[Anonymous]

[paulreynolds]

I am the Project Director for Marriott’s Grand Residence in London. We are designed to provide 5 star service at ta fraction of the cost in the Heart of London.

I am interested in hearing from busy travelling executives who use London’s 5 star hotels what is important to them in terms of space and delivery of service.

[EmmaDean]

My name is Emma Dean and I am the Business Sales Manager for The Cheval Group of Serviced Apartments (www.chevalgroup.com). We are a London based company that has over 300 luxury apartments within Central London (Knightsbridge. Kensington, Chelsea/Sloane Square and City), and currently going through the Quality Assesment rating of serviced apartments.

To date one of our properties has been assessed (Gloucester Park Apartments) for which we recived a 5 star award. I would be interested to hear from the business traveller how important the start rating of a hotel/serviced apartments is.

Also any thoughts and experiences of using serviced apartments in London and on worldwide scope – particually hot spot areas that a luxury serviced apartment company would be sucessfull within.

[TLC-not!]

While my extended stay travel right now is not in London I am “commuting” to another city which is a 4 hour plane ride and 2 time zones from home Monday-Friday.

I am staying at a Fairmont and am on their Gold Floor. The Gold Floor lounge and conceirge service is what does it for me – along with the most service oriented, well trained staff I have experienced.

What do I appreciate specifically? Here is a list

The lounge is open 6am-11pm with an honour bar but more importantly complementary soda, juice, water and a range of teas and coffee – I stop in for my herbal tea every nite and either relax in the longe or take it to my room.

The lounge also serves appetizers btwn 5-7pm which is a nice touch along with a complemetary breakfast buffet which is well stocked and always has a mix of hot and cold – they dont scrimp on the food and it is appreciated! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

The lounge also has a computer and printer which has internet access and the printer is extremely helpful from printing biz docs to boarding passes.

The rooms in the hotel are well equipt but I do have a few suggestions for additional things that would be helpful

If there is no sofa in the room please give me an ottoman – when you are staying at a hotel all week and not in a suite at least with an ottoman you can get comfortable in a chair and not have to watch TV in bed.

The Gold Fairmont rooms have a Bose clock radio – amazing sound and easy to use alarm clock – but most importantly, large numbers so its easy to see. However, please think about where you put it. It really needs to be seen from lying in bed and I gotta tell you – no one seems to have figured that one out. I am constantly moving clocks around. The Bose iPod stand would make a great addition too!

Bottled water by the bed every day is a blessing!

Windows that open are also a really nice touch.

Express roomservice and checkin/checkout – why should we have to wait if we are investing so much with your hotel.

Speaking of roomservice – it would be nice if someone asked me what i would really like to see on the menu – when you stay day in and day out the same menu forces me to go outside your hotel – keep my biz and ask me for some ideas and change it up more often. It doesn’t have to be big changes – just add a few more soups and salads with a protien and i would be happy. And, let me order breakfast for dinner if I want it.

Fairmont now allows me to check out by blackberry and they email me the bill – this is great because i can just forward to my assistant and i dont have to worry about lossing the paper… and it helps the enviroment too.

TV guide and a sheet outlining all the channels – we arent from your city so dont know how to find our favour shows.

Dont make us crawl on the floor to plug everything in – and one plug is not enough. I have a laptop, my blackberry and my iPod and I that is normal these days.

Phones – give me a good quality speaker phone. Because of working across time zones and I am always forced to do calls early in the morning or in the evening and a quality speaker phone makes that alot easier.

Desks – dont skimp on size. I am constantly having to battle with all the things the hotel likes me to have at my finger tips but it leaves no room for everything I need at my finger tips.

Counter tops in the bathrooms – give me lots of space.

Allow me to leave a small bag of items at the hotel so I dont have to lug the same stuff back again and again – toiletries, a few pairs of shoes and some work out gear.

Speaking of work out gear – Fairmont has a great program and they deliver addidas shorts, top, running shoes and socks to my room upon request. I have also gotten then to bring up a yoga mat and free weights this way I can do it all in the comfort of my own room.

Hangers – I need more than the average one or two night traveller – and i need just as many with hooks for pants and skirts as I do for jackets – please!!

Fairmont Gold also provides a good lint brush – this is a blessing.

I use the dry clean and laundry service a fair bit and appreciate the fast turn around – same day would be a blessing.

Finally – do all of us worn biz travellers a favour – spend a nite or two in your hotel – you will be amazed what you might discover should change. It may look great but if isnt functional, it makes for a lousy experience.

Hope this helps

TLC-not!
http://biztravelwoes.blogspot.com/

[Tekman2]

I travel often to Singapore for stays longer than 1 month
used to stay at the Traders hotel problem was rooms are tiny,eat out all the time not very relaxing after work,discovered the Tree tops serviced apartments ,2 rooms small kitchen DSL Connection etc full 5 star accommodation and service brilliant.

[EmmaL6751]

just like Tekman2, I also enjoy staying in serviced apartments for extended stays. A small kitchen were I can cook – it gets tiring to eat out all the time. It would also be nice if there is a place to hold small meetings or even big ones. This one apartment I stayed with, I think called Boutique London Lets, had a meet and greet service 24/7 which was really useful for late arrivals.. Of course, fast response to my requests are always preferred. Don’t make me wait a whole day to fix something on the bathroom.

[Sarammk]

Please tell what do you think about this: http://www.roter-hahn.com/

[MartynSinclair]

Rooms at less than £500 per night in central London.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ MartynSinclair – 29/05/2013 18:11 GMT

My thoughts entirely. I have come across this an alternative approach:

https://www.airbnb.co.uk/locations

[IanFromHKG]

paulreynolds – 25/01/2008 14:44 GMT : I am the Project Director for Marriott’s Grand Residence in London. We are designed to provide 5 star service at ta fraction of the cost in the Heart of London.

Having stayed there myself (very nice, BTW) I would say there is only one thing wrong with the offering, which is the “fraction of the cost” part. The residences themselves – or at least the one we stayed in – were splendid, and the only thing really missing was a proper tour of the place so we could be shown where everything was rather than having to ferret around and find everything for ourselves. However, I did not get the impression we were paying “a fraction of the cost” – far from it, we could have stayed elsewhere in 5* comfort for far less (at least if paying cash, we were using points). Oh, and you need an extra receptionist, or at least someone on standby for times there is a queue. And a slightly more clued-up concierge (I asked a relatively simple question, and after waiting for ten minutes while he tapped away on the screen, I managed to go into the lounge, log onto the WiFi, find and download an app and find the information I wanted, and he still hadn’t finished!)

EmmaDean – 11/02/2008 10:08 GMT : I would be interested to hear from the business traveller how important the start rating of a hotel/serviced apartments is.

It is only an initial guide. The key thing is to deliver on the implicit promises of the rating, consistently. And while it is always a good idea to concentrate on loyal customers, treating first-time customers well may make them loyal customers – too many businesses forget that

TLC-not! – 03/10/2008 22:01 GMT

I agree with nearly everything on your list (I would just swap the skirt-hooks for non-slip trouser hangers so they don’t end up on the floor). And double for the power points – add some multisockets if possible, and even better some USB charging points. And an easy way for me to hook up my devices to your TV so I can watch my own media. And make sure the bath fills quickly!

I would also add – if we are paying a premium price, don’t make us feel gouged by charging things that 3* places offer for free – like internet access (a particular bugbear of mine). I regard a minibar or fridge as being as standard as a telephone – make sure it keeps things properly cold, and don’t charge me three or more times the standard price because that just guarantees that (a) I will buy my own elsewhere and (b) get annoyed because I think you are trying to rip me off. Please fill my ice bucket in the early evening without me having to ask, give me spare towels (you know what? After travelling I like to shower. And then shower again at my usual time), and most of all – don’t put light switches in stupid places or install dumb master switches that mean I get plunged into darkness unexpectedly – set the switches up the way you would like them at home! In fact – that’s a good guide. Imagine you live there and have a live-in maid, engineer and project designer and no scruples about keeping them busy – what would you change?

[IanFromHKG]

Er… had it occurred to you that the OP was talking about serviced apartments???

[GrahamSmith]

I’ve deleted the post that would have been two above mine because it was an advert with a link (which is why Ian’s post no longer makes sense).

[cwoodward]

I am not sure why this thread re appeared -however its a meaty subject and due perhaps for an update

When possible I stay if a few days trip at the Marriott which is the subject of the first post in the thread.

If for longer than a few days or when with family I normally rent a furnished flat in or around Knightsbridge / Kensington and I normally use an an agency ‘A PLACE LIKE HOME’ They have a website and we have used them for the past at least 20 years. They have some very nice properties but you do need to book well in advance.

I prefer this as I like to sometimes cook and have the odd ‘evening in’ on a long busy trip The availability of laundry equpt is also handy as these days its cheaper in London to buy new from M&S than get underpants etc laundered by the hotel. Crazy but true.

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