Are the really expensive hotels in London worth the premium?

bylromarha

OH is 40 in September.

I have West End tickets booked, now looking at where to stay.

I have 80,000 Avios I can use on this if I wish.

The Shangri La at the Shard seems very nice, but cannot bring myself to spend all my Avios on 1 night. The cash equivalent is £535 :eek:

Reality is that he'd be happy with a Travelodge, he's that kind of guy, but I want to make it special.

As I've never stayed in a very nice hotel before, I wondered if the extra money is really worth it?

wallbash

I have stayed in some VERY expensive hotels all over the world, is the cost justified ? No. If the bed is clean and comfortable, the shower powerful and the staff smile , you are onto a winner.

I only once went 'wow' when walking into my hotel bedroom and that believe it or not was a Warner's Classic room. But I am a sucker for a large four poster and a sunken bath.

A posh hotel may have a tv to watch while you lie in the bath, but the novelty soon wears off.

he'd be happy with a Travelodge,

Save your money.

threellamas

Find a nice fancy b and b instead. Much better value for money-good breakfast and often stunning new decor rooms.

C_Mababejive

Premier Inn..everything is Premier but the price...

Castle

wallbash wrote: »

A posh hotel may have a tv to watch while you lie in the bath, but the novelty soon wears off.

Or just use your smart phone/tablet to watch TV!

wallbash

Castle wrote: »

Or just use your smart phone/tablet to watch TV!

How do you hold the phone , whist playing with the plastic duck?

paddyrg

A top-end hotel will also cost you a premium for drinks, breakfast, spa, all the things you'd like to enjoy in the hotel!

Instead, why not stay somewhere a little bit fancier than normal, but not top-end - and you can always visit the fancy hotel for afternoon tea or to visit the bar with what you save ;-)

What you're paying for includes the name, the superior service, the location, the ease of a long stay, things that you won't benefit as much from if you're there for one night. If you're there for a week you might find those things a greater benefit :-)

InsideInsurance

As with most things, its very much a case of diminishing returns. If you were to do a cost benefit analysis then its never going to stack up.

You dont however stay at a hotel like this because it represents good value though. You stay because it offers something to you that you want. As this is for your hubby then its comes down to if there is any part of the proposition that he would want that cannot be gotten another way? So with the Shangri La most want to go for the views, if this is the case for you would simply going to one of the bars be sufficient or is it more explicitly wanting to lay in bed/ the bath seeing them?

With other hotels it can be location, the spa, the restaurant etc that are its big selling points. A lot of these can be gotten to without staying but hotel guests may take priority if its full or there can be minimum spends that dont apply to guests (as per the Mandarin Oriental bar and the press story of the people who werent guests and ordered just a bottle of water but had to pay the £25/person minimum charge so £50 for water.

Others its just the general service, staff great you by name, the sommelier remembers your drink choices last night and makes recommendations based on what they've learnt of your tastes. They bring a small table/stool/stand for your handbag at your dinner table. You can easily live without any of these things of course but having them occasionally is nice for some.

Be careful with some hotels with multiple restaurants in them as some may not give preference to guests like Heston's Dinner at the MO which doesnt retain seats for the majority of hotel guests (maybe a few staying in top suites but I've never done that there).

For our honeymoon we stayed in a hotel suit that was 355m2/ 3600 sq ft - three times the size of our house. There were two dressing rooms off the bedroom (his and hers) which were probably as big as our bedroom at home. Did we need it? No. Was it good value? No. Was it an experience? Yes. Would we do it again? Glad we did it, would do it again if we hadnt dont it but there are so many other things to experience that it'd seem a waste to repeat the experience.

Totally comes down to if hubby would value this experience as much as whatever the alternative uses of the points/ money is

susancs

I must admit that I never understand anyone who is planning a short break in London (or any big city) paying a lot of money for a hotel room, when there is so much to see and do, plus great places to eat out. IMO you just really just need somewhere clean, with a comfortable bed and ensuite to retun to late at night. We booked a 5 star hotel in Paris, which had great onsite facilities, but as we were out all day and just went back to it late at night, we did not use the swimming pool, on site gym, spa treatments or eat at the hotel (apart from breakfast). However I did stay at a country house hotel for a girlie birthday pamper weekend and that was different as it was not near anything, so we stayed in the hotel and used the pool, spa treatments, bar etc.

missbiggles1

I'd spend the money on having dinner/lunch somewhere memorable - you don't spend much time in your hotel room on a short break, even less if you're only going for one night.

susancs

bylromarha wrote: »

OH is 40 in September.

I have West End tickets booked, now looking at where to stay.

I have 80,000 Avios I can use on this if I wish.

The Shangri La at the Shard seems very nice, but cannot bring myself to spend all my Avios on 1 night. The cash equivalent is £535 :eek:

Reality is that he'd be happy with a Travelodge, he's that kind of guy, but I want to make it special.

As I've never stayed in a very nice hotel before, I wondered if the extra money is really worth it?

Thinking on it some more, if your hubby would be happy with a more basic hotel, maybe just look at booking one of those and use the savings to have a nice meal in a restaurant or go to somewhere like the Icebar (it is at -5 and you have a cocktail in an glass made of ice, plus are given cloaks and gloves to wear) before or after the show for something different to do.