Monday, December 5, 2016

Intercontinental Park Lane London, United Kingdom

In June 2016 we stayed for the fourth time in four years at the Intercontinental London Park Lane. We had enough IHG Priority Club Rewards Points left, so we used them to pay for our stay. When we made the reservation we made a mistake and noted there would be three persons sharing a room instead of two. I called the hotline to rectify it and promptly received a new reservation, stating two guests.

During the weekend the Queen officially celebrated her 90th birthday, so London was very busy and we had the chance to sign the congratulatory book at London Heathrow’s Queen’s Terminal. In exchange we received Union Jack flags and a paper crown as a keepsake.

When we arrived via the Tube at Hyde Park Corner we were surprised to see lots of naked cyclists. The cycling event takes place annually. Navigating through the throng of bikers wasn’t easy, but at least I had some eye candy, while he was fed up within a few minutes. Having finally made it to the Intercontinental we were warmly greeted by the door man and the greeter. Check in was a breeze and done in a friendly and personal manner. The receptionist did even know we were celebrating our anniversary and this was one of the reasons to stay at the hotel.

The check in sheet showed that there were three persons staying, so it seems the information hadn’t been passed on to the hotel directly. It wasn’t a problem. The receptionist promised to send a member of staff up to remove the rollaway bed, since we didn’t have a need for it. We had been upgraded from an entrance category room to a London Room. He also handed us vouchers for two glasses of Prosecco at Theo Randall’s. We were surprised by this because normally they are only given to either to Intercontinental’s loyalty program’s Ambassadors or highest tier members of the IHG Priority Reward program. It was a nice touch and we felt spoiled.

It was our second time we had received a London Room. The two were identical, only the views and layout were slightly different. This time we had Hyde Park view, which was very much appreciated.

As always the room was comfortable and even with a rollaway bed it wasn’t very cramped. The color scheme in blue and brown was to our taste too and felt fresh and elegant at the same time.

We were around 15 minutes in our room, when housekeeping arrived to take away the rollaway bed, which looked comfortable too. We hadn’t tested it, while waiting, so we can’t comment.

There was a book on the room, called “Love London”.

We used the shoe shine service and received the Financial Time as complimentary newspaper as requested. Both services were reliable as usual.

We had in room dining twice. Once we had late lunch with a Stamina Boost and a Vitamin Shot, the Spa Bento Box, which all came from the Wellness – “I’m worth it” section and a little indulgence, a massive Chocolate Brownie and Dark Cherry Sunday. It was all high quality and of course the dessert left as always a lasting impression.

In the morning we had the Wellness – “I’m worth it” The Healthy Start breakfast. It included green tea, one Energy Jolt juice, organic low fat yogurt, fruit salad, all bran with soy milk and multigrain toast.

The late lunch cost 67.50 GBP (ca. 75.70 Euro / ca. 82.75 USD) and the breakfast 22.50 GBP (ca. 25.25 Euro / ca. 27.60 USD), since the portion was generous we shared one set.

We also had dinner for our 2nd time at Theo Randall’s (review to follow), which we enjoyed.

Another nice touch was the cake that was delivered to the room due to our anniversary.

We had to check out fairly early, since the second reason for our stay was an exhibition visit, called Cycle Revolution, at the Design Museum at their former location at Shad Thames near the Tower bridge before it closed and moved to their new location in Kensington. While checking out we had a chat with the receptionist about the exhibition, since he was a cycling enthusiast, but hadn’t heard about the event.

We would stay at the Intercontinental London Park Lane again, since we were always well treated.

©2016

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