London is awash with hotels and B&B's. But having tried quite a lot of them - our capital city ought to be ashamed of many of them. The Custom House Hotel is one to be proud of, especially in the popular 3* sector of the market.
1 LOCATION ==========
If you use the London Docklands Light Railway - DLR - then the Custom House stop is where to alight. You will see the hotel right beside the station entrance. And just in case that sounds like noisy, bad news, do not worry - I never heard a train all night.!
This is a location right in the heartland of London's dockland renewal area. Within a short distance are the exhibition hall - ExceL, Canary Wharf, and the Royal Victoria Docks.
If you are visiting or working in the centre of London, the train takes about 15 minutes.
If you arrive in the London City Airport, you are just a 5 minute drive away.
2 APPEARANCE =============
As you approach it, it is a four storey building, fairly modern ( and bland ) with a ground floor 'conservatory'-like construction which houses restaurants and entrance hall. At the front it is white and glass, and as it extends round its corner site, it is yellow-faced brick. It fits well into the feel of modern Dockland, though it will never get brownie points for architectural style !
3 RECEPTION ===========
The reception area was pleasant rather than plush, and gave me a feel of efficiency, not grandeur.! I like it that way for business trips and for hotels which are really just 'beds for the night' rather than a key part of a holiday.
I arrived very late, but my apology was brushed away as immaterial, and the check in and room allocation took a couple of minutes.
4 BEDROOM ==========
There are around 260 rooms in the hotel divided between deluxe, executive and standard ones. I had a standard, and like the others, this is air-conditioned, ensuite and very functional.
If you have used Formula 1 or similar motels in France, you will understand what using the word 'functional' here is about. The ensuite is a kind of wetroom- a waterproof cabin with loo, washbasin and power shower.
It is not the marble and carpet luxury I experienced in Amsterdam's 5* Garden hotel, but it is a system that makes cleaning easy and gives assurance of cleanliness to customers. I thoroughly approve - especially after some pretty bad experiences in other London 3* and 4* hotels.
The bed was a double with a bunk bed overhead to accomodate a small family if needed. There was a TV, reading desk, and a chest of drawers as well as hanging facilities - for clothes, not troublesome children!!
A kettle, with mugs, tea, coffee and biscuits were all available too.
My only criticism to the hotel was that it took me an age to discover the lighting system in the room! One light comes on when you insert your room's key card in the slot beside the door. That was no problem - and was explained.! But the bedside lights were built in to the 'poles' of the overhead bunk and needed to be turned to bring them on - perfectly functional, once I worked out what to do at 11.30 pm!
The exec rooms seem to do away with the bunk bed extra, and are a bit more lushly decorated.
5 EATING
There is plenty of choice, although arriving as late as I did, I only got to try out the breakfast facilities.!
There is a pub on site - the Victoria. Also a Chinese restaurant - the Ho Lee ( sounds like the sort of place a minister ought to be comfortable in !! ) The Camelia room is for breakfasts if you are on a Continental breakfast basis, and then there is the Lighthouse which operates as a Bistro in the evening and Full Breakfast area in the morning.
My 'Full English' was a self-service buffet and food was not piping hot, to be honest. It was OK and there was plenty of juice, tea, coffee and such like.
6 OTHER FACILITIES =================
The reception is 24 hour, there are lifts to all floors, there are data ports available, they have a currency exchange facility, and there was local and London information on hand.
The hotel has a car-parking facility which I think is £10 per car.
7 CHARGES ==========
The standard charges seem to be from £70 per room per night, with a double suite being around the £150 mark.
However, all kinds of deals can be got. I booked through Superbreak and had the room in March for £29 inclusive of full English breakfast. The same company has just offered me £27.50 for a night in November.!
At £70 per room, I would expect a bit more in London. At £29, I was staggered by the value. This is the type of value we should be offering visitors to our capital city.
As in many such situations, there is a 'single supplement' operating at times, but I need this hotel on Fridays, and no supplement applies then from November to April !
8 CONCLUSION =============
No hotel suits everyone all the time.! I was delighted with the hotel in March - its closeness to Central London by DLR is a real plus. However when I tried to book my conference week in June, I was facing the higher prices, and declined. So, all in all, I am not embarassed about suggesting that you put this one on your list of possibilities for your next trip to London.
More details
Quality of Facilities
Good
Family Friendly
Good
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