Grosvenor House, A JW Marriott Hotel

I was lucky enough to be treated to 1 night (afternoon tea and breakfast was included in the package) stay at the Grosvenor House Hotel. The staff were professional and keen to make the stay enjoyable. For 5 star luxury the package (L280) was fantastic. The hotel is in a great location, close to all the action on Oxford Street. Our room was at the back of the hotel and perfectly quiet. I would recommend the hotel to anyone.

We stayed at the Grosvenor Park Lane Marriott as guests of a relative who is on the New Orleans Saints when the team visited London to play at Wembley Stadium. Therefore, WE did not choose this hotel. The Saints' staff (or the NFL?) did. However, we were VERY happy w/their choice! I am amazed at the bashing of this hotel that some have given it and have to wonder, were these people staying at the same hotel we stayed in? If so, we certainly had different experiences! It is in the upscale residential area of Mayfair, but it's not like you get the feel of it being all that much of a residential area (except that it's lot quieter than, say, Oxford St. nearby.) Hyde Park is across the st. It was very handy to shopping and dining, as well as restaurants. Both the Piccadilly and Bond Tube Lines were within an easy 10 min. or so walk. Oxford St., the main shopping st. in London, is about a 5 min. walk.

Upon entering the hotel there was a lovely fragrance of calla lillies that were in tall vases in the lobby. The hotel is beautifully decorated and slightly more contemporary styled in the main public rooms than you might expect. There is a nice little deli/breakfast area that is good for quicker breakfasts or a snack, plus their main restaurant. The lounge is large and attractive. Elevators worked quickly. The banquet rooms were well designed and the food served at the 2 functions we attended in them were very good, as was their buffet breakfast on our last morning.

We arrived around 1:30 p.m. on a Thur. in mid-Oct., but our room was not yet ready. They had us down for a king bed, but we had wanted two beds. My husband checked the room they planned to give us and it was quite small. They told us the only room w/2 beds they would have available was a smoking room. Someone we knew said they had been given a smoking room but it had NO odor of smoke whatsoever. So we accepted the much larger smoking room w/2 beds.The front desk was very nice about our dissatisfactions, and said our room would be ready in about an hr. and they would take our luggage up while we were away. We joined our daughter and her inlaws, and left the hotel for 2 hrs. or so. Upon our return, our room was ready. It was tastefully and elegantly furnished, and very comfortable. There was no smell of smoke at all. But our luggage had not been brought up. I called and it was immediately delivered. (The bellhop didn't seem to be the brightest star in the sky for sure! But that was minor.) This delay in luggage delivery and the time it took to get our room were the ONLY complaints we had about the entire 4 night stay. However, there was no stopper in our tub, and I love to take long, hot soaks after walking all around. The next morning I mentioned this to a staff member in the elevator who appeared to be a housekeeping supervisor. She asked me our room # and said she would take care of it immediately. After breakfast, not only had she taken care of that, but someone had replaced a burned out lightbulb in our foyer ceiling fixture, which had made it difficult to see when using the closet next to the front door prior to this. I was impressed that this was noticed w/out our mentioning it and taken care of so quickly!

No matter what we needed, the staff was more than courteous and happy to help. They were not at all stuffy and were very friendly. The concierge desk was helpful on a couple of occassions and those there were usually able to give us good advice re: the particulars of various sights and destinations. If the person at the desk didn't know something, he managed to find out. It was cool to have doormen in top hats as well! (Just for photo ops to impress the folks back home!)

I have to mention that on our last morning, I was late coming down to breakfast. My husband had joined others in a large dining room that was where a breakfast buffet was being held for the departing team and their guests. I had trouble locating everyone else, and was very late. Although I arrived just before it was being broken down, the staff urged me to take my time and enjoy my breakfast. One of them came over to us and carried on a very friendly and informative conversation, and there was NO HINT of my being rushed. Quite the opposite! I was told to relax and enjoy my meal, and they really seemed to mean it!

I've not been inside of other hotels in London in this price range, which admittedly is above what we would normally be able to afford. But London is an expensive city and for the location and quality, based on hotels I did scout out in comparison, it was priced as reasonably as others in it's class and location. I would not hesitate to recommend this hotel to anyone and highly DO recommend it!