Review Intercontinental London Park Lane

Jeremy

Level 2 Member
I stayed at the Intercontinental London Park Lane for two nights in June 2014. I am IHG Platinum but not Ambassador. I stayed using the IHG cc free night certificate and points.

We arrived around 1:30 pm, a bit before check-in time but our room was ready.

The room was very nice. It had a king bed and enough space for two people. I am not sure I'd want more than two people in the room. We had a side view of one of the parks. A little outside noise but nothing too bad. We did get a fair amount of hallway noise from kids running around in the early evening. Slept pretty well. We also had afternoon tea in the hotel's lounge, which seemed like enough food for two meals.

Staff left strawberries and bottled water for us, which was a nice touch. Wifi was ok for basic email and web surfing.

Asked for late checkout. Occupancy was high but they could do 1 pm. I decided to check-out in the morning and have our bags held instead. Location was very good if you needed quick access to the tube (across the street) or to the parks.

Great use of the IHG free night certificate. Would return if I were staying in this part of London on points (or if someone else were paying).
 

Jeremy

Level 2 Member
Once it left LHR, it was about 40-45 minutes using the tube. This was in the middle of the day on a weekday, though, so YMMV.
 

Summerport

Level 2 Member
Good tip James. You can order the Oyster card in advance and have it delivered to your hotel, or purchase the card at many stations. You will save almost 50% on public transportation with the Oyster card.
 

dlin

Level 2 Member
i'm staying there in oct, any recommendations for good food or things to do in the area?
 

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
Jeremy, and others who have stayed-

Did you upgrade to the Intercontinental Club?

Rate is $924/night for Aug 24/25. Bank holiday in Britain (news to me) so they are slammed that weekend.
 

Jeremy

Level 2 Member
$924 is insane. I think the cash price was $500-600/night when we were there. I didn't upgrade to Club -- I didn't ask and wasn't offered an upsell to Club.

For activities, Hyde and Green Park are very close to the hotel. There's a tube stop across the street from the hotel, so you can access other parts of London easily. When we were in London (two nights):
  • Had afternoon tea at the hotel. Good but expensive, and the lounge is pretty open, so you have people passing through.
  • Walked to Knightsbridge and picked up breakfast from Starbucks (yeah, I know). It was early, so while Harrods and other shopping destinations were nearby they were closed.
  • Walked around the parks and saw a parade by Buckingham Palace, saw the changing of the guards.
  • From there, walked to Big Ben and went into Westminster Abbey. Line to get in wasn't too bad, about fifteen minutes, but crowded inside. Liked it.
  • Walked back to the hotel and to a Pret a Manger near the hotel for dinner/breakfast food, then took the tube to/from a show in the theater district.
  • Took the tube to the Kensington area, walked through Kensington Gardens, and visited Kensington Palace. I liked it and it's fine if you're in the area, but I wouldn't go that far out of my way to see it.
  • Saw the Victoria & Albert Museum. Liked this, and it was free. We had a plane to catch so we didn't spend that much time here, but if you're into museums you could easily spend several hours here. We spent a couple of hours here then took the tube back to hotel and headed to airport.
 

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
@dlin we stayed there last month. Jeremy's thoughts are spot on. We enjoyed the scene in Covent Garden and had some good food there.

The Barclay bike rentals are everywhere in London. You can rent one in Hyde Park for 2 euro and pick-up drop off as much as you want. Hyde Park is a runner's paradise with miles and miles of paved trails and a scenic lake.

I highly recommend the Oyster card that sriki recommended. Load as much as you want on it, and when you leave town, you can ask for a refund of any unused fares.
 

James from BNA

VR Jacket Guy
@dlin, if you're looking for a day trip, we rented a car at LHR and drove to Downton Abbey's Highclere Castle and Stonehenge. The Stonehenge tour and gift shop were coded as "travel" on the Barclay Arrival, HC was not.

I ran the Mercedes up on the curb 4 times driving on the left side of those round-abouts.
 

dlin

Level 2 Member
haha. we booked a bus tour for bath, stonehenge and windsor castle. afternoon tea and a few of the typical sites will also be on our list.
 
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