New Favourite Hilton in London

On the basis of Flyertalk recommendations I swapped a Tower Bridge stay to Bankside for one of our South Bank theatre trips. It's now our #1 Hilton in London. Soft drinks and snacks in the room, excellent service, great Executive Lounge and breakfast.

[buns]

Hiltons do seem to be stepping up thier game in London

How do you find it for travelling around London?

buns

Really good to hear pjh.
We are staying there tomorrow night for our theatre trip to the National Theatre ( Going to see The Deep Blue Sea )
The last few stays have been at the Conrad St James and although still very good they have watered down their Diamond members benefits ( no more full breakfast in the restaurant and you now pay for eggs to order in the executive lounge ) they were also not very fussy on giving us an upgraded room at check in.
So really looking forward to our first stay at the Bankside.
Thanks for the thumbs up.

Hiltons do seem to be stepping up thier game in London

How do you find it for travelling around London?

buns

We tend to walk when in London (have to hit our daily steps target), but in terms of tube stations it's a 10 minute walk to London Bridge and slightly less than that to Southwark. It's located directly behind the Tate Modern.

It was so good we went back a few hours after checking out. Well, we needed to as we'd done an Mdvipond and left a slim travel wallet with rail card, tickets and a credit card in the safe. We were at the SkyGarden sorting bags just before going in and had one of those "I thought you had it" "discussions". Luckily a phone call to the hotel led to it being found and saved away for us...

Really good to hear pjh.
We are staying there tomorrow night for our theatre trip to the National Theatre ( Going to see The Deep Blue Sea )
The last few stays have been at the Conrad St James and although still very good they have watered down their Diamond members benefits ( no more full breakfast in the restaurant and you now pay for eggs to order in the executive lounge ) they were also not very fussy on giving us an upgraded room at check in.
So really looking forward to our first stay at the Bankside.
Thanks for the thumbs up.

Interesting about the Conrad. I have a booking there for when we go to see The Entertainer. I think I may shift us to Bankside. There's been a lot of discussion over on FlyerTalk about erosion of property specific Diamond benefits.

We went to see The Threepenny Opera at the National. Quite...in your face.

phj wrote:
We went to see The Threepenny Opera at the National. Quite...in your face

phj we also went to see the Threepenny Opera on the 13th June and as you say " quite in your face" and also quite comic in parts.
We had a lovely evening starting up on the deck with champagne , canapes, more champagne in the interval and meet some of the cast with more champagne and desserts after the show.
Tomorrows show will be a repeat of the above.

The last few stays have been at the Conrad St James and although still very good they have watered down their Diamond members benefits

And no more drinks vouchers in non-lounge properties.

Hardly surprising though, given they've been (and are again) throwing out Diamond memberships like confetti. All because, apparently, they're desperately trying to stop people booking with the likes of Expedia and hotels.com who take a 15-30% commission.

phj we also went to see the Threepenny Opera on the 13th June and as you say " quite in your face" and also quite comic in parts.
We had a lovely evening starting up on the deck with champagne , canapes, more champagne in the interval and meet some of the cast with more champagne and desserts after the show.
Tomorrows show will be a repeat of the above.

We're lower rent - Travelex tickets all the way. The quickest way to the hotel is to make for the road at the back of the National and hail a taxi. It's about a 15 minute walk that way, and a few more if you walk down the South Bank and cut behind the Tate Modern.

@Gumshoe - agreed.

Thanks for the directions pjh and Gumshoe.
The Bankside looking promising, they have upgraded us from a basic room to an executive on the online check in and also given the room number on the 6th floor.

On the basis of Flyertalk recommendations I swapped a Tower Bridge stay to Bankside for one of our South Bank theatre trips. It's now our #1 Hilton in London. Soft drinks and snacks in the room, excellent service, great Executive Lounge and breakfast.

Couldn't agree more, a gem of a hotel and Hilton number 1 for me in London right now. I've been a regular at quite a few Hilton hotels over the last few years, amazing how they never check in with me after I stop staying...

Hilton Bankside check in regularly with me between stays

Just a quick follow up on the Hilton Bankside.
We had an enjoyable stay.
Given a free upgrade to an executive room and offered a further upgrade to a one bedroom suite for £20 extra which we took.
Late check out until 2pm was offered and taken. Also given permission to use the executive lounge after check out time due to diamond status.
We are able to have full complimentary breakfast in the restaurant.
Food offering for afternoon tea and evening canopies ( plenty of smoked salmon and large fresh prawns ) was very good and the staff very engaging.
It was very nice to have the indoor pool with warm water.
It was definitely on a par with the Conrad St James the only downside is the 10 to 15 minutes walk to the underground, where it is just across the road from the Conrad.
We had a fabulous night at the theatre and I am now the proud owner of a programme of "The Deep Blue Sea" signed by all three leading actors, Helen McCory, Tom Burke and Peter Sullivan. They all give a brilliant performance and were very nice when we met and talked to them after the show.
Taxi from Bankside to the National theatre £7-8. It was raining on the night, hence we didn't walk.
Also managed to visit the Tate Modern the following morning and watched MACBETH at the Globe in the afternoon, both a short walk away from the hotel.

Just a quick follow up on the Hilton Bankside.
We had an enjoyable stay.
Given a free upgrade to an executive room and offered a further upgrade to a one bedroom suite for £20 extra which we took.
Late check out until 2pm was offered and taken. Also given permission to use the executive lounge after check out time due to diamond status.
We are able to have full complimentary breakfast in the restaurant.
Food offering for afternoon tea and evening canopies ( plenty of smoked salmon and large fresh prawns ) was very good and the staff very engaging.
It was very nice to have the indoor pool with warm water.
It was definitely on a par with the Conrad St James the only downside is the 10 to 15 minutes walk to the underground, where it is just across the road from the Conrad.
We had a fabulous night at the theatre and I am now the proud owner of a programme of "The Deep Blue Sea" signed by all three leading actors, Helen McCory, Tom Burke and Peter Sullivan. They all give a brilliant performance and were very nice when we met and talked to them after the show.
Taxi from Bankside to the National theatre £7-8. It was raining on the night, hence we didn't walk.
Also managed to visit the Tate Modern the following morning and watched MACBETH at the Globe in the afternoon, both a short walk away from the hotel.

Thanks for the update and glad you enjoyed both the hotel and the theatre. Very envious of your seeing Macbeth at the Globe.; like the Tempest and unlike Hamlet it's a Shakespeare play I can see repeatedly. The last time was at the Globe a few years ago during a storm, and when Macduff enters with Macbeth's head and says "Hail King!" it was actually in a hailstorm and provoked some considerable laughter.

On the distance to the tube issue, we tend to walk anyway. Need to keep out step count up!

The last few stays have been at the Conrad St James and although still very good they have watered down their Diamond members benefits

And no more drinks vouchers in non-lounge properties.

Hardly surprising though, given they've been (and are again) throwing out Diamond memberships like confetti. All because, apparently, they're desperately trying to stop people booking with the likes of Expedia and hotels.com who take a 15-30% commission.

And also prevent Hilton from offering rates lower than the Expedia website. Unless it's restricted to certain customers.

OTAs have a lot to answer for!