Park Plaza London Westminster Bridge

I’ve now stayed close to three weeks at the Park Plaza Westminster bridge location and overall, I think it’s a wonderful option for anyone visiting London. There are quite a few upsides. While not ‘cheap,’ – for its location and amenities I feel it’s often reasonably priced. London can be quite, quite expensive. My wife and I once stayed in a hotel near Kensington where the room was the size of a closet, very far away from other sites, and was not much cheaper. Location: The hotel is just across the bridge from Big Ben, Westminster, etc. You are about a quarter mile walk from Waterloo station, which – (a word about Waterloo) is a main intersection of a lot of lines, meaning – you can often get on one line to go where you want to go. (Camden, Buckingham, Paddington rail, Hampton, etc). You are also quite close to the London Eye, the riverbank. Admittedly, you’ll feel like most of what you want to see will be either North or east of you, but really, two stops on the Northern Line and you’re in Leister Square. Food: The hotel has two restaurants that I enjoy tho they’re a touch pricey. We took our family with small kids to the Sushi place that I’ve eaten before. It is great food. But I was very happy that when we thought about leaving since we didn’t notice anything our 7 and 9 year old would eat, the manager suggested that they could bring a kids menu from the other restaurant for our kids to order burgers. That’s a nice option. Room service is very, very quick. There’s also a M&S grocery across the street (which we would get some lunch options and essentials to save money, a Starbucks, and a Gail’s bakery. It takes a bit of looking, but there are good options for food nearby – especially in the Waterfront park around London Eye (pizza, Wagamama, vendors), and Lower Marsh (take Leeke Tunnel through the cool art tunnels, and there’s quaint pubs back there. Room: Compared to what I’ve seen on other trips at other hotels in London, the rooms were very nice sized. The Sofa into bed option wasn’t bad for a family of four staying in one room. Other Amenities: I was bummed that on my last day I discovered they had a steam room and a sauna with no one in them. The kids enjoyed the heated indoor pool that you do have to reserve time for – but it’s super easy on the app. The weight room is decent. Mostly Minor Nitpicks: here were my slight issues – but I don’t think any of these would prevent us from booking again: - Our room had a VERY slow sink and tub drain. They need a plumber to snake the pipe or something. It was just slightly gross to have 4 people using a sink and the water is pooled to the top with four toothpaste spits and shaving stuff, and was gross. - The shampoo and hand soaps were not filled. Empty entire time we were there. Think that’s something cleaning crew should check. - There was a slight miscommunication with the front desk about room cleans. There’s a deal where if you sign up for the ‘not every day’ room cleaning, you get a complimentary bottle of wine. We signed up thinking it would be still cleaned every other day. It’s every three days – which, for a family of four with small kids is not quick enough. We ran out of TP, our trash was overflowing, our Klenex ran out, the floor gets gross. I’d recommend if you’re a family, go for cleaning each day. - The bathrooms don’t have enough places to hang a towel. There’s one hook, and the shower glass goes to the ceiling – for four wet towels, that’s tough. - There’s no outlets to charge things in the living room. - Internet: it’s slightly annoying that each and everytime you open your laptop you have to wait for the unique connect screen to come up (sometimes it doesn’t) and click through to get internet again. It would be nice if it remembered you through your stay. These are nitpicks. All in all, next time I’m in London, I’d likely book this hotel again.