Great Northern Hotel in London?

Sorry Lola, I'd like to help but can't do much. I can say that it will be one of hotels built at the time of the great new stations being built, done up by Marriott. There is loads of excellent food around there. Ask Claudia who is a regular contributor here. We love the Dishoom in the Coal Drops area just behind.

Kings Cross spent many years among the real dregs of the world due to social issues, but since the redevelopment of the last decade it is now a premiere area.

There are lots of reviews for that hotel on booking.com.

Yes, I have seen those booking.com reviews as well. It looks very good. I am mainly curious to hear a narrative on someone’s actual experience there, particularly the “lounge access” that I saw mentioned in one room description (which I cannot find just now).

I will be asking our daughter to book it for us with her Marriott points (she and her husband have a lot of them), and just want to be sure it is the right choice.

I've read countless good reviews on the hotel, and had actually booked a room there for a summer 2020 stay that obviously had to get canceled (then decided to book at the St. Pancras Renaissance instead when I rescheduled the trip for a couple months from now). I remember reading reviews on TripAdvisor that said there was no lounge. They do have free snacks and some free coffees and teas in the little "Pantry" areas on each floor, though - maybe that's the lounge access Marriott is referring to? Because I'm reasonably certain there is no actual lounge.

I think you are right, Brian. The “lounge” is only mentioned in the room description on the Marriott website, not on the Great Northern Hotel’s own website, nor on booking.com. They do mention the “pantry” and I’ll bet that is all there is. That’s OK, we just need some milk in the morning as we prefer to have breakfast in our room, not have a heavy and expensive hotel breakfast.

BTW, I need to thank you for inspiring me to look at this hotel. I know it is the Renaissance you mentioned in your own thread, but that led me to look around the area for other options with Marriott points. Somehow I prefer the Great Northern over the 5-star Renaissance. But we do not have the Harry Potter theme going on our trip like you do.

Funny how that works out, as I'd originally looked at the GNH! From what I can see, I think you'll like it. Gets great reviews, and is priced very well - one of the best-priced Marriott hotels in London. The Harry Potter theme to our trip is the main thing keeping us tied to the Renaissance (along with some perks the hotel has with Eurostar, since we'll be taking the train to Paris). Would love to hear about your experience at the Great Northern if you do end up staying there!

Just FYI I remember when I had booked a room back back in late 2019/early 2020, they had different names than they do now. Now they're Couchette, Edwardian, Heritage and Victorian. When I booked they were Couchette, Wainscott, Cubitt, Victorian (if memory serves). Either way, I do recall writing in to the "special requests" section when booking, as well as following up in an email to them, asking specifically for a room with a shower instead of a bath tub. Since some of their room types have one or the other, and I too prefer a walk in shower over a tub, I wanted to confirm that. They very promptly wrote back confirming most of their rooms had showers instead of tubs, and they'd be sure to assign a room with a shower to my reservation. So it may be worth writing in to specifically request a shower room if you reserve with them!

Thanks, Brian. We are specifically interested in a Heritage room, and they do mention the walk-in shower, although some apparently also have a bathtub. When I ask our daughter to make the reservation, I will ask her to put in a specific request for a walk-in shower (and hope we don’t end up with an “accessible” room which we don’t need). They have some kind of super-elite status with Marriott so her requests should be honored. For some reason the best rooms (Victorian) are not offered for points, but that’s OK; I like the Heritage rooms just as well.

If you and your partner ever come to London with a history or WW2 theme, you might like another Marriott property, St. Ermin’s right near Westminster Abbey (and not far from the Churchill War Rooms). It has connections with Churchill and the founding of the SOE unit, and also with MI6.

https://www.sterminshotel.co.uk/about/our-history/

We spent 3 nights there on our last European trip (2019), on our own Marriott points instead of hers. Then at the end of the stay she got us a suite at the newly-opened Bankside Autograph collection, in our favorite London location, the South Bank. We had a view of St. Paul’s out the window. If you like modern hotels (we definitely do), this one is very nice.

Lola - I'd imagine if your daughter also mentions an accessible room isn't required, you'd avoid that. Definitely is nice having that Marriott status, and the scuttlebutt is that Marriott's program changes coming in 2022 will make that upper elite status even better!

I'll check out St. Ermins! I love the historical hotels in many European cities in general (part of the reason I go there in the first place) so that one definitely is right up my alley. Partner certainly likes modern more so I'll make a note of the other also. Only ever stayed in South Bank once, to be honest (County Hall)!

I’ve stayed in this hotel (also using Marriott points). It was nice! I think I was in a Heritage room. I will warn you that the rooms are fairly small - not an issue if you’re used to smaller European city hotel room sizes, just something to be aware of to manage expectations. The room and whole hotel was clean and stylish with a particularly nice bathroom/shower. I don’t remember a lounge, and even if it was for Marriott members with a certain status, I would have had access at the time, so I’m pretty sure there wasn’t one. I do remember the pantry; I don’t recall if there was milk or not (there may well have been) but there was definitely tea and coffee, and a selection of British candies and chocolates.

Thank you,Margaret. We are indeed accustomed to the smaller hotel rooms in London and elsewhere in the UK, and are OK with that.

We are going to see our daughter and her family in San Francisco this weekend, and I will ask her to book a Heritage Room at the hotel for us as a Christmas gift.

Lola - wasn't sure if you'd taken this trip? How was the hotel? (I tried to look through for dates but might have missed em). As now I'm also considering GNH for another trip haha.

Hi Brian, this trip is not until September.

Ah ok! Well you might get a kick out of my having booked St. Ermins for this upcoming trip, in no small part on your recommendation! Had a bunch of Marriott points to use.