It seemed silly to fly home after four days in Iceland when I had the option of the “stopover” fare on Icelandair that could allow me to spend time in London.  In order to make London work, I remembered that I opened up the Hyatt credit card earlier in the year which provided “2  – free night certificates”. I called Hyatt to see if I could use the certificates at the Hyatt Andaz London on Liverpool Street.  When the lovely phone rep said that I could, I was thrilled to try this new concept hotel in the City, my first Andaz stay.  As the certificates are each for a one night stay, she had to work a bit of magic to put them together.  At the time of booking the U.S. equivalent was over $500 a night (note this was a low rate given it was Thanksgiving week) so my credit card opening saved me over $1,000!

When I received my pre-arrival email a week before my stay, it noted I was staying only one night which freaked me out so I called the hotel directly.  The front desk agent was very friendly and confirmed that it was for two days, I said “Thank You, this is my birthday trip so I didn’t want anything to mess it up”.

Andaz London Location

The Andaz London is at the edge of the City (business district) and East London next to Liverpool Street station which is a busy transit hub (three tube lines – Central, Circle and District and local rail) allowing you to get easily around London. Walking is easy too – The Royal Exchange and Bank is a 10 minute walk, St. Paul’s 15 minutes and the Tate Modern 25 minutes.  Shoreditch is close by with the trendy shops, restaurants and street art. Cabs are plentiful outside and there are many shops and restaurants in the area. I like the convenience of M&S and Pret across the street as well as the many takeaway options in Liverpool Street station. Funny note – next to the luxury hotel is a McDonald’s.

Arrival at Andaz London

I was one bag too many to navigate the tube from Paddington from the Heathrow Express.  It was a warm, rainy day of 50F and I arrived from Iceland in a winter coat, warm boots, etc. so decided to change shoes and put the boots, scarf, gloves, etc. in a bag to carry (hence the one too many) and hopped a cab.  While it should take about 30 minutes from Paddington at 1 p.m. on a Tuesday, we were snarled in traffic so bad that the taxi driver kept apologizing for the long ride (almost an hour) and cost (near £35!) while I devised new ways to ban car traffic, delivery vehicles and others so that it is cabs and buses only (yes, a girl can dream!).  He said it would be best if I could manage to walk the last block to the hotel.  Having only slept two hours after Chasing the Northern Lights, I exited the taxi in the light rain and walked to the hotel.

My sad, wet self was welcomed by the doorman at the front door and taken to the Apple Genius bar – well to me, it looked that way as the agents were crowded on either side of the table with their iPads but it was in fact, the “front desk”.

 

Andaz London Check-In & Wait & Wait

When I said my name, both agents said “Happy Birthday”! which made me smile since it was a throwaway comment last week on the phone (now I wondered if this was the type of hotel that might have a birthday surprise in my room?).  I was directed to sit on the lobby couch with Arina.  She offered me a drink.  There was a bit of small talk which I was, at first, ok with. I was tired, hungry and just wanted a shower after my journey which began nearly 11 hours ago at 4 a.m.  My room would be ready in ten minutes if I didn’t mind waiting.  So I people watched the lobby – businessmen (lots of men)  coming/going/chatting and staff wandering with iPads. Ten minutes later, Arina appeared to say “ten more minutes”, I was no longer a fan of small talk or of waiting.  Had I known it would be closer to 30 minute wait, I could have fetched a sandwich at Pret. It was 2:30 p.m., past the check-in time of 2 p.m., so platinum status doesn’t mean much apparently and Arina was trying to have a conversation with me to make me forget the wait telling me of the free evening wine events, free wi-fi, free local phone calls, etc. (If only she mentioned the free cookies and snacks in the next room….).

The Room is Ready,  Let Me Take You There

Poor Arina, I was now grumpy and she had to show me to my room. I just wanted to escape on my own but it’s part of her job to take me to the room and she insisted on taking a bag or two.  There are three elevators in the hotel, each with fun, conversational panels in the ceiling to keep you occupied.

Exiting on the 5th floor we crossed a bridge into the East Wing of the hotel (there are a few buildings connected).  Walking down the contemporary dark wood and grey carpeted hallway we turned and then turned again until we found my room.

Arina entered the room and explained the various features for me.  She spent the most time explaining the free drinks/snacks (nice amenity) and the vacuum toilet (think loud airplane flush noise).  I mentioned I forgot an item and she said she would order it for me.  She gave me her card with the hotel address, phone and email should I need anything while I was out exploring London. Unlike other London boutique hotel welcomes – there was no handwritten welcome card, no welcome gift and definitely no birthday surprise – Hyatt Platinum status has no meaning here.

  The Standard Room at the Andaz London

My standard room was a good size for London – there was room to move about comfortably. The bed, chaise lounge chair, desk and side tables worked well together in the contemporary boutique like design and colors – warm woods, greys and the red chair. I would have liked artwork on the walls but that’s a minor decor complaint.

The view was an office building and Liverpool Street station entrance.  The windows opened  so I could have fresh air which is nice.

 

The bed was so very comfortable that I had one of the best night’s sleep in a long time. When I returned from dinner, I placed the “do not disturb” on the door, pulled the darkening shades and had a lie-in until 10 a.m. the next day.  The hallways were quiet, the outside noise minimal and the room temperature perfect for sleeping.

The Bathroom

The door opened into the bathroom which cut off space in front of the sink/mirror (definitely calls for a pocket door to give more space).  The small bathroom had everything you needed  – heated towel rack (yeah!), fluffy bathrobes, walk in powerful rain shower, toiletries and good lighting.  The slippers (another yeah!) were in the wardrobe.

The hairdryer is never in the bathroom and you usually need to hunt for it.  Thankfully, Arina, showed me it was hidden in the desk with a make-up mirror (note that the top of the desk is a bit heavy to lift to use the hairdryer that is connected to the furniture and can’t be moved).

Room Service

So lack of sleep, a longer than expected journey to the hotel, I just needed to eat. Lacking time before meeting a friend, I ordered room service.  This was definitely a time to ignore fx rates and logic and add a glass of wine to my club sandwich.  With delivery promised in 30 minutes, it arrived on-time and was spot on.  The presentation was nice, the food quite tasty and the wine exactly what I needed at 3:30 in the afternoon!

Breakfast in 1901 at the Hyatt Andaz London

I exited the elevator on the “breakfast” floor and walked down the hall following the “breakfast arrows” and was met by staff to direct me further and then down the stairs to the main floor.  Most choose the breakfast buffet but I requested ala carte with the hostess who seated me quickly.  I had the ala carte menu and waited for my server.  The room wasn’t full (it was 8 a.m.) and yet I still waited as no server appeared at my table while the tables around me were greeted by servers and given coffee.  The room was full of staff wandering about (maybe they needed iPads to be effective? or I needed an iPad to order from my table?)  but I had to flag down the hostess who took my order.  She told me to get my juice and water from the buffet.

My simple eggs over easy with toast took a long time to arrive. The eggs were overcooked (I’ll spare you the photos).  With no server (or hostess) in sight, I flagged down the manager and explained my experience and pointed to the eggs.  As I was on the way to the airport, I didn’t have time to wait for new eggs.  I ate the egg whites and dry toast.  He apologized for lack of server, attention, delay, food, etc. and said that he wouldn’t charge me. The breakfast experience really marred what was a really nice hotel stay. I would look to eat breakfast elsewhere as there are options that are cheaper and more attentive.

Final Thoughts of the Hyatt Andaz London

The Hyatt Andaz London on Liverpool Street is a good business hotel for visits to the City when you are on an expense account or can afford to pay for the luxury of a Hyatt in the City. It is an expensive option although the Hyatt does run hotel promotions which is helpful and award redemptions seem to be easy.  Outside of the horrible breakfast experience, the staff were lovely, friendly and helpful.  Kudos to Arina for putting up with my grumpy check-in self, I should have had her update my profile while we waited with “feed grumpy girl cookies as needed” so that the next Andaz is aware.