London Marriott Hotel Grosvenor Square

My wife and I recently spent 6 pleasant nights at this fine hotel in London. We had booked another Marriott hotel but changed to this one because it is closer to the places that we wanted to go to. We arrived on Dec. 13, 2008 (a Saturday) around 2:45PM and was given a room on the 2nd floor. I have requested a higher floor room when I booked our room on Marriott's website and asked the young lady if we can get a higher floor room. She checked and told us she would not be able to give us one for about another hour. We told her that we would like a higher floor room and would just wait in the lobby. Less than 1 minute after we sat down, one of the staff members came over and asked us if he could offer us something warm to drink as it was cold and wet outside. We took up his offer and got a cup of coffee and tea. Less than 15 minutes later, the same young lady that checked us in earlier came over and told us our room is ready. She gave us the keys and our breakfast vouchers and also showed us where to take the elevator (lift).

We found our room at the end of a hallway on the 5th floor. It was very clean, nicely decorated, equipped with a flat screen TV and spacious for the 2 of us. Best of all, it was quiet, the rate of 205 GBP and includes daily full breakfast for 2 at the "Maze" Grill. Since we just flew in from California, we were both very tired. We went out. got something to eat, and returned to our room and went to bed. The next morning, we found a note from the night maid telling us that she couldn't turn down our bed because we had the "do not disturb" sign out. What service! We also receive a newspaper every morning.

Overall, we enjoyed our stay at the hotel and would definitely return again. The hotel and restaurant staff was very friendly, the room was clean and quiet and the hotel was just where we want to be to go to different places. We couldn't find anything to complaint other than a false fire alarm at about 7:45 one morning. There was some construction going on next to the hotel, but the workers were just removing the scaffoldings and were not too loud.

We were booked into a Club level room, and were pleasantly surprised by the size and decor (we had one of the newly-decorated Club rooms, with a small patio). Our parents (in their late 50s) were previous fans of this hotel, but were rather disappointed that the Club rooms were now very modern, rather than their previous "Chintzy" style. I had booked them the same room category as us, but their room was tiny in comparison - barely enough room to fit round the bed, and a very small bathroom (no bath) which could accommodate only one person.

Our problems began at 10:30pm, when the music from the function room below us woke me up. I called Reception and was told that it would be going on until at least 1am. Attempts to reduce the volume failed, and eventually we had to be moved - the music was so loud there was simply no chance of sleep. The Duty Manager said he would send room keys for an alternative room up to us. Ten minutes elapsed and no room keys materialised - I called to query this and was told that he had posted them under the door of the room we were moving to! By this time it was 11:30pm. Eventually another member of staff showed us to the new room. The room was dirty, with bedding everywhere - obviously housekeeping hadn't been in to clean the room. We were then moved to a suite on the 4th floor which was positively ancient in decor and furnishings. The bed was supremely uncomfortable and the facilities dated. Still, by this time we were simply desperate to sleep, and took what we were given.

At check-out we asked to speak to a Manager, as I certainly wasn't paying the full £350 per night charge only to be moved at virtually midnight. After a lengthy delay we simply could wait no longer, yet no Manager appeared. In the end, the hotel charged us a half-rate, which was some compensation.

I don't understand why the newly-refurbished rooms have not been adequately sound-proofed - that would certainly have avoided our problems. Also, why place your more expensive Club rooms directly above your function room? Why not allocate rooms above the function room to those attending the function? Still, even if the room had been perfect, there were still too many niggly problems, like service at the front desk being slow and housekeeping being incompetent and rude.

Allegedly this is Marriott's flagship hotel in London. I can't understand why - they are resting on their laurels and making no effort to give the customer a good experience. It's certainly not worth the prices they charge.

Go somewhere else. We went to Brown's Hotel (also in Mayfair) this weekend and the difference between the two could not have been greater. The price differential wasn't huge, but the service and experience as a whole was just so much better at Browns.