Canary Wharf

[3some]

We're considering staying at the Marriott Canary Wharf for our 5 day post cruise London stay. It's definitely cheaper than the tourist area hotels (like Marriott County Hall or Marriott Grosvner where I've stayed on previous visits) and appears to be well located on the tube and Thames water transportation routes. We're in our 70s, so late night entertainment is not a priority except for jazz at Pizza Express or Ronnie Scott's.  Is Canary Wharf a safe area st night? Will transportation times be doable to the more central tourist attractions?

[gumshoe958]

Canary Wharf is off the tourist trail but yes, it’s perfectly safe - indeed arguably very safe as security there is tight due to it being home to several high profile global banks and financial institutions. It was built in the 1980s and 90s as part of a massive regeneration of London’s old docklands and is now a busy financial centre that continues to grow. So by day it’s very busy with office workers. It’s pretty quiet at night although there are plenty of expensive riverside apartments, and there’s a wide selection of restaurants and bars catering for their wealthy residents.

 

It’s well connected to central London with the new Elizabeth line train and the Jubilee line tube both running very frequently until late at night. Both take about 15-20 minutes.
 

There are also regular Thames Clipper riverboat services, as well as the driverless Docklands Light Railway (DLR) which, while slow and not especially handy for central London, offers spectacular views and is worth a ride just for the fun of it.

[Island2Dweller]

That hotel is 20 yards from the DLR station (the West India Quay station) and barely 100 yards from the Canary Wharf Elizabeth line station, so you can be in the West End (the theatre district) in moments.  Trains run until just past midnight (earlier close on Sunday), so you'll have no problems.

Although there is also the Jubilee line, that station is a fair walk from this hotel, so although that is another option, it's not quite so convenient.

Safety just isn't an issue in London.  There are places that I would not advise going to, but those are places that the average tourist will go nowhere near

[John Bull]

Because hotels in the area cater for business travellers, the weekend rates are great value. Possibly weekdays too during the holiday season.

 

As per Gumshoe's post, a safe area.

East of the tourist area, so less convenient to tourist sights (which uses time that's valuable for folk who are in London for only a day or two).  But that's "less-convenient" by London standards, public transport in London is fast and frequent.

 

A perfectly-acceptable location where value-for-money exceeds minor inconvenience, especially since night-life doesn't figure high on your agenda .🙂

 

JB 🙂

[Globaliser]

9 hours ago, gumshoe958 said:

It’s pretty quiet at night although there are plenty of expensive riverside apartments, and there’s a wide selection of restaurants and bars catering for their wealthy residents.

 

The area where the Marriott is will actually be pretty buzzy late into the evenings, because the restaurants and bars both in the building next door on West India Quay and in Crossrail Place (where the Elizabeth Line station is) are all busy places.

 

Because of the Elizabeth Line, this Marriott is now arguably better connected for Ronnie Scott's and Pizza Express Dean Street than many central London hotels in traditional tourist areas.

[3some]

Thanks for all the input. It looks like the place for us. I didn't know about the DLR, which is another benefit.

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, 3some said:

I didn't know about the DLR, which is another benefit.

 

One small point of detail about the DLR. The station next to the hotel is West India Quay. DLR trains go from WIQ towards Bank. You can also go to Tower Gateway if you take a Bank train and change at Westferry. (There are also trains from WIQ towards Stratford, and you can change at Poplar for Beckton or Woolwich Arsenal trains.)

 

However, if you are returning from town, DLR trains do not stop at WIQ: trains towards Lewisham pass through the station, but do not stop there. The official route is to take a Lewisham train, change at Canary Wharf for a Bank or a Stratford train, and backtrack one (short) stop to WIQ. But it's probably better to simply get off at CW and walk back to the hotel (a nice walk). In theory, you could also take any train to Westferry and walk from there. This walk is safe, but it can feel slightly intimidating to anyone who's not familiar with the area; although it can save a little bit of time because three DLR routes serve Westferry, it's usually a pretty small time advantage.