Hilton London Bankside — Hotel in London

My second time staying here and my last. It's unfortunate to read other reviews talking about "fantastic service" but this was my second time and it was worse than the first.

So, first time here, just a few months ago, everything went well... until I had lost my key card. Not a big deal except when I tried to get a new key card for my room... I was told the room was registered to a completely different person! I checked in alone there was no one else registered to stay in the room. And oddly enough, the person at the check-in desk telling me all of this, was the person who had checked me in not even twenty-four hours earlier. He kept asking if I knew who this person was and despite my repeated claims that I didn't know anyone by the new name that appeared on my registry, he kept asking. I showed him an email with my confirmation number but he still kept insisting that the room was registered to someone else. Finally I was allowed to go up to the room and prove the contents of the room belonged to me. Up until the day I left... they never changed the registration back to my name!

My most recent visit, was just as bad. When I checked in, even though I had pre-paid for the room and could show receipts, they told me I had to put down a $900 deposit. As mentioned, I had stayed previously and pre-paid the other time as well, but this time, they kept telling me I had to put a deposit down because they had not received the payment from the company I booked the room with. I have no idea why that is my problem since I was given a confirmation number. The "manager" said because it was a Friday, they would not be able to communicate with this other "third party" whom they have an established agreement with and therefore required a deposit from me. Again, I showed him the emails showing the payment, the confirmation number, which they DID have because when I checked in, they had me in their system. I even showed the payment that had been processed through my credit card. I had purchased the room through American Airlines, not some obscure "third party" as he kept referring to it and how he couldn't communicate with them on a Friday afternoon is a mystery to me. After much discussion, they finally agreed to give me a room key and allow me to go to my room.

But that wasn't without the "manager" contacting me about every 15 minutes again, telling me he needed a deposit but he was trying to contact Hilton corporate to find out what to do. I had no idea if at any minute we were going to lose our rooms. This went on for a few days and countless phone calls before this "manager" informed me he was able to finally verify my payment and at this point, told me "everything is okay". Well, it WAS NOT okay because we had to deal with this constant threat from the manager and WITHOUT my authorization, he in fact did charge my card for $900 and this was even after I could show him the room had been paid in full.

So, this is just my experience with the check in and management. Regarding the rooms, the most important thing is the bed and I agree with a previous reviewer, they are not very comfortable and for the price of this room and being a "Hilton" you would think they would have plush beds.

There are far too many other good choices to settle for this place. After trying twice, I can say I will never use Hilton ever again. The "manager" is the most awful person without any compassion for people and is in the...

I had a fantastic stay at the Hilton London Bankside in early January 2025. As a Hilton Honors Diamond member, I was fortunate to receive an upgrade to a King Deluxe One-Bedroom Suite, which set the tone for a wonderful experience.||The suite was modern, spacious, and beautifully designed. It included a large bathroom attached to the bedroom and an additional half bathroom near the living area — a very convenient feature. The mini-fridge was stocked with complimentary drinks and snacks (two each of apple crisps, cookies, sparkling water, sodas, and ginger beer), which was replenished daily.||We were celebrating a birthday during our trip, and the hotel surprised us with a small birthday cake in the room upon arrival — a thoughtful and much-appreciated gesture that made the stay even more special.||Breakfast at the Hotel|The breakfast at the hotel restaurant was excellent — high quality with a wide selection to suit any palate. The buffet included made-to-order eggs, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, baked beans, oatmeal, a variety of breads, pastries, cold cuts, fresh fruits, nuts, and more. The restaurant is spacious, beautifully maintained, and well-staffed by friendly employees.||My only small suggestion would be to vary the hot items slightly. After seven days, the breakfast offerings felt a bit repetitive. However, the quality was consistently excellent.||Executive Lounge|The Executive Lounge evening reception was a nice perk. During our stay, three main dishes were rotated daily, including:| • Indian lamb and potato curry, vegetable curry, and white rice| • Pasta with meat sauce and vegetables| • Mushroom ravioli, jerk chicken thighs, and assorted sides||Neighborhood and Location|The hotel is in a safe and convenient neighborhood, with plenty of nearby amenities. It’s within walking distance of iconic attractions such as the Tate Modern and Shakespeare’s Globe. There are three grocery stores within steps of the hotel — Sainsbury’s, Tesco, and Amazon Fresh. You’ll also find a Pret A Manger, Wagamama, and Black Sheep Coffee nearby, perfect for quick meals or snacks.||Getting around the city was easy using public transportation. The nearest bus stop (381 route) is a short walk from the hotel and connects to major stations like Waterloo. We found buses and trains to be faster and much cheaper than taxis, and Google Maps made navigation simple.||Helpful Tips:| • Transportation from Heathrow (LHR): A public taxi cost us 130 pounds due to traffic and a 6-pound airport surcharge. In hindsight, I would recommend using Uber or Bolt instead, which would have been significantly cheaper (around 55 pounds for a regular Uber and 88 pounds for an XL).| • Laundry: The hotel doesn’t have self-service laundry. We took a 20-minute walk to Long Lane Launderette. It’s a small laundromat, but we had no trouble doing two loads. The lady working there was incredibly kind and helpful — like a friendly aunt guiding us through the process. A regular load was 6 pounds, a large load was 8 pounds, and dryers were 1 pound per 5 minutes. I recommend using the spin dryer for 50 pence to remove excess water before using the regular dryers. We also purchased detergent pods for about 5 pounds at Tesco.||Overall, the Hilton London Bankside exceeded my expectations, from the beautiful accommodations to the attentive staff and nice location. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone...

I am not a great fan of London hotels and over the last 30 years I have stayed in many. On my scale of hotel quality (1-10) I would place the Bankside Hilton as a 7.5 It’s basically a good quality 4 star hotel. It’s better quality than most in the standard Hilton chain but it’s not in the top echelon of hotels like the luxury Hilton range, Shangri-La, Four Seasons etc.

Location is good for access to the London attractions South of the Thames - the Tate Modern, London Eye etc and a short taxi ride to the West End.

We arrived very early and our one bedroom suite was not ready - no problem - the excellent Concierge Daniel popped us into the executive lounge till our room became available (around 12-30) - thank you for that Daniel.

Our suite was quite expensive (£400++) but that’s not unusual for London where room rates are over double, across the range, what we are used to in the Middle East and SE Asia for similar quality. C’est la vie, I’m afraid- you stay London, you pay London.

The room was fine - typically up range Hilton - usual accessories - clean and well serviced. WiFi is good and the air conditioning works well -my only issues with the room were the small windows which make the room rather dark, especially the sitting area - see photograph. Oh yes - and there is no separate bath only a bath shower combo, a sign of space and money saving. The room was excellently served and maintained by housekeeping, by the way.

We ate dinner early in the huge OxBo restaurant which was ok - Olivia was charming but the place was empty - probably because the local area is teeming with good quality eateries where guests can eat well and much more cheaply. The food was ok but nothing special. And the restaurant closes for lunch/ Dinner at the weekend to allow for boozy brunches so best to eat out as internal options are very limited at that time. Breakfast in OxBo was standard stuff - buffet and egg station - hot plates (well done) hot plates are often overlooked. Pity there were no available toothpicks though - I had something stuck in my tooth and was told “sorry - we don’t provide toothpicks” um… well…

The large but rather dark Executive Lounge is on the ground floor next to the OxBo restaurant - it’s large and soft drinks and coffee etc are available ….there is an evening happy hour from 6pm. That’s a popular occasion - as they usually are when free booze is available - it’s good quality too, by the way.

The Concierge service and front of house staff are excellent - so very helpful on every front - thanks to all of you. Receptionists, especially Sabrina, were excellent.Pity about no newspapers to the rooms in the morning though!

We did not use the other facilities like to indoor pool so I cannot comment.

That’s about it- I’m not a great fan of Hilton Hotels- I find them a bit dark, tinny and joyless - they could do with a bit more brightness and attention to bring a more upmarket image. This one is a lot better than most Hiltons I used to stay in but deserted when I discovered better alternative chains. Would I stay there again? Maybe - but probably not in this price...