*WDW*Groupie*
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2006
Dd and I got back from our London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Long trip last Friday. I will try to summarize the accommodations in this post and a small overview of the trip in another.
We ended up flying to London via Frankfurt on Lufthansa business class for 70K Aeroplan points / pp. I was hoping that AC would upgrade us on their direct flight, but it didn't work out, so I booked the Lufthansa flight less than 48 hours before we left. We were in the middle section (2-3-2) behind the bathrooms, so it was a bit noisy until people went to sleep, but I liked the seats and the amenity kit came in a (very handy) reusable shopping bag and had L'Occitane amenities, which I will definitely use (definitely one of the best amenity kits I've received in biz class). We had a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt, but we were 1 hour late leaving Toronto, so I was worried about making the connection. We landed and made a mad dash (like 90% of the people on our plane lol) down and up a few flights of stairs (FRA needs escalators), on a short bus ride and made it to the gate 15 mins before boarding commenced. The flight from FRA to LHR was on time and had the best light meal I've ever had on a plane (German sausage with a fresh roll and potato salad -- so good that I ate dd's since she's vegetarian and they didn't have any food for her). Landed on time at Heathrow and had a 60 minute wait at the egates to clear customs. Turns out that while we made our connection our luggage didn't (we always have 2-3 days of clothes and toiletries in our carry-ons, so filed a quick report and hoped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then took a cab from there to the Biltmore LXR.
I booked the Biltmore on points and had pretty high expectations. I will say that if you want to stay here, go in with no expectations and you probably won't be disappointed. I probably should have known the stay wouldn't be flawless based on the little drama that I experienced before we left (with the upgrade, which I already posted about). Our room was ready and it was gorgeous. We dropped our bags, each had a quick shower, changed our clothes and headed out shopping. We had an amazing dinner at Mildred's (a well known vegetarian restaurant) and walked back to the hotel. Yet, still no welcome amenity and also no mini bar (which is complementary with Junior Suites and above). I called the front desk and they had the Duty Manager call me back. The DM told me that they don't offer mini bars, to which I told her it's on their website; she looked on her website and saw that it was there. She then told me that since I was upgraded to the room and didn't pay cash for it I wasn't entitled to the mini bar. Umm, what? To me that's like saying passengers upgraded to biz or first class aren't entitled to meals. However no point in discussing the logic with her since she was firm that I wasn't going to get it. I then asked about the welcome amenity and she said it would be brought up the next day. I called the Diamond desk and they said that I should definitely get the mini bar and they would reach out to the hotel (the hotel never responded to Hilton). The welcome amenity arrived the next day and it was.....a giant bowl of dates and a plate with an apple and orange (the apple had a worm hole). Not sure if they are considered a luxury item, but I am not a fan of dates. I will say that the breakfast at the hotel was amazing; as a Diamond we could have anything from the continental buffet and also a hotel item from the menu. Thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast here, however it was very, very slow to come a few days. There were numerous issues throughout our 6 night stay as it seems that the hotel is extremely short-staffed and was running at, or close, to full occupancy. I am not sure if I would stay here again as I'd like to try the Conrad, which is less points. I would not have been happy if I had paid cash, but since it was points I was willing to overlook several service fails since the property is so nice and the location is amazing (6 min walk to Oxford Street / Oxford Circus tube station).
Entry and closets
Sitting Area
Bedroom
Sorry, no pics of the bathroom, but it was very nice with 2 sinks, stand-alone tub and shower, heated towel rack and heated floor.
We ended up flying to London via Frankfurt on Lufthansa business class for 70K Aeroplan points / pp. I was hoping that AC would upgrade us on their direct flight, but it didn't work out, so I booked the Lufthansa flight less than 48 hours before we left. We were in the middle section (2-3-2) behind the bathrooms, so it was a bit noisy until people went to sleep, but I liked the seats and the amenity kit came in a (very handy) reusable shopping bag and had L'Occitane amenities, which I will definitely use (definitely one of the best amenity kits I've received in biz class). We had a 2 hour layover in Frankfurt, but we were 1 hour late leaving Toronto, so I was worried about making the connection. We landed and made a mad dash (like 90% of the people on our plane lol) down and up a few flights of stairs (FRA needs escalators), on a short bus ride and made it to the gate 15 mins before boarding commenced. The flight from FRA to LHR was on time and had the best light meal I've ever had on a plane (German sausage with a fresh roll and potato salad -- so good that I ate dd's since she's vegetarian and they didn't have any food for her). Landed on time at Heathrow and had a 60 minute wait at the egates to clear customs. Turns out that while we made our connection our luggage didn't (we always have 2-3 days of clothes and toiletries in our carry-ons, so filed a quick report and hoped on the Heathrow Express to Paddington, then took a cab from there to the Biltmore LXR.
I booked the Biltmore on points and had pretty high expectations. I will say that if you want to stay here, go in with no expectations and you probably won't be disappointed. I probably should have known the stay wouldn't be flawless based on the little drama that I experienced before we left (with the upgrade, which I already posted about). Our room was ready and it was gorgeous. We dropped our bags, each had a quick shower, changed our clothes and headed out shopping. We had an amazing dinner at Mildred's (a well known vegetarian restaurant) and walked back to the hotel. Yet, still no welcome amenity and also no mini bar (which is complementary with Junior Suites and above). I called the front desk and they had the Duty Manager call me back. The DM told me that they don't offer mini bars, to which I told her it's on their website; she looked on her website and saw that it was there. She then told me that since I was upgraded to the room and didn't pay cash for it I wasn't entitled to the mini bar. Umm, what? To me that's like saying passengers upgraded to biz or first class aren't entitled to meals. However no point in discussing the logic with her since she was firm that I wasn't going to get it. I then asked about the welcome amenity and she said it would be brought up the next day. I called the Diamond desk and they said that I should definitely get the mini bar and they would reach out to the hotel (the hotel never responded to Hilton). The welcome amenity arrived the next day and it was.....a giant bowl of dates and a plate with an apple and orange (the apple had a worm hole). Not sure if they are considered a luxury item, but I am not a fan of dates. I will say that the breakfast at the hotel was amazing; as a Diamond we could have anything from the continental buffet and also a hotel item from the menu. Thoroughly enjoyed the breakfast here, however it was very, very slow to come a few days. There were numerous issues throughout our 6 night stay as it seems that the hotel is extremely short-staffed and was running at, or close, to full occupancy. I am not sure if I would stay here again as I'd like to try the Conrad, which is less points. I would not have been happy if I had paid cash, but since it was points I was willing to overlook several service fails since the property is so nice and the location is amazing (6 min walk to Oxford Street / Oxford Circus tube station).
Entry and closets
Sitting Area
Bedroom
Sorry, no pics of the bathroom, but it was very nice with 2 sinks, stand-alone tub and shower, heated towel rack and heated floor.