London Hilton on Park Lane

Used Hilton Honours points as a HGVC Owner/Gold member to book a three night stay.

No complementary upgrade given in spite of an executive room being offered on the original booking form. After we asked they grudgingly gave us free breakfast and a better room. The manager said that they had to give priority to the people that had "paid a lot of money to stay" there! It seems the thousands I've paid as a HGVC owner don't count and I felt I was being treated as some sort of freeloader.

The room was cold and draughty. The bed was one of the hardest I've ever had difficulty sleeping in. The breakfast plates were cold, in spite of a sign warning otherwise. My sausage, bacon,scrambled egg, black pudding and tomato were cold by the time I got back to my table. Tuesday and Wednesday I wrestled the cold black pudding but Thursday I gave the free breakfast a miss. Some 'upgrade' that proved to be!

The closest tube station is Hyde Park but certainly not close enough to walk with luggage or shopping bags in the rain.

On the third evening we returned from town and noticed there were no towels! As it was a colder night we mentioned the room heating seemed to be blowing rather cool. An engineer appeared in good time and found the heating vents had been switched off! He fixed the heating problem but I found there to be no happy medium. It's either hot hot or switch it off. No thermostatic control.

Internet access cost me £20 for 24 hours. Films were £12 each to watch in room.

I liked the lift/elevator system and it's very convenient for the Hard Rock Cafe.

If the Cavalieri Hilton is 5 stars then this one would be about 1.

Our stay at the Park Lane Hilton came as the result of bidding on Priceline. The rate I received on Priceline was more than 50% off the online rate. I was a bit concerned after reading the very mixed reviews on TA. I called the hotel a week before our visit and requested a renovated room in a quiet area of the hotel away from the elevator, and that's we got. The room and the bathroom had been updated, and were just lovely. We arrived at 10AM, and didn't anticipate being able to check in early, but were taken to our room immediately.

Our experience at this hotel was quite positive. The front desk and the concierge staff were friendly and helpful. It's location was excellent - there are buses right outside the hotel, and it's a three minute walk to the underground.

There are two negatives to the Park Lane. The price for breakfast is outrageous - 20 pounds per person! By exiting the rear of the hotel you quickly comes to Shephard Street and Shephard Market, where you can find a more reasonably priced breakfast. We also quickly discovered that we could pick up muffins, fresh fruit, and orange juice the night before, place them by a cool window (this is November), and we were able to have breakfast in our room. Tea and instant coffee and a hot water kettle are provided i the room. There is a wonderful chain called Pret where you can pick up food, and doing breakfast this way cost but 8 pounds for the two of us.

Internet access is also problematic - they want another outrageous sum of money. I only needed internet to print out boarding passes. The concierge said they could print out British Airways passes, but for some reason that was the only airline they could access. We ended up finding an internet cafe.

I would be happy to stay at the Park Lane Hilton again, but would again be sure to phone in a request for a clean, updated, and quiet room.