrade is not included in the rate, which is definitely a lie but I don’t really bother that much. In the meantime they actually honour a credit of £100 instead of $100, which is to our advantage.
I’ve had great troubles with the rooms though. This is the first room I’m given:
The room is in perfect cubic shape, of a very decent size by London standard. It feels more business than leisure for sure, but not necessarily cold or monochrome. The floor lamp is very funky.
Mini-bar is free to all hotel guests. Its content include mineral water, juice and Coca-Cola.
But so much for the good things. Long story short, I had change room twice because:
- Many rooms have no drape, but only blinds. It’s impossible not to be waken up by the early sun.
- The air conditioning unit outside my first room has water leak which leads to noises that prevents me from sleeping
There are some other teething issues but I’m not going to dwell upon them.
This is a floor plan of the building:
As you can see, there are more rooms on the outer circle which also tend to be larger. However the noise level is also higher, plus due to design one wall inclines inward which can be a big nuisance if it’s next to your shower.
I finally got a room on the inner circle, which is larger than the original and features a sofa and a bathtub.
Let’ talk about food then. I was amazed to learn that the hotel has as many as five eating outlets, all of which have opened with the exception of Wine 1901. Average dining cost is about £20 to £25 per person, and during my stay I’ve got a chance to try them all.
Eastway Brasserie
It was the only open one on Sunday evening, which is a pub next to the hotel’s main hall. I ordered a Wagyu steak which has a surprisingly low price tag of £13, and it’s ok.
Lady Abercorn’s Pub & Kitchen
A smaller pub which specialises in drinks and nibbles, with exotic recipes from South Korea, Indonesia and India. My chorizo rolls and buffalo wings are very tasty, and I really like the service and vibes here.
Miyako
A Japanese restaurant, and I generally prefer Asian cuisine. Unfortunately my sushi and ramen are well below expectations, and Miyako has to be my least favourite on-site restaurants.
Rake’s Café Bar
I didn’t dine in this Italian restaurant, but had breakfast here every day. I have to say that breakfast is the biggest highlight of my entire stay.
It’s fully a-la-carte with an extensive menu, varying from Full English and its vegan version, Eggs Benedict, Shakshuka Eggs (very rarely seen in a UK hotel), pancakes and porridges etc. You could easily eat here for a week without repeating the same breakfast.
Both presentation and food quality are great.
There is a daily social hour between 7pm and 8pm. All hotel guests can enjoy a free glass of wine with some snacks from the Miyako restaurant.
I was given a bottle of red wine to say sorry about the troubles I had with my rooms. All hotel staff I interacted with after the incident were already informed about it, and I was made sure that the preferences had been added to my profile to prevent such things from happening should I stay in the future.
I can’t say it’s a great stay, and I will stick to IHG, Marriott and Hilton for my future stays unless there’s another great deal with Hyatt.
My review of Hotel Indigo Manchester and a very good £69 deal
I have just finished my one-night stay at Hotel Indigo Manchester earlier this week. I wasn’t too sure about writing a review as it’s probably not of great interest, but after seeing a very good deal on Groupon I’ve decided to do a brief one.
Situated next to the Manchester Victoria station, the hotel is in an original Grade-II listed Victorian building. You may have seen its photo:
But actually it’s slightly misleading. The majority of rooms are actually in the new annex building, which is as high as 13 floors. The reception, restaurant and limited number of superior rooms and suites are in the Victorian building.
I booked an IHG Lifestyle rate plan as I’ve explained before. At BFR (£80) it comes with 2pm late checkout, room upgrade, welcome fruits and most importantly, $50 credit to spend in hotel. I do expect a lot of confusions though, as I suspect I might be the first guest who books this rate at this hotel!
My Double Standard room is upgraded to a King Standard on the 11th floor in the new rotunda. As you can see the shape is a bit unusual:
Its design meets my expectation for an Indigo: modern cosy style with warm colours, and limited furnishing to make the room look more spacious. It’s not gonna be comfortable if you need to spend a lot of time on the work desk.
The floor-to-ceiling window is very nice. Despite of its proximity to Victoria station, I heard literally zero noise throughout my stay.
Here is the free minibar…
Breakfast is £14.95 and all food is cooked to order.
To use my credit I also had a burger for dinner.
Unsurprisingly none of the front desk staff knew anything about IHG Lifestyle, and it took a lot of explanation and I had to send them the screenshot of my reservation details. Apart from that it’s been a pleasant stay.
If you also want to visit this hotel, there’s a very good deal on Groupon which you could access here. It’s for a “Top Secret Hotel in Manchester”, but from the photos I’m 100% sure it’s the Indigo.
You could book and get confirmation right away. There are three room types available: Standard Double, Standard King and Superior. For most dates the rates are £69, £89 and £99 respectively, and on Saturdays they increase to £99, £109 and £129. All rates are inclusive of breakfast.
£69 plus breakfast is roughly the same value as my IHG Lifestyle package. I don’t recommend booking Standard King as the only difference is a larger bed. If you prefer to stay in the old Victorian building you could consider going for the Superior Room.
Travel until end of 2021 and bookings are refundable 48 hours before arrival.
My review of InterContinental London Park Lane
IHG made a welcoming announcement last year regarding the free night certificate earned via the Creation credit card – instead of extending it, a new one valid through the end of 2022 was issued as a replacement, which means you could have still used the old one as long as you booked by the end of 2021. Bearing in mind that I may not be able to travel abroad, I booked a Saturday night at the InterContinental Park Lane in June.
And fortunately my gamble paid out as the hospitality sector has reopened since May. Some people aren’t as lucky though, as they’ve booked the InterContinental at O2 instead, which is now being used as a quarantine hotel.
To be honest I had very low expectations beforehand as everything I’ve heard about the hotel is bad. To start with, their standard rooms measure a pathetic 18m2 (or 194 sqft) – how on earth are people paying £300+ for a room so tiny is totally beyond me.
The hotel is located near the Hyde Park Corner station, next to Four Seasons and the Peninsula being built. Although I like a bit of nature, its location isn’t great for exploring central London – there’s no shops or restaurants nearby, and it takes 20-30 minutes to walk to Soho or Oxford Street.
I was able to score early-in at 12:30pm. My Spire Ambassador status is recognised and 4pm late check-out request granted with no questions asked. I choose the drinks voucher as welcome amenity, although the 600 points also hit my account right after.
The receptionist isn’t very familiar with the $20 benefit though and I end up confirming with someone else later. At checkout I also had to remind her to get the $20 deducted from my bill.
I’ve got a double upgrade to a Deluxe room, which is basically a larger corner room.
The room is nothing to write home about, although I did say that I had had minimum expectation so it actually turns out okay. I find it larger than the 22m2 as advertised on their website.
The bathroom is very small though but is equipped with a tub which is bonus. The bathrobe is very comfy, probably the best I’ve ever seen in a hotel.
Best part of the room is its dual-aspect, and thus extended views of Hyde Park corner.
Breakfast is charged at £26 pp, a discounted offer to Ambassadors from the original £30+. As I’m here on my own for just one night, I decide to accept the offer and use the $20 (£15) credit.
I quite like the restaurant’s decor:
There’s a continental buffet section, including salad, fruits and cold cuts etc which is served by the chefs. Hot items are a-la-carte and you could order by scanning the bar code.
The Eggs Benedict I ordered are quite good. At £11 I think I’ve got a good deal here, although there’s no way I pay £26 for it!
The fitness centre is spacious and well equipped. There is no pool or spa though which from my point of view is a deal-breaker for a luxury hotel in Mayfair.
Is my stay acceptable? I guess yes, but for a 5-star InterContinental hotel I believe most people are looking for more than just “acceptable”, and I’d say the Hilton next door is overall a better hotel albeit being usually 30% cheaper. If you have an expiring free night voucher, or a big stash of IHG points you may consider coming here for a one-time experience, but otherwise I wouldn’t recommend it.
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.
My review of The Langley, a Luxury Collection Hotel
It’s been a long wait, but I’ve finally managed a stay at the Langley, which is generally deemed as the best Marriott hotel in this country!
Opened in the summer of 2019, The Langley is a fairly new addition to the Luxury Collection family. It was previously the private residence of Duke of Marlborough the Third, and now has the same owner of the The Wellesley, which is also a Luxury Collection hotel in London. For many it may be a once-in-a-lifetime experience – how many royal hunting houses are there an ordinary person like me could stay at?
I booked the stay before the hotel moved up to Category 7 in March. It cost 40,000 points as it was an off-peak redemption, and I just used my free night certificate from staying 75 nights last year.
A friend of mine wrote a blog post for me (here, but in Chinese) in 2019, which is a very good one and contains many amazing photos. My post today won’t be as detailed, more of a sketch of my personal experience.
Located between London and Slough, the hotel is only about 20 minutes’ drive from Heathrow Airport. Upon entering the Langley park you’ll notice a signage of the hotel, although the majority of the park is actually public.
The Main House itself is well, stunning!
As Titanium elite, I’m upgraded to a Junior Suite in the Main House. It needs to be stressed that every room and suite in the hotel is unique, so one junior suite can be very different to the other. My Junior Suite is right next to the Duke of Marlborough suite, and unfortunately an average kind.
Don’t get me wrong, as the room itself is totally OK, and I’m especially impressed by its high ceiling. Being a rather new hotel it’s also equipped with modern technology, for which you can adjust the room’s lighting mode by pressing buttons. A bit too modern sometimes though, as I can’t for my life figure out how the TV system works!
Bathroom products are from Hermes. There’s no bathtub.
What my friend had last time was the Bateson Harvey Suite, which by the look of it is even more superior to standard one-bedroom suites. It is under renovation at the moment though so not open to guests.
Separate from the Main House, a second part of the hotel is the Brew House. it’s slightly younger than the Main House and was used for brewery obviously, and there’s still some historic remains in it.
Most of the Classic Rooms are located in the Brew House, although it’s also got a few Junior Suites. Most people prefer the Main House since it’s where all the facilities are, although the Brew House can be significant quieter if you are a light sleeper.
There are an outdoor swimming pool, a tennis court and a lake behind the houses.
Don’t forget to book the spa! It’s got a large swimming pool:
Jacuzzi with steaming and sauna rooms on either side:
And some stone beds:
The spa facilities are definitely newer than the Kimpton in Glasgow, however I actually prefer the latter.
The hotel is about 40-minutes’ walk from the Langley town centre, therefore most hotel guests choose to dine in. I paid a visit to the Churchill bar, and ordered lobster croquettes, a pizza and a glass of beer.
The total comes to £38 including service charge, which isn’t too bad given it’s a luxurious hotel.
For breakfast you can order from either the Continental Set or Full Set. The free option offered to Platinum members and above is Continental only.
The price difference on the menu is £5, which is what I suppose you pay for the upgrade.
The hotel is definitely great, and I’m convinced it’s one of the best Marriott hotels in the UK. However there’s still quite a few flaws I’ve noticed during the stay, e.g. soundproofing issues, non-blackout curtain and the ungenerous breakfast offering. That said, if you’ve got some Marriott points to spend and fancy a weekend getaway near London, the Langley could be an excellent option.