The Crowne Plaza The City is a wonderful hotel and I would highly recommend it for the next time you visit London. I usually don't like staying in London due to small rooms, unfriendly service and a lack of good value accommodation, however, this hotel had nice sized rooms, friendly and helpful service, and was good value for its central London location.
Hotel Location
This hotel is located right in the city, it is very close to Blackfriars train station (Please note Blackfriars Tube station is closed until 2011) ,is near to various coffee shops such as Starbucks and is located well for easy access to central London, the only problem I can mention is that due to the fact it is a business area at the weekend it isn't very lively and quiet with not a lot going on.
Check-in
I visited this hotel early August 2009, the hotel lobby was being refurbished, although everything was still operational. Check-in can be a bit slow though, there were 2 people on on reception but still I had to wait around ten minutes to get served, check in was fast though when I did get to the front of the queue. This was a free night which I received via Intercontinental Hotel Groups "Free night offer". The hotel was aware of this and I didn't have any nasty shocks (I can't stand it when I book to stay on points or promotions like this and get to the hotel and am told I'm booked in on some extravagant rate!)
The Rooms
I was allocated a standard king room, I was surprised by the size of the rooms, for central London they were very nicely sized, nothing worse than staying in London and having to pay expensive amounts of money for small rooms. The hotel provided two complimentary bottles of mineral water, tea and coffee making facilities and 4 rather nice biscuits. There was also a minibar, however, as I am sure you are aware hotels have a bad habit of taking advantage of guests through these minibars by charging ridiculous amounts of money, so I'd advise you take any extra drinks instead of buying them when you are there. The room was modern and the bed was very comfortable, the view wasn't particularly amazing just of quiet street outside. Internet wasn't free I think it was around £15.00 which is ridiculous, surely in 2009 hotels, especially ones in big cities can provide free internet access? The bathroom was clean with bathrobes, White Company luxury toiletries, and a bath with a shower. I always check the bathroom when I arrive at a hotel room as I have been to many hotels in which the rooms look nice but the bathroom is below the expected standard, that was not the case here though. I got a good sleep, and the hotel was quiet.
The bar
The bar area was nice, the prices were expensive but not out of place in London. two large glasses of wine was around £14.00, the cost was added onto my bill so that I could pay for it at check-out. I didn't have breakfast as it wasn't included with the free night and was around £20.00 for a continental and cooked breakfast, so I went across the road to starbucks and got a bite to eat, at a much better price (croissant and coffee was about £3.50)
Overall verdict
This is a brilliant hotel for London and I would certainly recommend it for when you are in London, the location is good for getting about, it is easy to walk to sites such as tate modern and parliament from the hotel, also if you want a taxi just tell reception and they will phone one for you. I went to see War Horse at the theatre, and got a taxi from the hotel to get to the theatre, it was about £8.00 each way. All in all a great hotel for London.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Excellent facilities, comfortable rooms, convenient for the motorway network, good link with Heathrow Disadvantages: EXPENSIVE, bad planning on the bar for big events
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