London Hilton Park Lane Review: Is It Worth The Money?

For a mini getaway to visit Winter Wonderland at London Hyde Park before Christmas, we decided to stay overnight in London. We choose the London Hilton Park Lane mainly due to its proximity to Hyde Park and due to it being within walking distance of all the other places we wanted to visit. Rather than pay the vastly inflated cash rate of around £700 per room (we booked quite late) we paid 80,000 Hilton points (240,000 Hilton points total.) Here is our Hilton Park Lane Review…

Getting to the London Hilton Park Lane

Located on the corner of Hyde Park the hotel is within walking distance of both Hyde Park Corner (closest station) and Green Park station. You are within walking distance of Harrods, Buckingham Palace & Piccadilly Circus to name a few locations. We arrived by car and parked at the hotel’s underground car park which costs £50 per 24 hours period. The spacing is quite tight so be aware if you are bringing a larger car!

Our London Hilton Park Lane Review

Whilst the hotel doesn’t look much from the outside (in fact it looks rather ugly from the outside!) As you enter the Hotel you’ll notice on the left the entrance to Trader Vics (now closed), beyond this is the Podium Restaurant & Bar (where breakfast is served). As we visited during the Christmas period straight in front of you as you enter was a tree decorated for the season. To the right was a Middle Eastern jewellery boutique and beyond that on the right was the reception.

Beyond this is a variety of seating and lifts which are unique in the fact you press your floor number to then be assigned a lift. There are also stairs you can take up to the first floor where the executive lounge is located.

We checked in quickly at just before 3pm however one room wasn’t ready so we went to wait in the Executive lounge.

The Rooms

We booked two King Guestrooms & one Twin Guest Room which are both described as ‘classically styled’ AKA old fashioned! Before arrival, both King Guestrooms were upgraded to King Deluxe Rooms but unfortunately, the Twin Guest Room wasn’t upgraded. The main difference between the rooms is simply that the ‘deluxe’ rooms are on a higher floor and have recently been renovated and described as ‘modern style.’

Two of the three rooms were ready upon arrival at just before 3 pm however one wasn’t. Despite assurances that the room would be ready in 5/10 minutes maximum, we ended up waiting over an hour with absolutely no communication. It turns out there was a maintenance issue and they didn’t know when it would be fixed, why they couldn’t communicate this to us I’ll never know, particularly as the front desk agent said they would ring me with updates. After a bit of a push for a room (any room!) for the inconvenience, they upgraded us to a ‘classically styled’ Mayfair suite. I don’t see these available to book on the app (only ‘modern’ ones) so I assume they are using them for ‘Diamond upgrades’ or service recovery.

King Deluxe Room

As you walk into the room the bathroom is almost immediately on the right. On the left is a small wardrobe where you will also find robes and ironing facilities.

Beyond this is on the left is a desk with a TV, tea/coffee making facilities and on the end a small space to work with a chair (you’d need to rejig things slightly to make it work!) Behind the desk is a mirror which is partially blocked by a TV and lamp. In the corner of the room is another lamp and at the back of the room is a window with a seat and a small table. There are decent views over London and to the side, Hyde Park (you can see the Winter Wonderland Ferris Wheel.)

On the other side of the room is the bed in the centre with bedside tables on either side. Each side has its own lamp and reading light but unfortunately, charging points are limited. On the left side is an additional armchair. The bed was comfortable but nothing exceptional.

Bathroom

The bathroom was pretty small but it was clean and modern. On the left side is the sink, a small movable mirror, and a larger mirror with Crabtree and Evelyn toiletries. On the right is a small toilet. Directly in front of you is a shower/bath with a handheld unit and a rainforest head on the ceiling. The pressure and temperature of the shower was very good.

Mayfair Suite

The suite enters straight into a hallway with pictures on the left side and a large mirror on the right. The first room on the left leads to the bedroom/bathroom.

As you enter the bedroom on the right you have a TV on a cabinet with several drawers, behind this (for some reason) is a picture. Further on you have a wardrobe with mirrored doors, inside you’ll find robes, slippers, ironing equipment, and your room safe.

Not much of a view…

On the other side of the room is the bed in the centre with bedside tables on either side. Each side has its own lamp and reading light but unfortunately, charging points are limited on the bedside tables. On the left side is a small desk and chair. There is an iPad that featured hotel information and the ability to request different things e.g. pillows etc. Behind this is another mirror. The bed was comfortable but nothing exceptional.

Bathroom

To the left of the room is the bathroom. It is almost identical to the bathroom in the Deluxe King Room although a little bit smaller! On the left side is the sink, a small movable mirror, and a larger mirror. On the right is a small toilet and bidet. Above this were Molton Brown toiletries. Directly in front of you is a shower/bath with a handheld unit and a main head above. The pressure and temperature of the shower was very good.

Lounge

Exiting the bedroom and walking further down the hallway at the end you will enter the lounge space. Immediately as you enter there is a small table with a lamp on the right-hand side. There is a glass table in the centre of the room with an armchair on the left and a sofa on the right-hand side. At the far end, there is a large TV on a cabinet (inside was tea making facilities.) To the right side of this is a small desk with a desk chair. On the desk was a Nespresso machine.

The room is typically priced almost twice that of a standard room, even if it had a ‘modern style’ I don’t think it would be worth that. The pictures don’t really do justice to how dark the room felt compared to the Deluxe King room.

Also, despite setting the room to the lowest possible temperature it still stayed extremely warm on a freezing December day.

Twin Room

Whilst we didn’t take pictures of the ‘classically styled’ twin room it was pretty much identical to the ‘modern style’ deluxe room but in the style of the ‘classically styled’ Mayfair suite

The Executive Lounge

Located on the first floor the Executive Lounge has recently been renovated. It isn’t the biggest space considering the size of the hotel and amount of Diamond members likely to stay here (so get there early if you want a seat in the evening). As you enter there is someone at the front desk to check your room number and ensure you are actually meant to be there.

The lounge is in two main areas, a ‘social’ space with a large table in the middle with stools down either side. Here is where all the drinks, snacks and canapes, etc are. The other side is ‘lounge-like’ with views of Hyde park.

Unlike some other lounges that have ‘optimised’ away their offering the lounge here had a good selection for breakfast, served afternoon tea with cream scones, and had a decent range of alcohol and canapes in the evening.

Breakfast

As we are Diamond members we had breakfast included for free with our stay, as per normal we could choose to take this in the Executive Lounge or the ground-floor restaurant, we opted for the latter and took breakfast in the Podium Restaurant & Bar. What shocked me considering the size of the hotel was how small the restaurant actually is, if you can avoid the peak hours do so. We went at 9 am on Sunday morning, and by the time we left at around 9.45 queues were starting to form. (Breakfast was being served until 11)

In the restaurant, you’ll find a good selection of pastries, bread, continental meats, salad, fruit, yogurts, cereal, and cooked options such as sausages, bacon, and eggs, etc! Unfortunately like most Hilton’s in the UK if you ask for Gluten-Free you’ll get some bread/toast and a muffin. Obviously, you can help yourself to items on the buffet that are Gluten-Free also e.g. yogurts, etc!

If you are Vegan you have a section dedicated to products you can enjoy (the first time I’ve seen something so extensive in the UK for Vegans in a Hilton.) Here you’ll find croissants, overnight oats, muffins, yogurts and more!

London Hilton Park Lane Review Conclusion

Despite the hiccup in service to start our stay, we enjoyed our stay at Hilton Park Lane. The deluxe room had recently been renovated to a good standard and had a nice view. We preferred it to the Mayfair Suite we were upgraded to. Personally, we’d avoid the ‘classically styled’ rooms otherwise you will probably be disappointed, we thought 80,000 points was fair for the ‘upgraded room’ and perhaps £300-£400 but if you paid £700 for the ‘classically styled’ room you’d be pretty annoyed! The executive lounge was very good having recently been renovated and had a decent offering of afternoon tea and canapes in the evening. The breakfast whilst not as good as the one in the Conrad was one of the best we’ve had in a Hilton in London. This coinciding with its location across the road from Hyde Park and within easy walking distance to many of London’s attractions means it’s a great option when in London! Rooms are available from around £300 or 80,000 points. Click through here for booking and more information – https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lonhitw-london-hilton-on-park-lane