Quick review of Great Northern Hotel, coach to SOU and Holiday Inn

[megr1125]

Before I sailed QM2 in November, I spent 3 days in London at the Great Northern Hotel located at Kings Cross/St. Pancras. I flew into LHR from DUB (having spent a few days there too).  

Bought a regular OYSTER card in the airport loading 20 GBP plus the 5 GBP deposit.  Easily took the tube to Kings Cross, left the station and walked to the hotel which is essentially attached.

 

My room there was very nice but VERY small (I expected this) with insufficient storage. (did not expect this).  As a top tier Marriott member, I did have free breakfast each day.  Plum+Spilt Milk is the restaurant and while the food was passable, they use a dumbwaiter to get the meals from the kitchen to the restaurant.  Hence, 2 meals of 3 (all breakfast) were lukewarm at best.  If you stay there and eat in the restaurant, get the French Toast (Called, IIRC, Eggy Bread)...that was hot and delicious.

The little pantries on each floor in the hotel are handy BUT they were only replenished once per day (countless other comments said they were replenished multiple times per day. When I asked several people about this, I got a lot of "well, I don't know....")  Frankly, it was fine but the cake that was put out at 8AM was a mess by noon, and it wasn't replaced.  Also, on more than 1 occasion, the milk in the espresso machine had gone bad.

 

The hotel was convenient for getting around but I wouldn't go back. I expected better service and a room that at least had a place to put my luggage, and for me to do some work.  This didn't happen.  Again, I expected a small room, but I also expected it to be functional.

 

As I only had a short time in London, I wanted a quick tour and toyed with a HOHO bus.  Several people suggested taking the cheaper, non-HOHO Megabus 2 hour city tour.  Well worth the ~7 GBP or so (it was really inexpensive).  The tour is recorded but there are 2 different voices and a bit of banter so it holds your interest. (At least it held mine, which is more than I can say for a HOHO in Dublin that was supposed to be live narration but wasn't...that's a whole other story).  It was great to see where things were and to get the lay of the land.  I intended to see more but it was cold and dreary and I would do some things and just run out of gas.  BTW I preferred the regular public buses to the Tube too.  Easier to get to, and you get to see stuff while you're riding.

 

I took a car service that the hotel called for me, to Victoria Coach Station to get on National Express to SOU.  (At this point, I'd been reunited with my shipped-to-London-in-advance suitcase so public transit wasn't happening.) The fare was approx. 30 GBP but there was a but of discussion on this.  Anyway, I'd been told by the hotel that I could pay the 30 GBP by credit card so that's what happened.  The driver actually didn't realize I hadn't paid so, here I am, on the corner outside the bus station, using the driver's cell to call the office to pay for the ride.  Yikes.

 

National Express was fine but I wouldn't do that again either.  The bus was too hot (subjective, I know) and I was somewhat motion sick (nauseous but that's all), likely due to winding roads and lots of turns til we got out of London. Next time, I'll send the big suitcase all the way to SOU and take the train.  Once I arrived at the bus terminal in SOU, I had a hard time getting a cab or Uber to my hotel.  Finally, one stopped to drop off passengers and he drove me to the Holiday Inn.  The last 15 minutes or so of the ride, getting through town, were an eternity. I actually could have walked to my hotel but, compulsive overpacker that I am, no way that was going to happen.

 

The Holiday Inn was fine for a night and it was close to West Quay, a little store called, IIRC, Welcome COOP (which is under/attached to the Premier Inn, which in turn is also attached to the under construction Moxy.  It was clean and comfortable if somewhat older and showing signs of heavy wear and tear.  I'd looked at a number of other hotels before this including White Star Tavern, Pig in the Wall and the Room2.  While on a map, all of them seemed very far away, as I was in the cab to the pier, I saw the Room2 and I passed Pig in the Wall on one of my walks.  Next time, I'll stay at Room2 as it was a lot closer to the pier, and what appeared to be lots of interesting places to shop, eat and browse.

 

West Quay did have places to shop and eat, but I felt like I was missing something by staying in that part of town, as opposed to staying in the old city.  Southampton looks like it has enough to keep me occupied for a day so if I sail from there again, I'll spend 2 days before the cruise.

 

The Holiday Inn has a tablet where you can order a car to the pier which was really handy.  The cost was very low, around 7 GBP I think.  I will say that boarding the ship was very easy and smooth, one of the best embarkations I've ever had!  Maybe it was just luck but it was very simple and well organized.

 

If you have any questions, I'll try and answer.  Just wanted to give some feedback.

Edited December 3, 2019 by megr1125

[tartanexile81]

Thank you for posting this.  I have to say (sorry!) that  I'm not keen on the location of Room2. Oxford Street can get quite loud at night and  most of the restaurants are national fast-food chains. To me, Premier Inn West Quay is perfect with the Co-op downstairs, Marks and Spencer, Asda, Waitrose and John Lewis (plus LOADS of other shops)  just across the road and handy for my nail bar and various restaurants. It's also a 5 minute walk to the city walls.  i wouldn't book anywhere else tbh

[Post Captain]

Meg ~

 

Thanks for posting this interesting report.  I'm glad everything worked out well on your trip in spite of the unexpected "adventures."  As I recall, I gave you some advice re. London hotels some months ago--I think you originally were considering the Xenia and one other hotel before you chose the Great Northern, which I said was a fine choice location-wise.  But I realized after the fact that I should have mentioned the crowds that throng the streets and sidewalks [pavement] around Kings Cross and St Pancras stations... 

 

I think the size of London hotel rooms is always a bit of an issue, especially in older buildings--even those that have been modernized/upgraded/"re-imagined" (ugh!).  I recall a few decades ago my mother saying that her room in what was then the grand and historic Russell Hotel (recently completely revamped, and now reopened as the Kimpton Fitzroy) was the size of a broom closet, and I'm told that some of the rooms in the fabulously upscale and expensive St Pancras Renaissance aren't substantially larger than those in the budget Georgian B&Bs on Gower Street, Bloomsbury. And single travellers always get stuck in the pokiest rooms. But you are certainly right to expect a certain level of amenities and service at that price. 

 

(Digression: I'm a famously frugal [aka "notoriously cheap"] traveller, but I keep telling myself that one of these days I'll treat myself to a room at the Apex Temple Court instead of the Ibis Earls Court.😁)

 

Interesting write-up of your Southampton stay too.  Given that I've sailed in or out of Southampton more times than I can count, I've only just realized that I've never actually stayed in the city.  (I have a few secret bolt-holes out toward Winchester, in the New Forest, and on the Isle of Wight.😉)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[megr1125]

38 minutes ago, Post Captain said:

Meg ~

 

Thanks for posting this interesting report.  I'm glad everything worked out well on your trip in spite of the unexpected "adventures."  As I recall, I gave you some advice re. London hotels some months ago--I think you originally were considering the Xenia and one other hotel before you chose the Great Northern, which I said was a fine choice location-wise.  But I realized after the fact that I should have mentioned the crowds that throng the streets and sidewalks [pavement] around Kings Cross and St Pancras stations... 

 

I think the size of London hotel rooms is always a bit of an issue, especially in older buildings--even those that have been modernized/upgraded/"re-imagined" (ugh!).  I recall a few decades ago my mother saying that her room in what was then the grand and historic Russell Hotel (recently completely revamped, and now reopened as the Kimpton Fitzroy) was the size of a broom closet, and I'm told that some of the rooms in the fabulously upscale and expensive St Pancras Renaissance aren't substantially larger than those in the budget Georgian B&Bs on Gower Street, Bloomsbury. And single travellers always get stuck in the pokiest rooms. But you are certainly right to expect a certain level of amenities and service at that price. 

 

(Digression: I'm a famously frugal [aka "notoriously cheap"] traveller, but I keep telling myself that one of these days I'll treat myself to a room at the Apex Temple Court instead of the Ibis Earls Court.😁)

 

Interesting write-up of your Southampton stay too.  Given that I've sailed in or out of Southampton more times than I can count, I've only just realized that I've never actually stayed in the city.  (I have a few secret bolt-holes out toward Winchester, in the New Forest, and on the Isle of Wight.😉)

 

 

 Yes I was considering others but the rate I got at GNH was the best at the time.  I didn't dislike the hotel, just the design of the room. Small rooms can be workable, this wasn't.

 

I did walked into the lobby at the PI in SOU but it was REALLY small and very crowded, with fellow cruisers.  I guess I'd rather take my chances with some noise and be closer.

All in all though it was a wonderful trip and I'm appreciative of the advice I got here and elsewhere on the interwebs.

 

38 minutes ago, Post Captain said:

 

 

 

 

 

[picsa]

On 12/3/2019 at 9:14 PM, megr1125 said:

Before I sailed QM2 in November, I spent 3 days in London at the Great Northern Hotel located at Kings Cross/St. Pancras.

 

As someone who travels through St Pancras every morning and Kings Cross every evening, I am not sure I would recommend staying in that location for a short trip to London.

 

The area is not as bad as it was a few years back, when if you strayed even a hundred yards from the station you would be asked if you were "looking for business", but with the exception of the restaurants up at Granary Square, there is not a lot to recommend it around there in the evening.

 

And if you are visiting the theatres or museums, It is a good 25 to 30 minute walk to the West End (or a tube, bus, taxi, or Uber ride).

 

As for the food in the Plum+Spilt Milk, when I have eaten there in the evening it has been fine.

Edited December 11, 2019 by picsa