Supreme service at the Hilton London Wembley

 

RIGHT: Our bedroom at the warm and welcoming Hilton

 

ERIC SCOTT November 3, 2014

 

WHEN my wife and I began look at booking into a hotel for three

nights in London, where we were planning a family reunion, we

discovered that notonly was London crowded as usual, but it was

also London Fashion Week;the Tour of Britain bike race was on

and so was a marathon.

Result: hotel rooms were at a premium and so were the rates: a

reasonable (by British standards) four-star room was around

$600 a night without

breakfast – and that was for a small, old fashioned place.

The only thing to do was to try on the outskirts and I discovered

the Hilton London Wembley, which is right next to the famous Wembley Stadium. It was only a short walk to the tube station and then a 20 ride right intoWestminster.

It all sounded great so I booked and, at $520 for the three nights for an executive room, it was a bargain. So, the room was excellent, overlooking the stadium and the statue of England’s great football hero Bobby Moore and the service was unbelievably good.

It began the moment we arrived. The hotel had booked me a set price taxi from Heathrow, for £31 which was good, but when we arrived the driver demanded £50. There was a short argument until the reception team came out and sorted the whole thing.

It is fairly new hotel and I knew from experience that there would be no poky Victoriana there, but bright and spacious US style rooms.

There were ample bathroom shampoos, conditions, body lotions etc, fluffy towels and comfortable cotton dressing gowns oh - and TV set that as well as the usual international channels had an Aussie Channel and free movies.

Free wifi is set in the room and in the business centre are several computers with very fast internet speeds. There is even an ATM and currency exchange.

When we were settled in along came my family, daughters, grandsons, brother and partner, nephews and great nephew arrived and were treated like royalty by the very helpful and cheerful staff.

The management upgraded us all to the Executive floor so we given access for the family get together in the Executive Club and a nine-person table in the Association Restaurant with special menu organised for our celebratory meal.

Things I didn’t have time to sample were the 12-metre indoor heated pool, the whirlpool area, sauna and steam room, and the fitness centre, which features the latest generation of cardio and strength training equipment and is open 24 hours, 7 days a week to hotel guests.

Another example of the service was the fact that at one stage it looked as if our planned dinner was going to be a Sunday lunch. The problem was the restaurant didn’t open for lunch so the management offered to open the place an hour early so we could have a late lunch.

Now that’s what I call service.

I cannot speak too highly of the service and amenities of this great hotel.