My decision to stay at the Park Plaza Hotel near the Westminster Bridge (in London) ended up being an OK choice. It was far too dark and dreary for my tastes, but the location was excellent.
A full review of my 2 night stay at the Park Plaza Westminster Hotel
The reason for choosing the Park Plaza came down to the fact that it was just a hop and a skip away from the Westminster Bridge and the Parliament building. I’ve been to London before – and I knew the area is quite nice, so I figured that I couldn’t go wrong by staying here.
Getting there
To get to this hotel, I took the Underground from directly from London’s Heathrow Airport (LHR). It was about a 50 minute ride to Westminster station, but once I emerged from the train and stepped out onto the sidewalk I felt like I had made an excellent decision to stay at the Park Plaza.
Big Ben was directly in front of me right across the street, and I could even see the hotel in the distance across the bridge. How perfect is that?
That circular-shaped glass building straight ahead is the Park Plaza. I took this picture while standing on the Westminster Bridge (with Big Ben and Parliament Building right behind me) so the location is quite excellent.
Here’s a closer look at the Park Plaza. What you can’t see in this pic is my other arm vigorously patting myself on the back for making such a fine hotel selection.
Here’s the main entrance (as seen after returning from an evening stroll around London).
The lobby
Having already experienced a fantastic stay at the Plaza Hotel in Seoul, I knew that I was in for a treat even before stepping through the main entrance. The lobby was large and grand, and I didn’t mind the dark mood lighting at first. Dark hotels have never really been my thing but this seemed to work for some reason.
Welcome to the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel!
The main lobby was enormous! That’s the check in desk straight ahead.
Also located in the lobby were several restaurants, cafe’s, and shops.
This is the bar / lounge, which seemed to be a popular place to hang out.
Getting to my room
After checking in at the front desk, all I could think about was the possibility of having a room with a nice view of Big Ben and the Parliament Building. This hotel faces those landmarks directly, and I had high hopes that this might be the best view from a hotel room that I’ve ever had. I know, it’s dangerous to inflate hopes up that high…
This is what saw immediately after stepping off the elevator on the way to my room. My fingers were crossed tightly that I’d get a room with a view like this…
Walking down the hallway, still hoping and praying for an amazing view…
“I’ve got a room on the 8th floor, so the view HAS to be good!” – this is vaguely what I remember thinking as I inserted the key card into the slot on the door.
The room
The air was definitely let out of my tires once I entered the room. While it was a decent size room with nice finishes and design touches, there was no view to be had. At all. The windows overlooked the interior atrium of the hotel with no peek to the outside world. Total bummer!
I opened the door, and…total letdown. So much for an amazing view.
The burning carnage of whatever is being shown on the TV screen might have well been my hopes and dreams of a good view.
Really? That’s the view? The Comfort Inn in Deming, NM has better views than tis for crying out loud.
OK. Enough complaining about the view. The rest of the room was pretty nice actually.
This bit of script on the floor at the entrance was a very nice design detail.
The colors in the room were quite nice, if not a bit dark.
I liked this chair quite a bit. It wasn’t all that comfortable but it sure did look cool.
Very much appreciated was this large desk with a convenient electrical outlet for many different kinds of plugs.
I thought this mural on the closet door was pretty cool until I turned the lights out on the first night. Then it got creepy.
Here’s a pic showing the large closet space behind that mural.
Here’s a wide angle pic showing the entire room.
Another wide angle pic showing the other direction. Looks dark, doesn’t it?
Glassware in the bar area just over the minibar.
Well-stocked minibar with attached refrigerator.
The bathroom
The bathroom was definitely my favorite part (and not because it wasn’t dark and dreary).
Spacious and well-designed. Exactly what I like in a bathroom!
I thought for sure I was going to make use of that tub, but it never happened. Looks nice though!
Yours truly working hard to get pics for this review, despite having just got off a long flight from the US.
Despite not trying out the tub, I do have to say that the shower was quite nice.
Elemis amenities here in the bathroom.
The food
Food options in the Park Plaza Westminster were decent. I ate in one of the on-site restaurants (Brasserie Joël) the first night, and I found the portions to be much too small for the price. I walked away still feeling hungry after spending nearly $50(US) which didn’t really sit well with me.
Interior of the Brasserie Joël restaurant.
I had the risotto as the main course – pretty good but small. Well, small by American standards that is.
I had to order something else because I was still hungry after the risotto. This gazpacho was pretty good.
Room service
I did take a chance on ordering room service for breakfast the next morning though. I paid $20(US) for the full English Breakfast which ended up being too much to eat. That’s more like it!
Room service breakfast: Full English Breakfast.
I decided to be healthy on the second morning, and went with a healthy breakfast option instead. Boring, but better for my body I guess.
I had lunch outside the hotel that day, but for dinner I opted for room service again. That meal was good – though a bit light on portion size as well.
Room service dinner: roasted chicken with tomato soup.
Final thoughts
In conclusion, my room was quite nice – but quite dark and dreary. I didn’t mind the darkness so much at first but by the end of my stay I was very much looking forward to leaving. It was so dark that it became difficult to tell what the weather was like outside, or even what time of day it was. That was very disorientating, and highly annoying as well.
I’m not really sure what my feelings are on the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge hotel. Overall it was very nice, but the dark room really killed the experience for me.
I was more than happy to check out and leave when the time came. However, I have a strong suspicion that I would have enjoyed my stay immensely if I had a room with a view to the outside world – especially if that view was looking straight at the Parliament Building off in the distance.
