I have thought about staying close to St. Pancras actually. I was thinking closer to Buckingham, or in that general area, because Buckingham is what I really, really, want to see the most. I'd also love to have an afternoon tea before we head back to Paris. It's my 50th birthday trip so I get to call all of the shots! Thank you for all of this info! It really helps with making an informed decision.
Seconding the good info that was already shared. I prefer the Green Park area as well. I've stayed at the Ritz, the Intercontinental, and the Berkeley before we were fully into the points game. I'm booked at the Hyatt Churchill for 2024 because I need Hyatt nights and I have plenty of points for the stay, but it's not in my ideal location.
--and it's tons of fun, but the timing probably won't work out for you. https://b-bakery.com/london/bus-tours/afternoon-tea-bus-london I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time celebrating your birthday whatever you do. London is my happy place, and I never get enough. I'll be there again in two weeks We stayed at the Conrad, which is a 2 min walk from Westminster Abbey and 5 mins from Big Ben (Parliament). We walked from the Conrad to BP, but it's about a 15-20 min walk. If you have Diamond status, it has a nice lounge.
We have only been to London once, so I'm by no means an expert. We did however walk around BP and our hotel was quite close. Not a Hyatt but booked The Resident Victoria thru Chase portal and had tea at The Rubens at the Palace, also booked thru the portal. Both walking distance to Buckingham Palace. The plus for The Resident was that it slept 3. The picture is DS lounging in the room. The space for third person is a daybed type of thing but not a pullout sofa and it was fully made up for him. If your 18 yo is over 6 feet it would probably be too small. The room was compact but well organized with a mini kitchenette & a good size closet.
Yes we did The Rubens tea! Loads of food even a teenage boy didn't complain about and he drank 2 pots of tea. Lol.If you want to do one of the "biggies" for afternoon tea (Claridges, the Ritz, the Savoy, etc.) you'll want to make sure you book really early. They fill up fast. Harrods and Fortnum are fun and can be booked more last minute, but since you'll be close to the palace, you may want to look into the Rubens. We did a Christmas Day tea here and it was fabulous. It's small, but a stone's throw from BP. https://rubenshotel.com/dining-and-drinks/afternoon-tea I've also done the tea bus a couple times--including for my 55th birthday
If you want to do one of the "biggies" for afternoon tea (Claridges, the Ritz, the Savoy, etc.) you'll want to make sure you book really early. They fill up fast. Harrods and Fortnum are fun and can be booked more last minute, but since you'll be close to the palace, you may want to look into the Rubens. We did a Christmas Day tea here and it was fabulous. It's small, but a stone's throw from BP. https://rubenshotel.com/dining-and-drinks/afternoon-tea I've also done the tea bus a couple times--including for my 55th birthday
Tea at the Savoy sounds like a wonderful experience! I will be adding that to my itinerary.i was only able to do it once mine was under instacart + then manage my membership then on the bottom it says get up to 12 months with chase, hit redeem plug in all your cards there.
we stayed at the Hilton Paddington. super convenient to everything and the metro. our room was huge (more than enough room for our 3rd person)
I know you got some great advice already. Just adding my own DPs. We are also staying in London this year and we were booking for 3 adults. All the rooms we looked at were for two. However, we were able to book a suite that would accommodate 3 through Hyatt at the Churchill on points and with a suite night upgrade. I did a quick check on saw that there is availability at the Hyatt London Blackfriars for your night on points. Granted I am not sure if that works for you geographically but thought I’d share.
I've called with Marriott directly to the hotel and been successful. With Holiday Inn, did you see a prepaid rate you could use?
But even with the AF increase this year I think I will still be able to easily continue to have these 4 Aspire sock drawer cards keeper cards.
We stayed at the Marriott Vacation Club in Poipu on Kauai and the Hyatt Residence Club in Ka’anapali on Maui. We loved both but paid “cash” for both (we booked the HRC through the Chase travel portal with URs from my CSR). The MVC we did before I knew about miles and points. Both are an awesome setup for a family!
Duh me - I didn’t even think about the Chase travel portal and using URs. Thanks!
