A little snowfall and one of the largest airports in the world, Heathrow, closes with almost all flights cancelled. Chaos reigned and lots of people were just waiting aimlessly in the terminals. Fortunately, and I do mean fortunately or else we have to camp at the airport, I managed to secure an all important hotel voucher. Heathrow Express was free that day because they didn’t want people to stay in the airport since more and more people are arriving at the airport until the point they closed some terminals to prevent more people from going in. It was that bad. Luckily British Airways who uses Terminal 5 exclusively were not one of the affected and we managed to get into our terminal. Failing that, we wouldn’t be able to get our hotel voucher and I will not be writing this review.
With the Heathrow Express, we got to Paddington rather quickly. I can’t say the same if you took the Tube. The Tube journey earlier on to the airport was simply horrendous. We had to deal with sudden route changes, fully packed trains and at the same time not forgetting that each of us were carrying luggage meant for 3 months. So horrendous was the journey that I decided to throw away lots of stuff in order to pack lean. Anyway downsizing luggage is the trendy thing to do nowadays. The hotel isn’t very far from Paddington but with the snow and the slippery roads, it was still quite a walk. There is another Hilton, namely Hilton Paddington, which is incorporated into Paddington Station so I must imagine that would be a much better place to stay if you have lots of luggage.
Check in was brisk and business like, with absolutely no sympathy from the staff who checked me in. What can I say? Let’s get down to business? I have a feeling I wouldn’t be returning to this hotel if I were on a holiday. We were given a low floor room so there wasn’t much of a view. The furnishing in the room were pretty good and I have no complains. However at more than £200 a night, I was not expecting anything less. The bed was comfortable and no problems with the hot water either. The breakfast buffet has a wide selection but they serve exactly the same thing every morning while we were there so it could get a little boring.
Anything that is not included in the room rate is extremely expensive. I remember Internet access being extremely expensive and so are the phone calls. No such thing as toll-free calls. Can’t remember the exact price for a toll free call but I am suspecting somewhere near the £3 mark. Our solution is to use our remaining mobile broadband credits and Skype to call British Airways to rebook our flight. Saves us quite a sum!
Accommodation rating: 3.5
Well furnished room as expected from a Hilton Hotel. However the service level from different staff could be vastly different. I was expecting better from some staff. More staff training could be beneficial for the hotel.
Value rating: 2
At such sky high prices for a basic business hotel, I am not going to recommend this place to my friends anytime soon. Unless you are attending a conference in this hotel, you can choose to stay here for convenience sake. As for leisure, there is a good selection of hotels in the Paddington vicinity with rooms available at half the price.
Information:
Nights stayed: 20 Dec 2010 – 22 Dec 2010 (total 3)
Total cost: Courtesy of British Airways (about £200 per night)
Room stayed: Standard queen (my guess).
Review of Hilton Hotel, London Metropole
Review of Hilton Hotel, London Metropole
A little snowfall and one of the largest airports in the world, Heathrow, closes with almost all flights cancelled. Chaos reigned and lots of people were just waiting aimlessly in the terminals. Fortunately, and I do mean fortunately or else we have to camp at the airport, I managed to secure an all important hotel voucher. Heathrow Express was free that day because they didn’t want people to stay in the airport since more and more people are arriving at the airport until the point they closed some terminals to prevent more people from going in. It was that bad. Luckily British Airways who uses Terminal 5 exclusively were not one of the affected and we managed to get into our terminal. Failing that, we wouldn’t be able to get our hotel voucher and I will not be writing this review.
With the Heathrow Express, we got to Paddington rather quickly. I can’t say the same if you took the Tube. The Tube journey earlier on to the airport was simply horrendous. We had to deal with sudden route changes, fully packed trains and at the same time not forgetting that each of us were carrying luggage meant for 3 months. So horrendous was the journey that I decided to throw away lots of stuff in order to pack lean. Anyway downsizing luggage is the trendy thing to do nowadays. The hotel isn’t very far from Paddington but with the snow and the slippery roads, it was still quite a walk. There is another Hilton, namely Hilton Paddington, which is incorporated into Paddington Station so I must imagine that would be a much better place to stay if you have lots of luggage.
Check in was brisk and business like, with absolutely no sympathy from the staff who checked me in. What can I say? Let’s get down to business? I have a feeling I wouldn’t be returning to this hotel if I were on a holiday. We were given a low floor room so there wasn’t much of a view. The furnishing in the room were pretty good and I have no complains. However at more than £200 a night, I was not expecting anything less. The bed was comfortable and no problems with the hot water either. The breakfast buffet has a wide selection but they serve exactly the same thing every morning while we were there so it could get a little boring.
Anything that is not included in the room rate is extremely expensive. I remember Internet access being extremely expensive and so are the phone calls. No such thing as toll-free calls. Can’t remember the exact price for a toll free call but I am suspecting somewhere near the £3 mark. Our solution is to use our remaining mobile broadband credits and Skype to call British Airways to rebook our flight. Saves us quite a sum!
Accommodation rating: 3.5
Well furnished room as expected from a Hilton Hotel. However the service level from different staff could be vastly different. I was expecting better from some staff. More staff training could be beneficial for the hotel.
Value rating: 2
At such sky high prices for a basic business hotel, I am not going to recommend this place to my friends anytime soon. Unless you are attending a conference in this hotel, you can choose to stay here for convenience sake. As for leisure, there is a good selection of hotels in the Paddington vicinity with rooms available at half the price.
Information:
Nights stayed: 20 Dec 2010 – 22 Dec 2010 (total 3)
Total cost: Courtesy of British Airways (about £200 per night)
Room stayed: Standard queen (my guess).
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The room is spacious with a nice working area.
Nice LCD TV but the placement is odd.
Surprisingly large bathroom. You can see the bath in the mirror.