Park Hyatt London River Thames — Hotel in London

Decidedly not a Park Hyatt experience. I’ve stayed at many Park Hyatts and this does not meet the bar. Globalists and suite reservers beware.

Suite view of roof plumbing: See pic for view from our living room with a “Thames river view”. You could pay upwards of a 1000 quid a night and have this be your view, it’s incredibly disappointing.

TV broken: The bedroom TV would freeze and pixelate every 25 seconds on every channel.

Room not ready until 4:15 PM: We arrived to the hotel around 10:30 AM and informed them we'd like access to our room as soon as possible. The first person at the desk said, certainly, we will work on it. When we checked back in again mid-afternoon, the person behind the desk asked for our names, clicked around on her computer before excitedly exclaiming, “Oh, great news! I can see here that my colleague is actually in your room right now cleaning it for you, so it should be ready very soon. Go have a seat and we'll bring the keys over to you.” ….Two hours later, past check-in time, we inquired again, the new person behind the desk said, Oh, they haven't cleaned the room yet but confirmed last guest already gone. When we shared our immense frustration, given our afternoon plans has been thwarted, she said they would expedite. We still waited another hour. I know early check-in is not a guarantee, but being told the room was actively being cleaned and then having to wait another 3 hours is beyond frustrating and misleading. All past Park Hyatts I’ve stayed at have been able to better manage expectations around this.

Lack of professionalism, appreciation for brand loyalty and attention to detail: As globalists, my spouse and I always travel together, and in every high tier Hyatt we’ve stayed in; we’re welcomed with a bottle of wine, maybe a spread of fruits, desserts for 2, amenities that reflect we’re both staying there and most certainly a thank you note. Here none of that was provided at check in, a very small pastry and note was left during turn down service only, with only 1 fork/1 plate. Also only 1 robe/1 pair of slippers, and no one thanked us for being globalists during our stay.

Chaotic breakfast environment: Overall the entire team here feels very green. It nowhere meets the bar you expect. Breakfast is usually a standout experience at a Park, a calm serene and inspiring space. While the food itself was good, the wait time for such basic drinks was atrocious. It took 15 minutes to flag someone down to put in my food order and then another 25 minutes after that before our shared pot of tea came, which only came because I flagged down two different people to inquire on the status of it. It was a stressful, hurried and chaotic environment.

Spa amenities not checked in on: When I used the shower in the spa, the large 500 ml hair conditioner was completely empty, I ran between every single shower naked trying to quickly find some conditioner. A staff member made eye contact with me, saw me stumbling between every shower and didn’t bother to offer any assistance. The bottles were all completely empty, as very large bottles, it makes me question how often someone actually checks in on any type of detail in this establishment.

Park Hyatt London’s response: We were very clear at check in how disappointed we were with the check-in process. We expected someone in management to reach out to us that evening or the next day to check-in on our experience but that did not happen. Even at check out we had to reexplain out our concerns to the man behind the desk in order for the assistant manager to come out. She offered a measly amount of points back and didn’t bother to ask if that was what we actually wanted.

Redeeming qualities: The gym is gorgeous, clean and well stocked. The heated bidet toilets in the room are quite luxurious! The rooms themselves are very nice, it’s just disappointing that some of the suites have such atrocious views. If they want to sell these suites at a price near what they desire, at least put some plants out there or better...

We had a late flight into London and didn’t arrive at the hotel area until after midnight but we emailed the hotel beforehand to give them the heads up. However, we could not locate the building due to the fact that the hotel has no signs and the address isn't even registered correctly in Google maps. We drove around 3 times as the Hotel has no signs at all that indicate the premises nor have any staff outside to direct guests. It was quite a frustrating experience. When we finally got to the location, we told the staff that there was no signage and it was difficult to find and they just sat there and grunted without saying any real words. This was a frustrating experience especially as it was late at night and I’m pregnant. My husband spoke to another individual and said the same thing and this person mentioned “the lack of signage was done on purpose”. Which makes absolutely no sense because how are hotel guests supposed to find the place? On the day of our check out, we ordered an Uber and one of the staff members acknowledged that the hotel address hasn’t been updated on Google maps yet and visitors were being directed to a location across the street. We told him we knew based on the prior night and apparently they were planning on placing proper signage the following week. Since the hotel knew about the difficulties visitors were facing, they should have given their guests a heads up as to how to locate the property properly which they failed to do. In addition, we emailed the hotel beforehand and they didn't even mention such a thing or provide us proper directions to find the hotel. Our Uber driver said that he got lost and valet had to flag him down. The hotel staff were clearly confused and provided contradicting responses. It is very apparent that the staff are not properly trained and seem like novices when it comes to hospitality.

Another issue we had was the breakfast at their restaurant. We have stayed at various Hyatt properties across Europe the past few years and breakfast is always included as part of the room. When we checked in we were told that breakfast is served until 11am in the restaurant in the lobby. We also called in the morning to confirm that breakfast was available and where it was located. At the restaurant, the hostess greeted us and asked for our room number and name, which is standard protocol when breakfast is included and what other Hyatt hotels ask guests to check that breakfast is included. We were then seated, handed menus and informed by the hostess what we were able to order from the menu. The waiter also explained that we can order the buffet and one item from the menu and I also asked what was included with our room and he said the same as the hostess. As such, we assumed that breakfast was included and ordered the continental breakfast and one item each from the menu. At no point did any of them indicate that breakfast was not included. We were shocked when we received the bill midway through the meal and we ended up being billed $110 for waffles, pancakes and fruits. The food was mediocre at best and very overpriced. We asked politely to have the breakfast credited or discounted however the staff refused although it was clearly due to miscommunication from their end. This is yet another clear example of how the staff is not properly trained. It was such a disappointing experience because we have traveled the world and stayed in many Hyatt hotels, but this was by far the most disappointing experience and has soured our overall perception of Hyatt. The Park Hyatt is supposed to be the highest standard and any guest is clearly better off staying at the many other non-Hyatt hotel options in London.

One last thing to point out. We were celebrating our anniversary during the trip and every other hotel that we stayed at during our trip offered special treats or favors to honor the occasion. What did Park Hyatt give us to celebrate the occasion? The Park yHyatt gave us two bottles of water. Nothing more to say and I will...

I recently stayed at the Park Hyatt London River and, unfortunately, had a series of frustrating experiences that overshadowed what should have been a seamless visit.

Check-in Issues: We arrived around 11 a.m., fully aware that it was before normal check-in time and not expecting a room. We simply wanted to leave our bags and head into the city. To our surprise, we were told to wait as a room was supposedly ready. When I inquired about a possible complimentary upgrade, the staff seemed unsure and mentioned they would check, but it was clear the front desk team was uncoordinated. The person I was speaking with had to keep redirecting me to someone else. Eventually, the Front Desk Manager showed up and confirmed an upgrade was possible, but asked us to wait. After 20 minutes (despite not needing the room immediately), we had to ask again, only to receive the same twin room we had initially booked. The staff insisted this was an "upgrade," though it wasn’t clear how that's the case.

I reminded them of Hyatt’s Globalist policy, which entitles guests to the best available room, including standard suites, but was told they’d look into it. We left for the city with no clear resolution.

Evening Return: Upon returning around 7 p.m., nothing had been sorted. The front desk staff had no idea what we were talking about. After explaining the situation to several different people, we were told there were no other rooms available. This was particularly frustrating since suites were still being sold online for £1,000+, along with several other room categories. Only after showing them this information did they miraculously find a suite due to a "last-minute cancellation."

This behavior is simply unacceptable. It felt as though the hotel was intentionally not honoring Hyatt’s Globalist policies, which is perplexing since it costs the hotel nothing but does significant damage to its reputation. To make matters worse, I heard from another Globalist who also didn’t receive a proper upgrade, so this seems to be a recurring issue.

Breakfast Disappointment: For a hotel charging £500+ per night, the breakfast offering was shockingly poor. You’re limited to one warm dish, and they charge £5 extra for bacon! The whole experience felt more like a budget hotel rather than a premium Hyatt property. I’ve only ever had such a bad breakfast experience once before, but that was at a Centric hotel costing €80-90 per night, not £500+!

Poor Suite Design: The suite layout was another letdown. Despite being a "suite," the room was incredibly small, especially the living room. It had only one chair, which was odd for a room meant for two people. The sofa was also uncomfortably hard, making it impractical for relaxation. For a newly branded hotel, the design choices were disappointing.

Cold Indoor Pool: The indoor pool had cold water, which made it unpleasant to use. I’ve never encountered this in any luxury hotel, especially one with an indoor pool. It was just another odd and poorly thought-out feature of this hotel.

Besides, the location is far from ideal, with nothing worthwhile in the immediate surroundings (while the area might be nice for residents, it's not suited for a hotel stay). Come to realize that there are way better options.

Overall, my stay at the Park Hyatt London River was a huge letdown, especially when compared to other Hyatt properties in London, where staff go out of their way to accommodate guests. This hotel’s failure to adhere to Hyatt standards, coupled with poor service and design choices, made for a frustrating and disappointing stay. I wouldn’t recommend it, especially for loyal Hyatt members expecting the brand’s usual high standards. Huge regret of spending a full category 7 award night in here, it's more of a category 4/5 type of hotel.

PS: be careful, google is full of fake reviews from 2/3 months ago when the hotel just opened...