London has long awaited the development of a Park Hyatt property and now, with the London River Thames, it has one well worth the wait.
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Location
This brand new build on the South bank of the River Thames is well located near attractions like Battersea Power Station (home to a Christmas-themed park around the holidays), the London Eye, the MI5 Headquarters, and is next door to the brand new American Embassy. By car, the hotel was about a 60-minute ride from Heathrow into Central London, but for moving around the city, Vauxhall station is a five-minute walk with access to the Victoria line calling at Euston station (for domestic UK trains), and Oxford Street station for easy shopping.
Address: 7 Nine Elms Ln, Nine Elms, London SW8 5PH
Phone: +44 20 350 31234
Property
This Park Hyatt hotel stands up to the brand, tradition, design, and quality travelers have come to expect. Beautiful finishes, opulent, tall ceilings, and the Nine Elms Bar that greets guests somehow convey iconic London charm, blended with modernity. On the main floor the hotel features the Nine Elms Kitchen (serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner), and a Cantonese restaurant, Yú Gé with dim sum and its Signature Peking Duck.
Frankie kept us busy in the lobby but the staff were great, welcoming, and playful.
Of note, reservations for this property must reflect all human beings checking in due to occupancy regulations. I left Frankie off our headcount because he’s under two years old and typically this is inconsequential. This was my mistake and after our inbound flight and a bit of jet lag, it was an unwelcome surprise.
However, we had booked a Hyatt Privé rate with an included upgrade and this gave management some flexibility to place us in a favorable room category to solve the mess I had made. I booked a second room using points to meet the headcount requirements, but hotel management ensured we were placed in a Park Hyatt River View Deluxe Suite adjacent to our second room in an area that was closed off to the rest of the hallway. I cannot reiterate how helpful, gracious, and generous staff was in sorting this matter out.
Spa/Fitness Center
The hotel features a spa and fitness center, both of which were reminiscent of the Park Hyatt New York. A large reception with consultation tables offered guests to the spa a place to relax before selecting their treatment.
In the gym, a number of cardio machines were available (we went late to take photos to avoid disturbing other guests, but there was still one at the free weights we did our best to shoot around.)
Benefits
Our Hyatt Privé rate offers a little more than World of Hyatt Globalist (£80 on-site food and beverage benefit) in addition to the upgrade, early check-in, late check-out, and included breakfast for two in the hotel restaurant. As I have already covered the upgrade, I’ll add that we were able to check-in early and check-out late to suit our needs.
Breakfast
We were in residence for two nights, and thus, two breakfasts. On the first morning we were given menus without pricing included which makes sense as it is included in our rate. However, the children are not included (unlike Globalists) and so the prices were relevant so that we knew how much of our on-site credit we were using.
The second morning we were given the menu with prices included for a five-star hotel in Central London, it seemed reasonably fair to us. Over the two days we ordered omelets, pancakes, honey butter toast (not quite french toast but somewhat similar), an Acai bowl, a grilled croissant, and the Park Hyatt signature Eggs Benedict.
Seating is a combination of quiet booths along the far wall in addition to tables around the rest of the venue with an open kitchen model.
The continental breakfast included smoked salmon, charcuterie, fresh fruit, a selection of pastries, yogurt and cheeses.
The food was exceptionally prepared with one minor deficiency: the acai bowl needed to thaw some as that seemed to be prepared in advance.
Park Suite River View Deluxe
We had the Park Suite River View Deluxe in room 1008, and an accompanying twin bed room in 1007.
Living Room
Walking into the suite, a wardrobe is to the left and a guest bathroom featuring a Japanese bidet toilet to the right. A large TV was mostly ignored in favor of the gorgeous floor-to-ceiling windows and the parquet flooring. As you can see below, the mix of classic London style meets modern amenities like the chandelier.
A welcome amenity (Hyatt Privé benefit) awaited us consisting of some fresh Mandarin oranges, two iced Madeleine cookies, a bottle of wine, and a welcome letter from the hotel leisure sales manager.
A hutch with a mini-fridge was opposite a dining room table with seats for two.
Our kids made themselves at home and I remember how fortunate they are to play together in this incredible suite, and how fortunate I am to have these two joyous children to share the world with.
The suite had a guest bathroom with Japanese bidet toilet which I really appreciate because many properties, even at this level, wouldn’t bother to include the upgraded toilet. The second bathroom is helpful when guests visit to allow them a restroom without walking through our personal space.
Bedroom
The bedroom featured a king size bed, TV, and chaise lounge at the foot all put to shame by those beautiful windows. Convenient plugs were at the bedside along with lighting controls for the room.
Bathroom
The bathroom suite was as impressive as the rest of the room. A large walk-in closet was opposite a dual vanity. At the back of the bathroom was a clawfoot tub, followed by a shower, and a private, closed-door water closet for the principal residents.
In this otherwise flawless suite, we did find that the bathtub faucet leaked considerably though this is easily fixed and won’t reduce our likelihood to return. The hotel uses Molton Brown toiletries and while I understand they may revise this in the future, I found the products to be premium and enjoyable.
Park Twin River View
Regrettably, still photos of our second room, the Park Twin River View were missing other than the one below taken in the early evening.
However, my daughter saved the day as she had done her own video walk-through which captured the entire suite. Please see the video below.
Value
Our Hyatt Privé room for the lead-in category was £470/night or about $600 USD. I do not expect rates to remain at those levels and an increase is justified. We found rates that averaged about £460-550 for many off-peak nights but during the holiday period, rates increase. As the hotel begins to fill with regularity, I suspect that rates will climb. World of Hyatt point redemptions start at 30,000 per night. Live And Let’s Fly values WOH points at about 2¢/point so this was in-line with what we would hope to achieve from a redemption. If prices drop, consider spending cash, if they rise about the equivalent of $600, use your points to pay for your stay.
There’s no question we will be back. The service, staff, design, finishes, amenities, and spacious accommodations exceeded our expectations – you won’t be disappointed.
“reservations for this property must reflect all human beings checking in due to occupancy regulations. “ This is the same all over Europe and I find this ridiculous. Had to book 2 rooms once because we had 3 people but one was a 3 year old kid. I understand they don’t want 4 adults in a room but most hotels in Europe have no flexibility at all for young kids.
@Santastico – In most cases, even in Europe, we haven’t had the same headcount challenge, but I can also appreciate that if this is the occupancy law of the land then they should follow it. And I own the fact that I didn’t put him down, it just didn’t cross my mind. But they handled it really well with grace and compassion and helped us find a path that made it a great stay.
@Santastico … Never heard of this .
@Alert: you mean the occupancy regulations in Europe? It had always been there. When you book a room , it tells very specifically how many people can be in that room and it is most often only two. If you try to search for 3 people for example, the hotels will either say “sold out” (unless you select 2 rooms) or will only show suites. That happened to me many times even when we had small children. Also, in the US you can usually check in and nobody checks how many people will be in the room and they don’t even need to be with you to check in. In Europe, they make copies of all passports from everyone staying so much more difficult to bypass that.
@Santastico … Must I also declare my secondary alter-ego personality ?
I don’t know how you can say this property is well-located. It is AT LEAST a 30-minute walk (at a very brisk pace) to the London Eye, another 35 minutes to the Palace of Westminster (Parliament) and maybe 60 minutes to Borough Market. With the exception of travelers doing business at the American Embassy, this is an awful location.
Ever heard of the Tube?
In many cases, London’s underground isn’t an option for anyone staying at the Park Hyatt who wants to go to major tourist sights. Or if it is an option, it’s not any quicker than walking.
+1
I agree with you. London is like NYC in the sense that location is EVERYTHING. Location is great if you work at the US Embassy, but my guess is that they can’t afford it.
I’ve been to London once or twice and only ventured south of the Thames once. There’s just nothing there.
Objectively, I also don’t think anyone can consider this a legitimate 5-star luxury hotel. London is full of legitimate 5-star luxury hotels. One main bar/restaurant and one speciality restaurant is below what you would expect. And what is it about London Hyatt properties and Chinese restaurants? The Crowne Plaza-turned-Hyatt Regency Blackfriars also has a Chinese restaurant. I’m a little surprised that there isn’t a club lounge.
To me, this hotel’s direct competition is the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House (the old U.S. embassy-contracted hotel) and then probably The Langham, Andaz London, London Edition and soon-to-open St. Regis. I think the JW Marriott Grosvenor House is probably better, although it’s such a huge property that service and room quality does indeed vary. I think there’s no question The Peninsula and Raffles are also better. I anticipate the St. Regis will punch above the Park Hyatt and will almost certainly exceed Grosvenor House. For years, Marriott has operated Grosvenor House at a much higher level than J.W. Marriott properties elsewhere. Probably because Marriott lacked a Ritz-Carlton property in London since the real (and original) Ritz is in London and, at least until recently. it didn’t have a St. Regis flag planted.
Was there no pre-arrival email or personalized welcome letter?
Yes, it’s nice but it’s not 5-star luxury. The furnishings are only a slight improvement from the aforesaid Hyatt Regency Blackfriars. The Molton Brown toiletries are standard. I would expect Floris or Penhaligon’s at a 5-star London hotel.
On a side note, I sure hope the windows are tinted because you can see directly into the rooms of neighboring towers. Presumably, they can see you if the windows aren’t tinted. I really don’t understand why newly built towers don’t use tinted windows. At least inform guests with a discreet placard that you are visible to neighbors,
I should clarify. While the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House is the “old” U.S. Embassy hotel in that it was a block or two away from the embassy at Grosvenor Square, it maintained most, if not all, embassy business after the relocation of the embassy during the first Trump administration. I know the Crowne Plaza-turned-Hyatt Regency Albert Embankment rebranded from IHG because they wanted to get embassy business. But that property is mediocre at best and the owner is very questionable, as View from the Wing has written about.
It is well located if you are in London to visit the MI5 Headquarters or the American Embassy. LOL! Otherwise it is a horrible location.
So Hyatt have opened an expensive new hotel in a pretentious back water of London which is accessible for nothing other than apparently the US embassy which is of no interest to the majority of Londoners or visitors.
I wonder how long it will last.
Oh, and visitors from the third world to Europe should acquaint themselves with occupancy rules before arrival so as not to look fools on check in.
The Park Hyatt will do well if it’s the contracted State Department hotel for embassy business. But as far as I know, the government still defaults to the J.W. Marriott Grosvenor House even though it’s no longer by the embassy. I have a difficult time seeing the Trump administration State Department give business to the Park Hyatt, given Hyatt’s ties to Pritzker.
Good location? It’s a horrible location for anything other than work or meetings in that general area. Which is why rates will remain reasonable for some time. Yes, it’s a good value if you don’t mind schleps to pretty much anywhere.
Also, you might be a bit more careful showing other guests at a property in UK or Europe. Or anywhere for that matter. Especially at higher end properties like this. It’s asking for trouble. Just my two cents.
Your daughter did an excellent job. She has clearly observed you in action. Congratulations to her. And tell her her nail polish rocks.
Remidns me of the Hyatt Regency in La Defence in Paris. Great hotel, terrible tourist location, thus good value for points redemptions if you value comfort and point-value over location.
If you consider a hotel in a hideous tower and with a soulless decor to be good. Who would go to Paris and use points at that kind of place?