Not Perfect But Not Far Off (Hilton Wembley Plaza (London))

Member Name: daylelisahall

Product:	Hilton Wembley Plaza (London)
Date:	08/03/08 (179 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Convenient location, lovely rooms, modern facilities

Disadvantages: Random phone call to room due to confusion with staff

After booking tickets to see We Will Rock You in London as a Valentine's present for my boyfriend, I then decided it would be more hassle free for us if we stayed in London overnight, rather than having to travel back to Dover after the show.
I eventually decided on the Wembley Hilton Plaza after scouring the internet for a bargain. I looked at all the hotels near to the theatre and soon realised that none of these were going to be within my price range as they were about £200 a night. I decided that looking for hotels slightly out of London would be a more affordable option.

After finding the Hilton website, I then looked up all the hotels in London and found out after speaking to someone at the Wembley Plaza Hotel that it was only a 20 minute tube journey right into the centre of London and the price was certainly more affordable so off I went and booked it.
Booking The Hotel
Booking the hotel was nice and simple. I went to the Hilton website, found the relevant hotel and booked a double room for the 16th February. Shortly afterwards I received a confirmation email from the website informing me that my booking had been made. The email also provided me with my unique booking reference number which I would need to take with me for checking in.

Location
The Wembley Plaza Hotel is literally right next door to the brand new Wembley Stadium. Although this isn't exactly the busiest part of London, there were still a few shops and take aways in the area and the tube station was only a 5-10 minute walk away. This hotel would be perfect for anybody visiting the Wembley Stadium.
Cost
I paid £60.80 for a double room for one night which I found to be fairly reasonable, especially considering how near the hotel is to the Wembley Stadium. I assumed they would have bunked the prices up but was pleased to see that they hadn't. The rate included free parking (which is always a bonus in London) but unfortunately it did not include breakfast!

Arrival
Once we arrived at the hotel, we parked up and went to reception. We seen to immediately and checked in within about 5 minutes. I had actually lost my booking reference and had no paperwork due to my computer being wiped by a virus and I explained this to the woman on the front desk and she explained that this wouldn't be a problem. After we were checked in, we were given our room key and shown the direction of the lifts.
The Room
Obviously I wanted the room to be fairly nice seeing as the trip away was for Valentine's Day and I have to say the room did not disappoint. The room was very spacious and clean.
Our room was on the 8th floor and opened with an electronic key card.
Just inside the door to the right was a double wardrobe, next to that was a wooden unit which housed tea and coffee making facilities which included a kettle, tea, coffee, sugar and milk. There were also a couple of complimentary biscuits.
The bed was the focal point of the room and was massive with a bright white soft duvet and four pillows. In front of the bed was a TV unit, complete with TV, wireless keyboard and a playsation control. Next to the TV unit there was a full size office desk complete with chair.
In front of the window was a small circular table and two chairs which made a nice little seating area.
The window was huge and literally took up the whole wall which I loved as it let so much light into the room. The only downside was the view, which was of the Hotel Ibis car park which was next-door to the Hilton. If you looked to the left of the window, you could just about see the Wembley Stadium and a little bit of London which was nice.
The bathroom again was clean but was a little on the small side. There was a sink and a fairly large area around the sink to lay out toiletries etc and obviously there was a toilet too. There was also a half bath which at first I was very pleased with as I love my baths but sadly, after deciding to have a bath, I found that it was pretty uncomfortable but this is probably because I am used to being able to lay down in the bath, rather than being cramped! Aside from that though, I really cannot fault the room.

Facilities
The Wembley Plaza Hotel had a medium sized Gym and also a lovely looking swimming pool, both of which are free to guests. We didn't have time to use either of the facilities but we did have a look at them and the pool looked very inviting.
There were two restaurants in the hotel, one which served main dinners in the evening and the other one served a buffet style breakfast which we were informed cost £12.95 per person which I thought was very expensive! We ate out in London so I am unable to comment on the prices in the other restaurant.
On the ground floor, next to the reception was a coffee shop and bar which looked very pleasant. There were lots of seating areas with comfortable leather sofas and the bar was tucked away in the corner with similar seating. Again we didn't really have time to do anything other than take a look at this though.
The hotel also has its own car park which is located underneath the hotel. I was really impressed that the parking was free for guests as all the other hotels I have stayed in in London charge anything from £12 upwards for overnight parking.
Extra Info
Although I cannot fault the hotel for its appearance and I certainly couldn't fault the room, there were a couple of hiccups made during our stay there. When we checked in, we were asked if we would like a wake up call in the morning which we politely declined, after all, we were having a romantic night away from home and wanted a lay in. However, at 7am the next morning, the phone rang in the room. My boyfriend picked up the call and hung up straight away and the phone rang almost immediately after him doing so. He answered the call to find that it was the hotel reception who asked for this name. He gave our names and ended the call. We were slightly annoyed by being woken up so early and when we checked out we decided to ask why we had been called. The manager was extremely apologetic and explained that basically we hadn't been checked in correctly the evening before and when housekeeping were doing their rounds that morning, they had noticed the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on our door and enquired at reception as to whether the room was occupied, hence the phone call. The manager did say that they would compensate us for the mistake and asked us what he could do but to be honest, we were happy enough with the apology and explanation.
My only other grumble is that when we checked in, the woman behind the desk informed us that the room had already been paid for. I remember thinking this was slightly odd because I didn't think I had paid for it but then I booked it so long ago, I thought maybe I had forgotten about paying for it. However, it would appear that it wasn't already paid for as they took the money out of my bank the following Monday. Although this wasn't too much of a problem, I thought it was slightly unprofessional that their records were incorrect.

Summary
In summary, despite the minor hiccups we had, I would still recommend this hotel to others. I felt that it offered good value for money for a London hotel and it was in a convenient location, only 20 minutes away from London by tube and easily accessible by car.
The room was lovely, I was very impressed with the size and cleanliness of the room and especially the size of the bed!
The hotel in general was clean and the facilities were modern and obviously well maintained.
I was impressed with how the manager handled us the following morning when we complained about the phone call to our room, he couldn't have been more apologetic.
Overall, I really enjoyed my stay at the Wembley Plaza.

Summary: Would certainly use them again.