The Parklane Sheraton Hotel, London– My favorite hotel for a touring and shopping trip
I’ve been to London six times in the past few years– on a couples trip, on a solo trip, with friends and for a conference. I’ve stayed everywhere from the boutique hotels (the trendy Zetter and the Arch) to business hotels (Le Meridien Picadilly and Club Quarters Trafalgar Square) to a sweet airbnb penthouse studio in Convent Garden. I’ve been fortunate in that all my London stays have been great, and I would recommend any of the hotels I stayed in.
The front entrance of the Parklane Sheraton. If you’re cabbing in like I did, your driver will bring you to the back entrance where you can enter the reception area directly.
But for a friends’ getaway, with lots of shopping, touring and evenings out, I recommend the hotel where I most recently stayed, the Parklane Sheraton Hotel in London’s Mayfair district. On this particular trip, I was trying to cram a lot of activities into a seven day trip and my biggest priorities were a central location, a comfy bed and as always, a good value.
Parklane Sheraton’s Location
The Parklane Sheraton’s location worked perfectly for this trip– smack between two tube stops (Green Park and Hyde Park Corner)– the Parklane Sheraton is close to everything but just outside the tourist chaos farther down Picadilly (bonus: the lovely Green Park is directly across the street).
By day I jetted out to a conference at the Excel center, or to different train stations for day trips to Canterbury, Cambridge and Hampton Court. By night, my friend Emma (my roomie for the week) and I hit conference-related parties all over central London with ease. As we leisurely sat in our room estimating tube travel time to our scheduled evening events (10 minutes door to door for most of our events) we congratulated ourselves on our choice of hotel location, and took advantage of the extra time to relax and chatter away.
In between all my other activities, I also fit in lots of shopping (research for the blog of course!). Again, the central location of the Parklane Sheraton was perfectly situated for when I had my arms full of shopping bags and needed a convenient drop off point.
Parklane Sheraton: Comfort
Our room at the Parklane Sheraton Hotel in London.
I am the princess and a pea when it comes to beds, and always brace myself for European trips, where beds tend to be harder and less comfortable. Fortunately, the Parklane maintains Sheraton standards and the beds are plush and comfy– so much so that I even had a “lie in” one morning (Brit speak for sleeping in).
While the Parklane Sheraton is spotless with new soft furnishings, some guests (according to some travel review sites) complain about the older fixtures of the Parklane. Yes, some of the fixtures were older, but this didn’t bother me as it might others. I prefer charming historic details to flashy and new anyway. Notably, the Parklane Sheraton is priced lower than its competitors, and if it were renovated to the standards of other fancy London hotels, it might be out of my budget entirely.
The giant bathroom in the Parklane Sheraton was perfect for two girls with lots of stuff– there was plenty of room to spread out all of our toiletries.
Parklane Sheraton: Dining
The art deco decor of the Palm Court bar at the Parklane Sheraton was impressive– if I’d had more time, I would have loved to try afternoon tea here.
I can’t comment much on the Parklane Sheraton’s restaurants since we were too busy for any sit down meals. Instead, we made frequent use of the nearby Marks & Spencer Food takeout section for a quick dinner. The nearby Pret a Manager (conveniently located en route to the tube) served as our morning pit stop for croissants and lattes. We did, however, enjoy late night sandwiches and drinks at the elegant Palm Court bar one evening.
Parklane Sheraton: Value
The Parklane Sheraton is part of the Starwood group (SPG), and this hotel is a great value, especially if you are a member and using points (as I did). It’s in a lower points bracket than the other two central London SPG properties, so for me it was a no brainer– I was able to get more nights for less points in location that can’t be beat. I considered it a huge bonus that the Parklane Sheraton exceeded my expectations, and its warm and helpful staff made the stay extra pleasant.
Do you have a favorite London hotel? Share in the comments below!
Shepard C Willner
Monday 21st of August 2017
In my three trips to London ('74, '95, and '14), I've stayed at The Strand Hotel, the Gloucester Millennium, and the Double Tree by Hilton-Westminster, respectively. I recommend any of these hotels to any traveler. One thing I learned on my first trip to London (it was a special-ed trip w/14 young adults and three chaperones) in '74 was that the word "bathroom" is literally that: a place where people take showers or baths, while the WC or toilet was one did one's business. The bathroom was down the hall at The Strand, so if the room key was shared among the roomies (3 of us teens in a room), one had to ensure that the door was ajar and you wore sweatpants or PJs to and from the bathroom.
I understand from reading the description of this hotel in Travelocity or Trivago that the hotel renovated its rooms, and now has the bathroom in the room rather than down the hall was the case back in '74. Another thing I learned about hotels in London: Concierges are called "hall porters." if visitors want a PC in their room and they didn't want to lug it across the Pond, there's an iMac in every room at the Double Tree--a godsend. In addition, because two of my London visits coincided with cruise departures, the hotel visits at the Gloucester Millennium and the Double Tree included complimentary breakfasts for cruise hotel guests. I don't know if the breakfast at the Parklane Sheraton was included, but if not, then I guess you and your roomie may have saved some pounds sterling by eating elsewhere. I do recognize Green Park Tube station as the one where the Big Red Hop-On, Hop-Off bus departed from and returned to when I visited the city three years ago. Check out my review of the Double Tree by Hilton-Westminster at TripAdvisor!