Park Plaza Riverbank London - LONDON, Review

This gorgeous hotel is located on the Thames almost directly across from Parliament in a very safe area of the city. (I am handicapped and ambulate with crutches, yet I was treated with courtesy and patience by everyone as I traversed the busy sidewalks of central London.) The London Eye was a five-minute walk down the same street. Trafalgar Square was a 10-minute walk. In other words, a perfect location for someone who likes to walk and doesn't want to 1) learn to drive on the left side of the road, and 2) doesn't want to pay a high fee to park a rented car. Plus, a number of tube stations were nearby.

The room was very nicely & comfortably furnished and the huge bathroom was incredible - black marble, plenty of towels, a deep bathtub for soaking that was separate from the solid glass corner shower, and all the amenities you'd expect at a 5-star hotel in a prime location.

The staff was friendly and helpful. The front desk also included currency exchange as a service, which was handy since finding someplace to exchange currency in central London would have been a hassle. It was worth the bit extra they charged.

The lobby included a casual bar and pricey restaurant, while a more reasonable but excellent restaurant was located downstairs. Other reasonably priced, full service restaurants were located nearby and the knowledgeable staff was able to make great recommendations. And for when you're too tired from sightseeing to venture out of your room, their in-room food service was excellent, offering burgers & pizza to full entrees. My package included a continental breakfast which turned out to be an incredible feast of English and standard hot and cold fare that left me wanting little to nothing for lunch!

The only truly negative experience I had was that I visited two weeks before Christmas and the hotel was loaded with party-goers who had planned on getting drunk to the gills and then retiring to their rooms rather than trying to drive home. As I was a weekend guest, this went on both Friday and Saturday nights. I was awake both nights until after 4 AM because of yelling, fighting, and general loudness in the hallway. Not wanting to cause a fuss, I did not call hotel security, but asked, instead, about room reassignment the next day. They encouraged me to call security should the problem happen again, rather than change rooms since I was only going to be there one more night.

On the annoying side, their in-room on-TV internet access uses a tiny keyboard that often did not work. In-house maintenance came up several times and changed keyboards, but I still had problems with the system. If you're not carrying a laptop and need to use their TV internet system, prepare for frustration. However, the price for the service is per day, rather than by the hour, and was quite reasonable. So, I overlooked the annoying keyboard in favor of being able to use the internet service a number of times throughout the day.

I would definitely stay there again and, if I go during a "party season", I will just ask to be located in an isolated area of the hotel upon check-in. Otherwise, my experience there was fabulous and I look forward to visiting there again someday!