My decision to stay at the Park Plaza Hotel near the Westminster Bridge (in London) ended up being an OK choice. It was far too dark and dreary for my tastes, but the location was excellent.
A full review of my 2 night stay at the Park Plaza Westminster Hotel
The reason for choosing the Park Plaza came down to the fact that it was just a hop and a skip away from the Westminster Bridge and the Parliament building. I’ve been to London before – and I knew the area is quite nice, so I figured that I couldn’t go wrong by staying here.
Getting there
To get to this hotel, I took the Underground from directly from London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR). It was about a 50 minute ride to Westminster station, but once I emerged from the train and stepped out onto the sidewalk I felt like I had made an excellent decision to stay at the Park Plaza.
Big Ben was directly in front of me right across the street, and I could even see the hotel in the distance across the bridge. How perfect is that?
The lobby
Having already experienced a fantastic stay at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, I knew that I was in for a treat even before stepping through the main entrance. The lobby was large and grand, and I didn’t mind the dark mood lighting at first. Dark hotels have never really been my thing but this seemed to work for some reason.
Getting to my room
After checking in at the front desk, all I could think about was the possibility of having a room with a nice view of Big Ben and the Parliament Building. This hotel faces those landmarks directly, and I had high hopes that this might be the best view from a hotel room that I’ve ever had. I know, it’s dangerous to inflate hopes up that high…
The room
The air was definitely let out of my tires once I entered the room. While it was a decent size room with nice finishes and design touches, there was no view to be had. At all. The windows overlooked the interior atrium of the hotel with no peek to the outside world. Total bummer!
The bathroom
The food
Food options in the Park Plaza Westminster were decent. I ate in one of the on-site restaurants (Brasserie Joël) the first night, and I found the portions to be much too small for the price. I walked away still feeling hungry after spending nearly $50(US) which didn’t really sit well with me.
Room service
I did take a chance on ordering room service for breakfast the next morning though. I paid $20(US) for the full English Breakfast which ended up being too much to eat. That’s more like it!
I had lunch outside the hotel that day, but for dinner I opted for room service again. That meal was good – though a bit light on portion size as well.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, my room was quite nice – but quite dark and dreary. I didn’t mind the darkness so much at first but by the end of my stay I was very much looking forward to leaving. It was so dark that it became difficult to tell what the weather was like outside, or even what time of day it was. That was very disorientating, and highly annoying as well.
I’m not really sure what my feelings are on the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel. Overall it was very nice, but the dark room really killed the experience for me.
I was more than happy to check out and leave when the time came. However, I have a strong suspicion that I would have enjoyed my stay immensely if I had a room with a view to the outside world – especially if that view was looking straight at the Parliament Building off in the distance.
