I just spent a night at the Park Hyatt London River Thames, which I’ve been meaning to check out, since it opened less than a year ago.
While I had no real need to visit London, the timing worked out — I had a Category 1-7 free night award that was about to expire, and I wanted to travel through London Heathrow to fly American’s new Boeing 787-9 business class, so I figured I might as well spend a night in London to stay at the hotel.
While I’ll have a full trip report soon, I’d like to share some initial thoughts. Quite honestly, the Park Hyatt London was exactly what I expected. It’s a beautiful, luxurious property, with impressive amenities. However, the hotel’s location is less than ideal for most, and the property also feels rather generic.
London is woefully lacking when it comes to luxury points hotels, so I think this property poses a pretty simple question — how much are you willing to compromise on location and sense of place to redeem points (or take advantage of elite perks) at a luxury hotel?
The Park Hyatt London is in a random location
The Park Hyatt London is located in the Nine Elms district, which is on the south bank of the River Thames, in Wandsworth. This is a fast growing area, given how space constrained central London is. There’s a ton of construction in the area, and it all feels very modern, with lots of high rises.
The Park Hyatt is located in Nine Elms, which is a high rise development with residences. Sadly the hotel takes up the lowest floors of the building, limiting the views.
In many ways, the setting on the River Thames is pretty. There are lots of boardwalks along the river, that are nice for a stroll. I have to imagine that a vast majority of guests staying at the hotel don’t actually desire to be in this area, but instead, stay here because of the points angle.
It’s not like there’s anything wrong with having a hotel in this area, it’s just strange for Hyatt to open its flagship brand in this location, in such an important market. But I guess this was the best Hyatt could get, and something is better than nothing.
If you actually want to go to the areas of London that most people want to visit, expect that it’ll take anywhere from 20-40 minutes by public transportation, and probably a similar amount of time by car (given London traffic).
In fairness, you benefit a bit from the out-of-the-way location. Rooms are bigger than they’d be if the hotel were in central London, and I have to imagine rates would also be higher.
The Park Hyatt London is luxurious and beautiful
The designers of the Park Hyatt London did a great job with making the property feel grand and luxurious. Honestly, it’s stunning across the board, from the public spaces, to the rooms. I’m not sure it reflects London much — I feel like the hotel could just as easily be in in Dubai, or Kuala Lumpur, or New York, or Sydney — but it’s generically luxurious.
The rooms are just as nice as the public spaces. As a World of Hyatt lifetime Globalist member, I was upgraded to a Park Deluxe Suite, which is one category above the standard suite, so that was a very generous upgrade, especially since I booked last minute. I give the room decor 10/10 — how lovely!
The catch, which is minor in the scheme of things, is that my suite was on the lowest level with guest rooms (floor three). From one direction, the bedroom had okay views, while from the living room and other direction of the bedroom, below were the views…
The Park Hyatt London has great amenities, good dining
The hotel makes up for its less central location with a spa, massive pool, sauna, and solid gym. So at least if you’re looking to be entertained on property, there are lots of options. I imagine this is something that a lot of families value.
The hotel has three(ish) dining outlets. There’s Nine Elms Bar & Lounge, which is physically beautiful, but mostly just seems to be where guests checking in plop down until their room is ready.
Then there’s Nine Elms Kitchen, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, which is also where breakfast is served. The Globalist breakfast was quite good — it consisted of a buffet, the option to order an a la carte dish, and barista coffee.
Then there’s Yú Gé, the hotel’s Cantonese restaurant. This is only sort of part of the hotel, as you have to walk through a bunch of doors and through part of the residences area to get there. This looked excellent, though I didn’t end up eating here, unfortunately.
The Park Hyatt London lacks a vibe
Aside from the location, here’s the other thing I don’t love about the Park Hyatt London — it has no vibe, in my opinion. I love people watching, so it’s fun when you have a hotel with lively social spaces that are frequented by both guests and locals. It’s nice when there’s a cool speakeasy-style bar (which you’ll find at many London hotels), live music, etc.
There’s none of that here. It feels like the only people in the hotel common spaces are hotel guests. And at least during my stay, they weren’t all that varied. I’d estimate that 95% of the guests were American, and 5% were Chinese. It felt like being in an American Flagship Lounge, down to the number of Executive Platinum bag tags.
I get that might come across as “tourist complains about other tourists” (I’m even an American flyer, mostly!), and that’s not my intent. My point is simply to say that if you care about vibe or an interesting scene, this hotel isn’t it. There are lots of less luxurious points hotels in central London that have a more varied combination of hotel guests and local visitors.
Bottom line
The Park Hyatt London is exactly what I was expecting. For most visitors to London, the hotel has an out-of-the-way location. But the property makes up for that with a luxurious design, spacious rooms, and ample amenities.
Is the hotel worth staying at? It all depends on what you value most — if you care about location and vibe, I’d stay elsewhere. If you care about luxury and amenities, along with the points angle, then this is an option worth considering.
What’s your take on the Park Hyatt London?
