Hotel review: Hilton Woking, England

After flying back to home to the UK after our trip to Crete, my wife and I stayed in the southeast of England for a few more days.

I grew up in Woking and still have friends who live there, so with it being a bank holiday weekend we decided to take advantage of being in the south (we live in north England now) to hang out with my friends. Despite being a decent enough sized town, Woking doesn’t have many chain hotels. Of the three that it does have, two of those are Hilton brands—a Hilton and a DoubleTree. After landing at Heathrow, we picked up our pup from our dog-sitter and drove to the only one of those that’s pet-friendly—the Hilton Woking.

With a nice executive lounge, great breakfast, excellent views, very good service, and an ideal location in the center of town, it ended up being a lovely stay.

Check-in

The entrance to the Hilton Woking is on Victoria Way, a busy road running through town. There’s a small pull-off outside the hotel where you can unload your car. Seeing as we’d just gotten back from vacation, we had a few suitcases and bags with us, so we headed inside to grab a luggage cart.

The check-in desk is on the 7th floor rather than the ground floor, but there was a concierge desk at the entrance on the ground floor. The concierge seemed to double up as a bellhop and helped us load our bags on to the luggage cart, taking it up to the 7th floor with me while Shae moved our car to the nearby parking lot (more about the parking situation later).

The concierge was very friendly and helpful, as were the front desk agents, and our dog Truffles loved the attention they gave her. The check-in process was quick, they shared information about breakfast and the executive lounge, then we were on our way up to our room, with the concierge bringing our luggage up and helping me unload it—something I wasn’t expecting from a Hilton in England.

2 double bed room

I booked our stay using Hilton Honors points and originally booked a room with a king bed. The day before our stay I noticed that the award pricing was slightly cheaper, so I cancelled and rebooked. In hindsight, I probably should’ve just kept the original booking as rebooking only saved us a couple of thousand points and I hadn’t noticed until after cancelling the original stay that the only room type that was now bookable for a standard number of points was one with two double beds.

The room wasn’t massive, but nor did it feel too cozy. The two double beds were more like two twin beds pushed together, so that made those a little more spacious. On the other side of the room there was an armchair, a desk with another chair, and a dresser with the TV on top.

One of the things I often dislike about hotel stays in the UK is that far fewer hotels have mini fridges than hotels in the US do. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to see one in our room.

On a side table there were a few cans of water, as well as a couple of small chocolates. These waters were replenished during our stay.

Back towards the bathroom was a closet that, in addition to a safe, an iron, and an ironing board, contained everything needed to make tea and coffee, including an electric kettle shaped like a teapot.

The bathroom had a bathtub with a shower. As is sadly often the case in the UK, the shower door only covered half of the tub. Thankfully it stretched far enough across the bath that no water ended up on the floor when taking a shower, although that’s more due to the fact that the shower had very poor water pressure and so there was never any real danger of it spraying everywhere.

Hilton Woking breakfast

Breakfast is available in OXBO restaurant each morning which is on the 21st (of 22) floors. It’s served from 6:30am-10am on weekdays and from 7am-11am at the weekend.

Breakfast is buffet-style, although there is also an a la carte menu that you can order from. Seeing as the Hilton Woking isn’t in the US, those with Hilton Honors Gold or Diamond status get free breakfast rather than a food and beverage credit like you get for stays in the US. I believe Gold and Diamond members have the a la carte menu included as part of their free breakfast, although we didn’t ever end up ordering from that.

The Hilton Woking breakfast buffet had a much better spread than I was expecting. There were lots of hot options, with plenty of options for vegetarians as well as carnivores. The sausages were decent quality—better than your average British hotel breakfast sausages.

Next to the hot options were tables with cereal, bread, cakes, fresh fruit, dried fruit, and more.

At the other end of the restaurant there was a chilled area that had freshly cut fruit, yogurt, cheese, meat, salad, and more.

In the middle of the restaurant there were various types of bagels and breads, as well as a few gluten-free breakfast options.

Drinks were self-serve too, with a couple of tea and coffee machines, tap water, infused water, and four different types of fruit juice.

As mentioned earlier, OXBO restaurant is on the 21st floor and the restaurant has floor-to-ceiling windows. That means you get excellent views of the surrounding area.

As someone who grew up in Woking, it was fascinating being this high up. In the 80s, 90s, and early 2000s when I lived there, Woking didn’t have any particularly tall buildings. Since I moved away, numerous high-rise apartment buildings have been built, along with a couple of skyscrapers. This was therefore the first time I’d had a chance to see the town and surrounding area from above like this.

Hilton Woking executive lounge

The Hilton Woking has an executive lounge on the 22nd (i.e. top) floor. It’s open from 7am to midnight each day, although breakfast isn’t served in there; it’s in OXBO restaurant on the floor below which ensures you get a much better breakfast selection than you’d get in a lounge.

You can access the executive lounge by booking a room with lounge access, or if you have Hilton Honors Diamond status.

From 6pm-8pm each day the lounge offers canapes and drinks. It’s not a huge selection of food, so you’ll probably want to eat out somewhere or at the hotel’s restaurant unless you’re happy filling up on lots of the small hot dishes.

Throughout the day there are jars with snacks available.

Throughout the day there’s also a tea and coffee machine available, as well as a fridge with sodas and water.

In addition to the canapes, there’s self-serve wine, beer, and spirits available at no cost from 6pm-8pm.

The executive lounge isn’t the largest lounge I’ve ever been in, but there were plenty of tables and chairs and it never felt too crowded during our stay.

The lounge is on the opposite side of the hotel to the restaurant, so you get some different views from there, as well as lovely sunset views.

Other dining options

OXBO restaurant

In addition to being the restaurant where breakfast is served, OXBO is open for dinner from 6pm-10pm on weekdays and 5pm-10pm at the weekend.

The Hilton Woking doesn’t have an ice machine for guests, but you can ask for ice at the restaurant and they’ll give you a bucket of it.

Glow lounge & terrace

This can be found on the 7th floor opposite the front desk and apparently serves coffee and pastries. We never ended up getting anything from there, but it’s open from 8am-5pm on weekdays and 9am-5pm at the weekend.

Loft Sky Bar

In addition to the executive lounge, the top floor of the hotel features Loft Sky Bar. This is on the same side of the hotel as OXBO, so the view are similar.

We went there for drinks with friends one night and they have a recently-updated cocktail menu that has some fun drink options on it. I started off with a beer, while Shae got a cocktail that came with cotton candy (known as candy floss in the UK). She’s had cocktails with cotton candy before, but usually the cotton candy is served in an empty glass and the server pours the cocktail over it, thereby dissolving it. At Loft Sky Bar, this cocktail had the cotton candy on top, so you could choose whether to push it into your drink or just enjoy it standalone.

Later on I ordered a mojito. It’s surprising how bad some of the mojitos I’ve had in the past have been, but the one at Loft Sky Bar was excellent—definitely one of the best mojitos I’ve ever had.

Loft Sky Bar is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, open from 6pm-midnight on Wednesday and Thursday, from 4pm-midnight on Friday, from 2pm-midnight on Saturday and from 12pm-8pm on Sunday. If you’re staying there with your kids, those under the age of 18 (the legal drinking age in the UK) aren’t allowed in the bar after 6pm.

Rather than charging our drinks to our room, I paid for them at the bar. I split the bill by putting ~$50 on a Business Platinum Card® from American Express as that has an up to $50 quarterly credit that can be used at Hilton properties worldwide. I put the balance on my Hilton Honors American Express Surpass® Card. Although I have an Aspire card I could’ve put that on to earn 14X, I paid with the Surpass card for 12X because that card also has an up to $50 quarterly Hilton credit.

Both those charges coded as a Hilton purchase and the credits appeared on those accounts a couple of days later.

Amenities

The Hilton Woking doesn’t have a huge amount by way of amenities. There’s no swimming pool, but there is a fitness room on the 7th floor that has various pieces of cardio equipment and weights.

Parking

The Hilton Woking doesn’t have its own parking lot. However, it is connected to Victoria Place Shopping Centre which has multiple colored sections for its multi-story parking lot—Red, Green, Yellow, and Blue. The color you choose depends on what you’re planning to do in Woking; if you’re staying at the Hilton Woking, you’ll want to park in the Red parking area.

Although it means driving quite a long way up a spiral ramp, I’d recommend parking on the 8th floor of the Red parking lot. That’s because there’s a direct entrance into the hotel from there, making it much easier to come and go, rather than having to take an elevator up and down from whichever other floor you can find a spot on. The 8th floor also has no problem with spaces being full, so that makes it easier to park too rather than circling lower floors.

Just be aware that although you’ll want to park on level 8 of the Red parking lot, you’ll be entering in at level 7 of the hotel.

Parking fees are £15 (~$20) per day and you can either pay at a machine or by using the JustPark app. You can download and use the JustPark app even if you have a US phone (some other apps in the UK require that your Google Play Store settings are set to the UK) and you can pay with a US credit card. Unfortunately parking can’t be charged to your room at the Hilton as the hotel doesn’t operate the parking lot.

Pet policy

The Hilton Woking is a pet-friendly hotel which is why we picked it. Dogs up to 34 kgs (75 lbs) are allowed and there’s a £35 (~$47) pet fee per stay, rather than per night.

There aren’t really any grassy areas immediately outside the hotel and, despite the Woking area generally being lush and green, the town center has very little grass. We therefore found that it was best to take Truffles straight across the road from the hotel as there was more grass a little further up there.

It’s also not far from Basingstoke canal which is a nice place to take a walk, whether with a pup or without.

Location

The Hilton Woking is in the center of the town, next to its main shopping centers. Woking is a very walkable town; I didn’t learn to drive until I was 26 as it was easy enough getting around by foot or by bus.

It’s a ~30 minute drive to Woking from London Heathrow airport and a ~45 minute drive from London Gatwick airport. You can take a train from Woking to London in about 30 minutes, getting off at Waterloo which is a station close to the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Cathedral, the London Eye, etc.

Due to its proximity to London and ease with which you can get there via public transport, Woking is a popular place to live for people who work in London. That’s why I grew up there as my dad worked for an insurance company in the city. In fact, you can even see the London skyline from the Hilton Woking’s executive lounge on a clear day.

That said, I don’t know if I’d necessarily recommend staying here if you want to visit London. Although it’s easy enough to get there by train, you’re looking at a round trip journey of at least an hour, plus the train ticket fees will be higher than staying closer to London and taking a tube ride.

However, it could be a great place to base yourself if you’ve visited London before and instead want to explore more of the southeast of England. Within a 30-45 minute drive you can visit Windsor Castle (almost 1,000 years old), Hampton Court Palace (once home to Henry VIII), Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures (two theme parks), Twickenham (for rugby matches), Mercedes-Benz World, LEGOLAND Windsor, Birdworld (the UK’s largest bird park which is a fun day out for younger kids), and more.

If you’re a Formula 1 fan, you might be familiar with Woking as it’s the home of the McLaren F1 team. It used to be possible to go on a tour of their facilities, but I believe they stopped those during COVID and never widely started them back up again. That said, I have occasionally seen Hilton Experiences offer a McLaren Formula 1 Technology Centre Tour for 100,000 Hilton Honors points (such as this one), so that’s worth keeping an eye out for if it’d be something that would appeal to you.

The first ever mosque in the UK—Shah Jahan Mosque—was built in Woking in the 1800s and is still used today. The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells starts with aliens landing on nearby Horsell Common and subsequently destroying much of Woking. In the center of town there are some alien statues modeled on the story to honor that somewhat weird claim to fame.

Service

I was pleasantly surprised with how good service was at the hotel. We had great experiences with the concierge, the front desk staff, the executive lounge staff, OXBO restaurant staff at breakfast, and our server at Loft Sky Bar. After experiencing somewhat mediocre service at the two luxury hotels we’d stayed at in Crete just before this stay, it was a marked improvement.

Cash price

Cash pricing for the Hilton Woking can be all over the place. Rates tend to be in the $125-$300 range, but they do sometimes end up in the $300-$500 per night range.

For the dates of our stay when I’d originally booked them (rather than when I rebooked them the day before), it would’ve cost $243.02 per night including taxes and fees.

Award pricing

Seeing as Hilton uses dynamic pricing, the fact that cash pricing is all over the place means that award pricing is often all over the place too.

Friday nights tend to be cheapest and are sometimes bookable for 34,000 Hilton Honors points per night. Weekends are often ~45,000 points per night, while midweek stays are often 55,000-60,000 points per night.

We stayed there five nights and the pricing was 38,000 points for the first night, 50,000 for the second, 60,000 for the third and fourth nights, and 49,000 points for the fifth night. Hilton Honors offers every fifth night free on award stays for anyone who has Silver status or higher. That meant the cost of the 49,000 point night was knocked off, resulting in us only needing to redeem 208,000 points for the stay, or an average of 41,600 points per night.

Points value

By taking advantage of the fifth night free benefit, we were able to get 0.58 cents per point of value by booking an award stay rather than paying cash. The points to cash ratio does vary though; I’ve looked at pricing there at other times and sometimes the redemption value is worse—more akin to Hilton’s 0.35 cents per point Reasonable Redemption Value.

Resort fee

The Hilton Woking doesn’t have a resort fee.

Internet

Wi-Fi is complimentary at the Hilton Woking. It was a decent speed and I didn’t have any issues during our stay. In fact, I was in the lobby at 2am for our live Ask Us Anything session last month, so Zoom calls were no issue.

Elite benefits

I have Hilton Honors™ Diamond status by way of the Hilton Honors American Express Aspire card. This got us complimentary access to the club lounge and free breakfast in OXBO restaurant each morning.

We didn’t proactively get offered a room upgrade, nor did we ask for one when checking in. I did earn 1,000 bonus points as my Diamond + Myway Bonus.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Service – All of the employees we interacted with were friendly and helpful.
• Views – The hotel has lovely views of the surrounding area.
• Location – It’s in a very convenient spot to explore Woking, as well as other parts of the southeast.
• Lounge – While the canapes in the evening weren’t extensive, it was nice having that available, as well as self-serve drinks.
• Food & drink – We enjoyed the breakfast spread and Loft Sky Bar has some very tasty cocktails.

Cons

• No upgrade – The hotel didn’t give us an upgrade proactively even though it didn’t seem to be particularly busy during our stay. Admittedly, I didn’t ask for an upgrade though.
• Parking – It’s certainly not a deal-breaker, but it’s a shame that parking for five nights cost us ~$100.
• Shower – Perhaps we got unlucky with our room, but the water pressure from the shower was very weak.

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