and the winner is…..

So congratulations to Joanna Barlow who has won herself a stay at the London Marriott Hotel Kensington – we are sure she will have a wonderful time and be looked after like princess by the Lovely people at Marriott.
For those not so lucky, keep checking back onto the London Hotel Experts for more chances to win in the coming weeks and months, but for those that can’t wait, why don’t you pop onto lastminute.com to book a break at one of Marriott’s other beautiful hotels in London and beyond.

From today, until the 4th September, if you book and stay for 2 nights you can save 20%, or a 3 night stay would bring you a 30% saving at the London hotels – Even better than that though, if you book and pay with a Visa card and again stay before the 4th September but book at least 7 days in advance, you can save 20% off any weekend stay. Check out this link for the full terms and conditions - I think I might go and book one myself!

We also wanted to bring you this great story that epitomises the spirit, service and creative brilliance of our friends at Marriott Hotels. For 4 days last week, a wonderful team went travelling the length and breadth of the country even venturing to Gay Paris to spread the good word and more importantly give out literally hundreds of ice creams! Of course, their most important stop was the day spent in London, but check out some of their pictures below!

Happy Summer!

Another great chance to win a stay at one of London’s superb Marriott Hotels

Roll up, Roll up, gather round everybody! On this rather dreary day in London the London Hotel Experts are here to brighten up the gloom and give you the chance to win a nights stay at the 4* London Marriott Hotel Kensington. I know, there seems to be no let up in these  wonderful competitions we give you, but it’s in our nature to be this generous. We love love love to bring a little happiness you and I hope that you agree that this is another scorcher!

The great thing about the hotel is that the façade (which as you can see in the picture is absolutely stunning), sets the standard for the rest of the property. As you walk in, the lobby is a beacon of light with wide open spaces that will literally lift your mood in seconds. You get a great feeling of activity and life as you enter the lobby, the public areas are full of people enjoying their coffee, catching up on meetings, eating at the newly refurbished restaurant and setting off to explore London.

That’s another great thing about the hotel, it’s location. Located on Cromwell Road,you are a hop skip and a jump from Gloucester Road tube station which means you can get into central London on the Piccadilly Line in around 10 minutes and you can use the District Line from the same station to take you across to the Tower of London in around 25 minutes, perfect! You also have right on your doorstep the Natural history Museum, Science Museum and many others meaning that you are never stuck for anything to do!

The London Marriott Hotel Kensington has also recently undergone a refurbishment of it’s restaurant and the lucky winner will be able to experience breakfast in it on the morning of the departure. The new Atrium restaurant offers a lovely menu and features only the finest British beef prepared with both imagination and authenticity. This is all set as I say under one of Europe’s largest hung glass roof Atriums and means it is a real rival to any restaurant in London.

So to be in with a chance of winning a nights stay with breakfast at the new Atrium restaurant, all you have to do is go onto the London Hotel Experts facebook page and answer the following question.

If you could build a new Marriott Hotel anywhere in the World, where would it be and why.

Entries will close at 5pm on Thursday – GOOD LUCK!

A London hotel refurbishment that’s more than just a lick of paint

When you hear about a hotel having a ‘refurbishment’ what do you think of…a new coat of paint? new curtains maybe? at a push new bedding? Well when I tell you about this particular hotel refurbishment forget all of that, I am talking about a FULL makeover…in fact pretty much a brand new hotel!

And what hotel is this? I hear you ask…well it’s the super, fantastic, amazing and downright wonderful St Ermin’s Hotel which is located right by St James Park in the desirable SW1 postcode. The beautiful, grade II listed building was closed for 4 months while teams of builders, architects and designers worked their magic behind the scenes to unveil a great 4 star deluxe product. This was credit crunch makeover either, they’ve spent a whopping £30 million taking care of every little detail from the magnificent ballroom to the fluffy white robes in every room.

The hotel already benefits from a great location, right by a St James Park underground station, many of London’s tourist attractions (Houses of Parliament/London Eye etc) are in walking distance and it’s right near our offices (ok so that’s probably not important to you). But now it is so much more than just a convenient location…

The first thing you can’t fail to notice when you walk up (if you’d been to the hotel before that is) is that there is no longer a car park greeting you, now there is a pretty garden area which is already starting to bloom. Worry not, if you are bring a car, they now have valet parking. The building itself is totally transformed with warm inviting creams, purples and greens…funky vases and pictures, comfy sofas and bouncy new carpets.

The rooms are spacious and comfortable, little touches make you feel a world away from the hustle and bustle of London from the robes and slippers in every room to the little bee shaped chocolate on your pillow to the White Company products in the powerful shower. All the rooms also have large flat screen TV’s, MP3 docking station, mini bar, 24 hour room service (with no tray charge…a rarity in London!) as well as all the usual hotel amenities. I doubt very much that you will be disappointed.

Whether you are staying at the hotel or not, you should try our their new restaurant, The Caxton Grill. The feeling of the restaurant is, like the rest of the hotel, very stylish. The food is modern European using locally sourced produce where possible, including fresh fish for the catch of the day which had been caught not 24 hours before serving. Look out for the kebabs…which are a far cry from your local take out, or try the very yummy strawberry desert, complete with Procesco and popping candy!

All in all you will be pleasantly surprised with this fantastic refurbishment, the service levels remain as high as they always were and the staff are very proud of their new hotel…as they should be!