Which would you prefer for a 3 night stay in London?

[bluecruisin]

It looks like we might have enough Marriott Rewards points for a 3 night stay. We are looking at either the Residence Inn at London Bridge or Residence Inn in Kensington. Which would be better? We will be traveling via taxi, so no need for proximity to public transport. We would like a safe area with cafes/dining  within a block's walk. thanks for your help.

[Globaliser]

The "London Bridge" one would be better for your dining criterion,  as there are plenty of places on Bermondsey Street. But you need to be aware that it's nowhere near London Bridge, and I wouldn't recommend being too adventurous in where you walk from there. Stick to the busier areas around Bermondsey Square and up Bermondsey Street, and you should be fine.

[SparklyPinkCruiser]

I don't think you can go wrong. We stayed in the Kensington area and loved it there. But next time we want to try being closer to the "action". The Kensington area has so many wonderful places to walk around and enjoy. 🙂

[Twickenham]

Well, the RI Kensington for purely nostalgic reasons, as it's just down the road from the hotel we stayed on our first ever trip to London. I do still quite like the Kensington area, and it also has the advantage of being beside a giant Tesco supermarket if you want to utilize the cooking facilities.

 

Of course, there are plenty of Marriott options closer to the action, but you're probably talking double points.

[bluecruisin]

Twickenham, We were looking at RI because of the points level and Complimentary breakfast. I would be interested in other Marriott properties also to consider. Thanks again to all.

[GlennaRoseGoes]

I feel Kensington is isolated, but might not be a big deal if you take taxis exclusively. I really wanted to comment on the use of Marriott points......I don’t know if redeeming them for 3 nights is a good deal. I think if you redeem 4 nights, you get a 5th night free. Food for thought if your travel plans allow. 

[elaine5]

We stayed in both this summer pre and post cruise. We liked Kensington better. Esp if using taxis. London bridge did not have soundproof windows and we got a bad sleep. We walked everywhere and used buses. London bridge has a bus that drops at front door and goes to Waterloo and imperial war museum. There’s a grocery on the same block. 

Edited February 22, 2019 by elaine5

[markeb]

What’s your Bonvoy status?  What category and points level are you looking at?

 

Our current favorite is the Marriott Park Lane. I believe it’s a category 8. I’m also Titanium in the new system, so get lounge access, and theirs is great. Adjacent to Marble Arch, Hyde Park, and the Tube. If you don’t have platinum status, you’d be paying for breakfast. 

[Morgans]

Just be aware that neither properties are very central at all - the Kensington one is a good distance out to the west and the London Bridge one is south of the river and not in the best of areas. I think the hotel description says it is in the City of London but it is no way near. You will be spending a lot of money on taxis especially if you wish to travel into central London - perhaps you can use your points for a more central location?

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, Morgans said:

... the London Bridge one is south of the river and not in the best of areas. I think the hotel description says it is in the City of London but it is no way near.

 

That's an outrageous lie. It's bad enough for the ASA.

[cft8]

We stayed in Kensington last summer (a bit down the road from that hotel, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt closer to Gloucester Road). I didn't find it inconvenient at all. We were close to several things we wanted to see - Kensington Palace & Gardens, the V&A museum, and Harrods. We mostly took the Tube, but it was also easy to get a taxi or bus along Cromwell Road. 

 

Some people in our group were at the London Marriott Hotel Kensington. I know they stayed there because they had points. They said the breakfast wasn't that good - they came down to our hotel and ate breakfast most days. 

 

There are several good places to eat on Gloucester Road. We enjoyed The Stanhope Arms & The Hereford Arms (I liked this better than Stanhope, but both were good). Also the restaurant in the Radisson was excellent. There is a Nando's which is one of my favorite fast casual places. If you do want to eat breakfast out, Caffe Forum is excellent (it looks like kind of a dive, but the food & coffee are amazing). The pizza at Pizza Express is solid. The one place we ate in that area that I would skip is Garfunkle's. 

[Globaliser]

1 hour ago, cft8 said:

We stayed in Kensington last summer (a bit down the road from that hotel, at the Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt closer to Gloucester Road). I didn't find it inconvenient at all.

 

That's because the two hotels aren't really just "a bit down the road" from each other. They're a mile apart, perhaps 20 minutes walking at a normal pace (and sometimes about that long by car if the traffic is bad). That Radisson is pretty much across the road from Gloucester Road Tube, hence all the places you mention were convenient for you.

 

The Residence Inn is a completely different kettle of fish. It's much more than "a block's walk" to Gloucester Road.

[cft8]

33 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

 

That's because the two hotels aren't really just "a bit down the road" from each other. They're a mile apart, perhaps 20 minutes walking at a normal pace (and sometimes about that long by car if the traffic is bad). That Radisson is pretty much across the road from Gloucester Road Tube, hence all the places you mention were convenient for you.

 

The Residence Inn is a completely different kettle of fish. It's much more than "a block's walk" to Gloucester Road.

I apologize to the OP - I missed the "a block's walk" specification for restaurants/cafes. I did look at the map to see where the Residence Inn was, since Kensington is a relatively large area (and because I knew some of my group stayed at a Marriott, though it turns out it was a different one), so I knew it was a mile. That's walkable for me, and so in the range of "a bit down the road." (I'm from the south; "down the road" is always relative! 🙂 )

 

I also meant, but obviously didn't make clear, that I didn't find that are to be removed from the action in that there were sights we wanted to see nearby.

[Globaliser]

5 minutes ago, cft8 said:

I also meant, but obviously didn't make clear, that I didn't find that are to be removed from the action in that there were sights we wanted to see nearby.

 

Certainly, if you're next to Gloucester Road Tube then it's a pretty convenient location for a lot of things.

[WaterView2]

The OP mentioned that they will be using taxis in London, I found the Gett taxi app useful there. It is sort of like Uber for taxis- you register and then can request, track and pay for the taxi through the app. The driver can communicate with you and update his location as well. Not all taxis participate but when we stayed in Kensington last summer there seemed to be plenty that were in the system.

[geoherb]

We stayed at the Hilton Olympia in Kensington two years ago. It's a few blocks from the Residence Inn. We walked a lot of places from there--the Victoria and Albert Museum, Kensington Palace, and Harrods. They're within a couple of miles of that hotel. There were plenty of little restaurants nearby, including a very nice Japanese one called the Hare and Tortoise. We  took buses to go to Trafalgar Square and the attractions around it.

 

[LuckyStar]

On 2/20/2019 at 5:23 PM, bluecruisin said:

It looks like we might have enough Marriott Rewards points for a 3 night stay. We are looking at either the Residence Inn at London Bridge or Residence Inn in Kensington. Which would be better? We will be traveling via taxi, so no need for proximity to public transport. We would like a safe area with cafes/dining  within a block's walk. thanks for your help.

We loved the Kensington area when we were there.  I would stay in that area again.  We loved the park around Kensington Palace and it was an easy walk to get there.  Found lots of fun pubs and restaurants near there.  Discovered Hard Cider.  A great trip.  🙂

[bluecruisin]

I appreciate everyone's help so much. We have decided on Kensington as they have an option for 2 twin beds, not just a standard double bed, which would be too cramped. If anyone has anymore tips on that area that would be great!

[prudence passenger]

We rented an apartment through London Perfect in Kensington and loved the area.  We went to Hyde Park and walked all the way to Speakers Corner and Marble Arch.  Serpentine Sackler Gallery a fun stop.  We saw Kensington Palace.  We went to a concert at Royal Albert Hall.  Went to V&A museum, there is a Dior exhibit through September, it was just extended.  There is a fabulous Science Museum, my DH liked it so much he went back twice.  It was easy for us to walk and use the tube.  Then you can go anywhere.  Or take a taxi.  We thought it was a lovely area to stay, very residential, and you can go downtown and have hustle and bustle whenever you wish.  Enjoy your trip

Judi