Intercontinental - London Park Lane Review
Editor's Note: This is the end of where I had originally written these blog posts through 2015/2016. I'm going back to re-write blog posts on my past travels, just for funsies, but the posts are backdated.
After an uneventful (and cold!) journey through the chunnel to London, I arrived at my lodging for a few days in London, the Intercontinental - London Park Lane.
The Round-the-World Series
- The Kickoff
- The Bookening
- The Lodging
- The Pre-Departurening
- British Airways Galleries First Lounge
- British Airways BA292 777-200 IAD-LHR First Class Review
- Paris - Carry-On Baggage, Hotel Joke and Other Things Paris
- Intercontinental - London Park Lane
- Etihad EY18 A380 LHR-AUH First Class Review and Dubai Trip Report
- Singapore SQ495 777-300ER Economy Review and Singapore Trip Report
- Singapore SQ890 A330-300 Economy Review and Intercontinental Hong Kong
- Japan Airlines JL62 777-300ER NRT-LAX First Class Review and Tokyo Trip Report
I'd booked this hotel using 100,000 IHG points for two nights. I had the top level of IHG membership at the time, Platinum as well as having an Intercontinental Ambassador membership, so I was very excited to experience what I was hoping was a top tier hotel in one of my favorite cities in the world.
Oops.
So good things first:
- Location. The IC Park Lane is located in an amazing location in London, right next to Hyde Park, Buckingham Palace and right across the street from the Hyde Park Corner station on the Piccadilly line.
- Price. 50000 IHG points is a pretty darn good deal. I could have done better by using points/cash combos, but my goal for this trip was to avoid spending dollars where I could. A hotel in this area is hard to get at a good price.
And that's about it...
The not-so-good:
- Decor. The hotel was very dated with a cruise ship-esque experience.
- Maintenance. There was an odd air freshener just sitting in the hallway, not a very promising sign.
- View. For an upgraded room, it oddly just had a view out over a bunch of air conditioners.
- Just Dumb Stuff. As I was settling down for the evening, I was startled with an evacuation alarm. It was followed up very quickly with a false alarm notice, but still. Not very fun.
- Status. Call me petty, but the only real recognition I had of status was a plate of fruit delivered to my room. If there was a room upgrade to be seen, I didn't see it.
That said, London is still one of my favorite cities in the world and I can't help but appreciate it.
Keen eyes may spot a visit to McDonalds in the gallery above. I dubbed this trip my "Tour de McDonalds" as I stopped in a McDonalds in every country to sample its fine local cuisine.
Next up is my flight that redefined "First Class" after my very closely previous experience. The Etihad A380 "Apartments".
