pleasant, quiet Barcelona and London hotels?

I'd be especially pleased to find a good Starwood or Marriott hotel — would like to use points. Does anyone know anything good or bad about those hotel brands in those two cities? We like relaxing hotels, though I know a lot depends on what's going on at the time. I'd always avoid "W" hotels, for instance; my sense is that they're too "happening" for people who relish peace and quiet.

Many thanks for suggestions.

We really enjoyed The Cotton House in Barcelona, part of the Autograph Collection. Newly opened, great staff, interesting building.

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London is a big city - is there a particular area that you prefer?

FYI - as someone who travels to London quite frequently, depending on the time of year you are traveling, either the hotels can be extremely expensive or there may be great promotions in which case it is not wise to use the amount of points required.

gnomie :)

I appreciate the two responses, and gnomie, that's a good point you make — I'd not thought of it. Our trip, though, will be in early June, probably not a time when there are many promotions. I don't know what area we'd prefer to be in, just somewhere that's not real bustling/noisy. And we love gardens.

Islandhalls: Cotton House looks wonderful. But to get a king bed, we'd have to pay a bunch of money, in addition to lots of points, so it's out of our reach. Lovely-seeming place though.

London - The Dukes. Barcelona - The Palace. Both quiet. But both pricey.

Hi Poss - In my "former life" (while working for a living), I (like Gnomie) traveled quite often to London. Most of my business was over at/near the American Embassy (formerly located in Grosvenor Square) in the Mayfair district of London.

That's probably not traditionally considered by most to be a "quiet" part of London but it's a quite "posh" and dignified area - and - actually it is pretty quiet. Not near Piccadilly, the east end, or the docks. Actually, if you walk just a few short blocks off of Oxford and Bond Streets, and a block or two away from Hyde Park, it's a lovely area of the city and I discovered many little "secret parks" and "off-the-beaten-path" quiet places, over the many years I went there, to sit on a park bench and just "absorb" the feel of the city. I loved it.

Off to the side of Grosvernor Square is the Marriott Hotel. That's where I booked most often. Just a short 2-3 block walk towards Hyde Park and Park Lane is the London Marriott, and just a bit more of a walk would be the Grosvernor House (Marriott, as well), also on Parklane. All 3 properties are Marriott's and a short walk to Hydepark, Marble Arch, and all the shopping on Oxford Street. All 3 are close to the Bond Street Underground Station. Once you get inside the actual hotels, they are all very quiet with pleasant and relaxing lounges and modern rooms.

Inexpensive......Hell No! this is London! But as far as hotels go in London, they are all top notch properties.

As others have mentioned, if you "shop the specials", and book as a true/blue loyal Marriott Rewards member, you can get (slightly) discounted rates. They even offer "senior citizen" rates. Inside the Grosvernor House, you will find the JW Steakhouse, which in my opinion serves the very best American-style filets and steaks you'll find anywhere in London (or all of England, for that matter). The restaurant is an easy walk from all 3 of the Marriott properties I mentioned.

Out of the 3 hotels, my preference was always the Marriott Grosvenor, right in Grosvernor Square. And dollar for dollar, I always felt the "best value" was to book an Executive Room/suite on one of the upper floors, which gave you included access to the Executive Lounge on the ground floor of the hotel. The lounge offers complimentary buffet breakfast, complimentary beer/wine/cocktails and snacks in the afternoon, and complimentary drinks and desert later in the evening. The complimentary meals and drinks offered in the Executive Lounge, which would be included with your Executive Suite, more than offsets the added cost of having to pay "extra" for those meals/drinks elsewhere.

The Executive suites are large, nicely decorated, and very comfortable. Booking online with your Marriott Rewards membership will get you a discount. You will also receive a discount for multiple nights. I highly recommend all 3 hotels.

Poss - I got to thinking about it, and if you're willing to try a hotel other than a Marriott property, you could save a bit of money. I would also recommend the The Cumberland Hotel (this is a "Guoman Hotel Property") which, like the 3 Marriott's I mentioned is near Park Lane and Oxford Streets in the West End/Mayfair districts. I have actually stayed at the Cumberland several times, as well. It is near Marble Arch and near some very good Lebanese and Chinese restaurants, which you can easily walk to from the hotel. You can also get a fantastic traditional "English Breakfast" at the Cumberland....eggs, sausage, mushrooms, grilled tomatoes, muffins, etc. Yum!

The hotel has recently been completely renovated and the rooms and facilities are pretty modern. Again, I would consider booking an "Executive" room, for a relatively small upgrade in price, which entitles you to use the Executive Lounge with complimentary drinks and snacks offered throughout the day.

You'll find the Executive (and all) rooms/suites at the Cumberland to be about HALF the cost of the rooms at the 3 Marriott properties I mentioned. If you want a good, clean, comfortable, modern hotel to stay in - without the price of "Marriott" tacked onto it. The Cumberland would be very good value for the money.

And from the Cumberland, you are still within easy walking distance of the JW Steakhouse at the Marriott (just down Park Lane from the Cumberland) and also the Bond Street and Marble Arch Underground Stations. Best Regards.

A bit off topic, but quickly answer this question, all our time in London the bacon is so wet and greasy can you get crisp bacon? I have asked but never got it.

Malbec - That's like asking me if you can get a really cold beer? Answer to both is, "No". :D:D Their bacon, although I like it, is more like what I would call "Canadian Bacon" here (U.S.). Never have seen it in long thin strips like ours and never, never crispy.

The British might consider it "over done" if it was served crispy. I've certainly had no problem getting rid of many pints of British beer, either, but it's never served as cold as ours. In fact, if it was too much colder than the way they currently serve it, it might lose some of the distinctive flavor that it has. Best Regards

Thank you. Same in Amsterdam when they take the froth off the beer and it is never as cold as the US beers in frosted mug, ok, back to topic but thank you for sharing.

Cheers

Good advice pingpong, especially re the Grosvenor Square Marriott, which I think is preferable to the rather more out on a limb Park Lane properties. I might add the St Ermins to the list worthy of consideration too.

Malbecwine your question re bacon and beer is rather like me asking if you have "proper" bread in the USA, but don't get me started,

Malbecwine your question re bacon and beer is rather like me asking if you have "proper" bread in the USA, but don't get me started,

.................... or real cheese ;p

Unfortunately many London hotels are overpriced, have very small rooms and offer poor service.

I have no specific recommendations, but do your research carefully before booking

Oh, the Cumberland Hotel holds a special place in my heart because that is where my parents spent their honeymoon (after meeting on a blind date and getting married ten days later!) I have spent hundreds of nights (including last month) at the Cumberland, through the many renovations. The location is great for traveling around London (and PingPong is correct, their English breakfast is excellent), but if reading Poss's question correctly, he is looking for a quiet hotel and that is not the Cumberland which has become a massive tourist hotel with lots of groups and their executive lounge can sometimes be so busy that it is impossible to find a seat. The immediate neighborhood is busy and noisy (it is sitting on top of the Marble Arch tube station which is always busy). The Cumberland is in the process of being converted to a Hard Rock Hotel (if you are a fan of Jimi Hendrix, they have a special room for you!) so my days at the Cumberland may be limited.

Poss mentioned he is traveling in June - now, most of the time, A/C is not necessary in London but this past summer was unusually hot and I know (I was there) that the Cumberland had trouble with their A/C - I have found that the American branded hotels generally put A/C on the top of the list of important amenities and during this past summer had fewer problems than some of the other UK properties.

Also be aware that the beginning of June is the Trooping of the Colour - the celebration of the Queen's birthday with a parade (although her birthday is in April, it is celebrated in June when the weather is generally nicer) - in 2019 it is scheduled for June 8th. The reason this is important is due to heightened security, roads will be closed around the parade route and if you are traveling during this period, you may want to avoid staying in the area. However, if you want to see an impressive parade (one thing the UK is great at is pageantry) you may want to watch it. You can also be tickets for some of the viewings.

If you are keen on staying at a Marriott property, I am going to second PingPong's recommendation for the Marriott Grosvenor Square, it is is a great neighborhood and a short walk to the Bond Street tube station (which is on the Central and Jubilee line and provides easy access to almost anywhere in London), shopping and parks. This is also one of our go-to hotels while in London ( I will be staying here later this month) and also recommend booking an executive room. The two property restaurants, the maze which is French and the maze grill, which is like a NY steakhouse are both good places to eat. It is a great walking neighborhood and since it is also a residential area, provides a taste of upper class London.

If you are willing to look outside of the Marriott/Starwood brand, I can highly recommend The Beaumont, one of our favorite hotels in London. It is a boutique hotel also located in the Mayfair section of London and is an oasis in a big city. It is expensive, but there are often promotion,s i.e. stay three nights, get one free - we will staying there later on this year. It is among the group of hotels for the Fine hotels and resorts program under Amex platinum which has some great promotions for this property, but our TA has also provided us with some great promotions for The Beaumont.

As has been mentioned before, London is EXPENSIVE! I live in NYC and find London expensive and when my family from London visits me, they think everything is inexpensive so it is all relative. A general rule of thumb, whatever it costs in US dollars it cost in pound Sterling, i.e. if it cost $5.00 dollars, it will cost 5 pounds, Currently, the exchange rate is about $1.30 so consider many items 30% more expensive. The hotels recommended are in the Mayfair section of London which is considered quite posh, so the prices will reflect that. That being said, a short tube ride away will bring you to many lovely neighborhoods with wonderful restaurants and pubs that are less expensive.

I will try to answer any other questions you may have about London, however, although I have a traveled to Barcelona a few times, I have never stayed at a Marriott/Starwood property so I cannot help you there.

gnomie :)

Gnomie, I agree 100% with your observations of The Cumberland and fear The Beaumont will be too pricy. An alternative Marriott property could be the former County Hall, by Westminster Bridge and opposite Parliament. I believe our son puts up visiting colleagues there and he speaks well of it.

Talking expensive, though, I write from Zürich which is in another league altogether :eek:

Gnomie - Thanks very much for the additional and updated insight. I have stayed at the Marriott properties more recently than The Cumberland, and it sounds like things have changed there a bit there. I have not stayed at the Cumberland since it was taken over by the Guoman Group. I think your information is probably more up to date than mine is, as well. My most recent stay was at the Marriott Grosvernor Square (6 months ago) and we ate in Maze a few times and also walked over to the JW Steakhouse a few times for dinner, as well.

For those of us who spent a lot of time at the Embassy (and at US Navy Europe Headquarters - at the corner of 7 N. Audley Street - now closed), the most often used hotel to stay at was the Brittania, directly across the square from the Embassy (with all the flags hanging out front). I believe that recently (not sure how "recently") the name/ownership has changed and it has become "The Millennium". You might know something about that as well. "Back in the day" it was, of course very expensive too (but "Uncle Sam" was paying my bill!), but the rooms were nice and of course, the breakfast superb!

St Ermin’s Hotel. Autograph Collection which are Marriott properties. On a quiet street in a large courtyard. Very close to St James Park.

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St Ermin’s Hotel. Autograph Collection which are Marriott properties. On a quiet street in a large courtyard. Very close to St James Park.

 

 

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Quite so. Delightful hotel.

Hotels in London change ownership more often than I purchase new cars.

I have not stayed at the St. Ermin's since the most recent renovation and under Marriott ownership, but I remember the rooms and bathroom being quite small which is typical for London - some Americans may find the room size problematic. It is located on a quite street but more of a walking distance to get to many of the London sights.

The Britannia has changed ownership numerous times and is currently under a major renovation and will reopen in 2019 under the Millennium umbrella as "Leng's Mayfair". I remember staying there in the 1980's when it was owned by ICH group and meeting many American and military officials "on business" either at breakfast or in the pub.

gnomie :)

I’m an American I stayed at St Ermin’s last year. I always read the description of room type. I recommend anyone considering do the same. Also know the brand Autograph Collection which is our preference as type of hotel. As everything you pay for what you get. We paid cash not points. If paying points I don’t know which class of room would be assigned.

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Oh, THANK YOU, all you lovely people!! What an array of wonderfully detailed and very helpful suggestions and insights. I badly want to explore each of the possibilities — though I suspect that some (all?) may be beyond our budget, as one of you opined. And gnomie, thanks for mentioning the Trouping of the Colour. We like to stay as far from madding crowds as possible, and our flight home would be on June 6 or 7, not a good time to be in Heathrow or London it seems.

The reason I haven't had a chance to explore all of the fine-sounding suggestions is that I've been spending a lot of time/energy trying to get good flights: For some reason I'm having more trouble than for all our past Regent cruises. My husband will turn 89 during the cruise (Barcelona-Southampton, May 20), and non non-stop flights are increasingly difficult for him (especially with the horrible memory of our experience last year coming back from Oslo through Newark to Miami). We may need to scrap this itinerary altogether, which would make me very, very sad, as I was so looking forward to spending some days in the Cotswolds (we usually do Bath pre or post Southampton) and then braving a trip to London for a few days. (We're more country mouse than city mouse.)

Thanks to each of you — VERY much. I will let you know where we wind up staying in London if I can get air to fly.

p.s. Oops — Trooping the Colour!

Hotels in London change ownership more often than I purchase new cars.

 

The Britannia has changed ownership numerous times and is currently under a major renovation and will reopen in 2019 under the Millennium umbrella as "Leng's Mayfair". I remember staying there in the 1980's when it was owned by ICH group and meeting many American and military officials "on business" either at breakfast or in the pub.

 

gnomie :)

Yes, lots of "Business" got conducted in the pub! "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more!" ;p;p

Yes, lots of "Business" got conducted in the pub! "Wink, wink, nudge, nudge, say no more, say no more!" ;p;p

my lips are sealed!

gnomie :)

Poss - I apologize for referring to you as a "he" in my responses.

gnomie :)

hi Poss,

Hope you can make this trip happen for you and your DH. I forget, are you traveling from the West Coast? is that why its difficult to find non non stop flights to Europe? What about if you stopped in NY, or somewhere in the NorthEast for a couple of days on your way there?