Virtually right next - door to Paddington Station . Clean . Classy .
Disadvantages:
Too bombastic, too expensive . . . The connection to Paris Hilton .
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
I'm writing this from my hotel room at Paddington's Hilton. It's a little after midnight and I just paid £7.92 for a J20, a bottle of Diet Coke, two glasses and two straws. No wait, I don't get to keep the glasses.
Getting the drinks was slow, as they wouldn't serve me at the bar because it was closed. I didn't want alcohol, just something to quench my thirst after several hours of travelling. I had to go to reception, set up a tab, pay a £10 deposit... I wish I'd just nipped across to Burger King or McDonalds and bought the largest Diet Coke I could get and still have change from a £2 coin. But that wouldn't be the thing to do at a Hilton, I'm sure. I didn't get a receipt, either.
Check-in was slow and it took two people to get it right. Nobody offered to help with my case, but I didn't need it. The reception area is vast and obvious. The lifts are clear, I've stayed in enough hotels to know that my room (550) is on the fifth floor (although no one told me how to find my room once I got to the fifth floor, which seems common courtesy) and I just wanted to get to my room and relax after a very long day without the whole tip guilt-trip.
I wasn't offered a complimentary newspaper at check-in, but I was asked if I required a wake-up call (you can easily set the telephone to provide this service, anyway).
I was pleased with the room, even if it was several corridors away from the lifts and I just know I'll get lost tying to find my way back. It's what I expected from a Hilton. It's clean, the walnut furniture is very elegant and polished to perfection. The double bed, with its absurd yet gorgeous headboard, is comfortable with four pillows and there is plenty of storage space (just be careful, because the drawers slide shut very easily with a slam, so you could lose a nail if not an entire finger).
The mirrored shelves contain all the necessaries to make a hot drink (yes, I shall be stealing all the teabags in case you're wondering). The air-conditioning works. There's a good window, nicely decorated with plenty of curtains and it doesn't seem too noisy considering I'm virtually on top of Paddington Station. I think I'll sleep well.
The marble bathroom is very nice. I won't be using the bath/shower, but it seems clean enough to use, unlike many places. There's a nice range of complimentary Crabtree & Evelyn toiletries which, again, I shall be stealing (purely to make up for the extortionate cost of these damn drinks, you understand).
I should thank myself lucky that I didn't help myself to the mini-bar. If the bar prices were a rip-off, then the cost of dipping into the mini-bar is something else. £4 for a Coke! £4.25 for a chocolate bar (I don't even know which chocolate bar)! £6.10 for a Jack Daniels! Grolsch, £4.75! Evian, £4.50! £4.95 for some bloody Hob Nobs! As Nan Taylor would say, "F*ck that!"
I later discovered that you are charged for merely removing items from the min-bar, never mind consuming them. Good thing I couldn't get the door open, then. (A smartly-dressed, yet stern-faced, man would call at my room ten minutes before I was due to leave to check that I hadn't been sniffing around in there. It's the nearest thing I've known to a visit from the Gestapo.)
The mini-bar price list had convinced me that I needn't feel guilty for considering helping myself to some teabags. If I'd wanted to boil the kettle, I'd have used them. I'd only be saving them for later and my own mug. However, browsing through the black leather file of local information and seemingly endless brochures for other Hilton hotels and discovering that it cost £15 to use the internet got me pinching not only tea bags and body wash but coffee, sweeteners, milk and shower caps. Do I feel bad? No, because thinking of Paris Hilton and all her money is making me want to rip out the desk and stuff that in my case.
I daren't look at the wine list or think about room service (available around the clock, but at what price?).
Telephone charges, you ask? 35p local rate, 70p national rate. Mobile? £3.15. Don't call South America, for goodness sake, because that'll set you back a staggering £8.35!
I'm here for just the one night and how do I feel about that? Probably glad. There's nothing like your own bed and I am looking forward to getting home. The room is very nice, though. That bed....
I've paid £109 for a night here. I didn't check in until gone 9pm and will be leaving before 11am, so it does seem rather expensive, and the palaver over a couple of soft drinks really annoyed me.
Breakfast is not included in the price and I see that even continental breakfast will cost a bomb, so I will be doing what I should have done when I wanted a drink and going to Burger King for a milkshake instead.
I chose to stay here because I just returned from the airport and it's more convenient to spend a Sunday night here than try to catch all the necessary connections to get me back home before 2am. The Heathrow Express terminal is a mere moment away and I need a train tomorrow, so this is the most sensible, if not the cheapest, solution.
Will I stay here again? It depends on how well I sleep tonight. I'll let you know in the morning...
Good morning. How did I sleep? Very well. I was surprised at just how quiet it was, but that might have more to do with me being exhausted than the double glazing and being on the fifth floor.
My concern with staying here was that it would be too noisy. I stayed near Victoria railway station a few years ago and didn't get much sleep. I put that down to it being a cheaper hotel, with no double-glazing and having the misfortune of road works directly beneath my third floor window.
This is obviously a far more expensive hotel (more than double the price) and I have to say it's double the quality as well.
It's a classy place. Kate Lovegrove's mural, 'Platform One' (located on the stairs to the forst floor), is exquisite. You'll either love the combination of brass, walnut and mirrored glass or hate it. I've stayed at hotels which aped the style (I'm thinking of the Thistle Piccadilly). Whereas they had that vile chemical smell of over-done polish, this one didn't have to try so hard. It was almost an effortless class. I almost wish I'd stayed longer and appreciated it more - or come to detest it for being bombastic and self-indulgent.
I didn't visit The Brasserie, so I didn't try the baked sea bass with lemongrass mash. Neither did I visit the Steam Bar, as there was a private function going on. I would have liked to, as it as its own resident DJ and it would have been nice to unwind for a while.
As you'll see below, I've given my ratings and, rest assured, I've considered them thoroughly. Yes, the price of food and drink is exorbitant, but to be this close to Paddington and at a luxury hotel, £109 isn't bad. I've paid more for London hotels without the Hilton reputation and remember that you don't have to eat or drink here.
True, it's over-done and ostentatious with its famous revolving door and very grand chandelier, but there can be no doubt that it's extremely convenient geographically. There are plenty of places to eat and drink. There's a post office the other side of the train station and a convenience store across the road.
I didn't feel pressurised into tipping the staff, as you do at some hotels, and everyone was polite, if not quite as speedy and efficient as I'd have liked them to be.
However, it did seem as though I was the only native English speaker in the building and I do hate not knowing whether or not I made myself clear. Why is this always the case for London?
The room was very pleasant with a desk, full-length mirror and the most delightful bathroom. I could have comfortably stayed for several nights and, at the price, it would make a good base for a long weekend in London, for example. The Underground station is directly opposite, taxis come into the hotel drive and wait for you at the steps, so transport links are very obviously very good.
The hotel is large (I believe 355 rooms and suites?) and I was not disturbed by other guests. I felt absolutely secure in my room and well catered for - just as long as I was prepared to wait longer than need be and pay through the roof for the required service.
I didn't like the fact that both the television and air-conditioning were switched on when I entered. This seems so typically wasteful of an American chain and I wondered for how long they had been on.
I enjoyed reading through the hardback book provided, 'Meet you at Paddington: The story of the first palatial terminus hotel' by Andreas Augustin. I felt its inclusion on the very shiny desk was a nice touch.
Did you know that the hotel is one of the oldest in the world? Opened in June 1854 (five months after the train station), it was formerly the Great Western Royal Hotel, but became a Hilton acquisition in 1998 when a whopping £60m was spent on it "to meet the need of modern business travellers".
Another nice touch was the ice machine adjacent to the lifts. I wonder if they charge for ice...
However, the bed was the best part for me. The sheets were soft and clean. It was extremely comfortable and I slept very well indeed. I only wish I'd had more time to lounge around in it, watching TV and relaxing. Maybe even eating breakfast, if I robbed the neighbouring post office beforehand.
My room was a standard 22m2 room, but there are many other rooms and suites available. Please see www.hilton.co.uk/paddington for full details and pictures.
As my visit was a short one, I can only add that, in addition to what I experienced or saw myself, apparently:
- Rooftop rooms have terraces with great views over London. - There is a 24-hour bureau de change at reception. - A car park is just a seven-minute walk away. - There are 17 meeting rooms, all of which have wireless internet access. - You can book the ballroom for weddings, banquets etc. - There is a sauna and gym, plus showers, on the first floor.
For more details and to book, see their website: www.hilton.co.uk/paddington
The address is: 146 Praed Street, Paddington, London, W2 1EE Their telephone number is: 020 78 500 500 Their fax number is: 020 78 500 600 Their e-mail address is: sales.paddington@hilton.com
I do hope that this review has been of some use to you. Please see my other reviews of London hotels for what is, I hope, a handy comparison.
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