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My wife and I recently stayed four nights at The Great Scotland Yard Hotel in London. This hotel is in the location of the original Scotland Yard which started its life as a castle used by Scottish royalty, then later became London’s Metropolitan Police headquarters. The police have moved on to the New Scotland Yard and the original building has been completely overhauled into a beautiful hotel which is chock full of whimsical artwork, usually crime-themed to honor the hotel’s namesake.
Great Scotland Yard Hotel Bottom Line Review
The Great Scotland Yard Hotel is a terrific hotel located smack in the center of London’s most iconic tourist spots. Steps from the hotel you’ll find Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, etc. Whether that’s good or bad depends on your perspective. Obviously, if you’re there to sightsee, it’s great. And, for others, the good news is that the hotel is tucked away on a quiet side-street. The bad news is that you can’t go far in any direction before having to push your way through throngs of tourists. I think the location is perfect for first time London visitors. For myself, I’d definitely consider staying again if I need to be in that part of London, but I’ll otherwise stay in a less touristy location.
Pros & Cons
- Pros:
- Great location for tourists
- Very elegant/beautiful design
- Extraordinary artwork
- The hotel is quiet despite being close to many tourist hotspots
- Comfortable bed
- Huge bath towels
- Bathroom includes bidet with heated seat
- Complimentary mini-bar (bottled drinks + bag of caramel popcorn)
- Tours are available on request. Ask for Mohamed. He was great.
- Good breakfast (free for Hyatt Globalists). Breakfast included all you could eat from the buffet plus one item from the menu.
- The Parlour Tea Room (for tea or light dinner) was very nice
- Excellent cocktails at The 40 elephants bar
- Secret door to speak easy found in lobby behind fake bookcase (we didn’t have a chance to try the speakeasy, unfortunately)
- A pillow menu is available in case you’re particular about your pillows
- Cons:
- Rooms are small
- Breakfast service was inconsistent: sometimes very slow.
- Breakfast was sometimes unpleasantly noisy (there seemed to be tour and cruise groups staying there).
- Before our stay, the hotel sent a questionnaire titled “Expect the unexpected!” asking about our preferences. But they then completely ignored our responses. That was unexpected, so I should have expected it.
- No globalist welcome gift
- At check-in we weren’t given any sort of hotel overview. It would have been nice to learn about things like the speakeasy and the pillow menu in advance. We didn’t know about either until our check-out day.
- Touristy location (but hotel is tucked away on side street, so pretty quiet)
Details
- Hyatt Category: 6
- Point price: 21,000 off-peak, 25,000 standard, 29,000 peak
- Value: Varies. Prices are sometimes as low as $380 per night, but often $600 or more. When cash rates are at the higher end, the value of using points is very good.
- Location: Very good for seeing the tourist hot-spots in London
- Parking: None
- Resort/Destination Fee: None
- Internet: Good
- Service: Good
- Turndown service: Nightly. Included chocolate mints and replaced complimentary mini-bar items.
- Dining & Drinks:
- The Yard breakfast (good but noisy, and sometimes slow service)
- Ekstedt at The Yard for dinner (we didn’t try it)
- The Parlour for afternoon tea or a light meal (we didn’t try the former, but the latter was good)
- The 40 Elephants bar (very good drinks)
- Síbín Speakeasy (we didn’t try it)
- Spa: None
- Fitness Room: Looked fine but I didn’t try it
- Hyatt Globalist Benefits:
- Room Upgrade: We were upgraded to a Deluxe King corner room. It was very small but also very nicely appointed.
- Free Breakfast: Yes. Includes one menu item plus full buffet
- Club Lounge: None
- Late Checkout: 4pm checkout offered and granted
- Welcome Amenity: None
- Would I stay again? I prefer other areas of London, but if I had reason to be in this area I would happily stay again.
Image Gallery
Entrance, Lobby, and Hallways
Deluxe King Room
The 40 Elephants Bar
The Parlour Tea Room
Síbín Speakeasy
The Yard Breakfast
Gym
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I just spent a couple of nights in this hotel. Thanks Greg for your review, it helped me settle on this one vs Churchill in Mayfair.
I have to say a hotel tour is essential. Quite a few hidden things.
I got similar room upgrade as a Globalist and in my mind it is a good size room for London.
Unfortunately was too busy and did not have a chance to try thr hidden bar, but sounded like it would be a great place for scotch experience. Quite expensive too, I expect.
In terms of location, yes, it is touristy, but there’s really something in coming out of your door and seeing Elizabeth Tower on one side and Nelson Column on the other. You can just feel the power this country once had.
I would not hesitate to stay there again.
No spa. Shoebox room. Tiny bathroom. Uneven service. You are too kind. Paris Park Hyatt puts this place to shame. But then Paris puts London to shame. Brexit for all!
Sure PH is better. But there’s no PH in London. So what is your solution – just go to Paris instead? 😉
Precisely………
yawn….
Literally, minutes before your article posted I was looking a hotels in London for mid-May. Scotland Yard popped up..but using the emailed promo by Hyatt of “up to 25% off”, that rate was more than the standard nightly rate! And honestly, looking at the pictures, the hotel doesnt appear to be worth the +$600 nightly cost. It’s a novel idea but I can get more room/space (and better location) for less at one of the other major chains’ properties in the area.
There are much, much better hotels –– legitimate 5-star hotels –– in London for $600-plus per night.
No, it is not worth $600. But it is definitely worth 25K points.
Hyatt has really exploded in London in three years, although two of the newer Regency properties are ex-Crowne Plazas. I’ve stayed at both of these properties.
The Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment is an awful value – and has a weird owner who camps out in the lobby doing business deals that look and feel shady. He was an Iraqi politician. See this article from View from the Wing. That aside, this is still very much a Crowne Plaza but with Hyatt Regency branding.
The Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars has a superb location – perhaps better than than the Hyatt Regency London Albert Embankment as the bridges across the Thames in and around Westminster can get clogged, making it difficult to get to and from the hotel by car. The Regency club at London Blackfriars is small and more of a makeshift space but the included drink selection is better than average. Unlike the other property, this one was basically gutted and renovated floor-to-ceiling. It looks and feels like a pretty cookie-cutter Hyatt Regency. That’s not a bad thing, but there’s real nothing about the hotel decor that says London or even 5-star, which the hotel claims to be.
The problem I have is Hyatt seems to think its properties in London are genuine 5-star hotels. That just isn’t the case. London has countless real 5-star hotels that are a significant level or two above the Hyatt offerings. It’s hard to justify the prices charged in cash. At $400 or more per night, I don’t think I would stay at a Hyatt in London. Especially a property without a club lounge. And on points, a club lounge is a must in my opinion.
Just came back from a week at the Hyatt Blackfriars. Agree with what you said – lounge weeknights is small and cramoed (tucked in behind the NYnLon restaurant) and weekends the lounge moves to the area adjacent to the lobby. Better booze selection in the cramped area, better and nicer seating in the adject lobby area but poor booze selection.
As a Globalist, first 3 nights were upgraded to junion suite which was nice, then last 4 nights upgraded to executive suite with a separate living room (space). The location is excellent – out the door the the hotel and across the Blackfriars bridge puts you on bankside in one direction (Wobbly bridge Tate modern ,Globe theatre) and Southbank in the other direction London eye, etc.) Also the Blackfriars tube station is across the street so you can go anywhere and the Uber riverboats which travel up and down the Thames stops at either Blackfriars pier (on the north side of the river) and Bankside (on the south side by the Globe.)
St Paul’s is within spitting distance of the hotel. .Only downside is that the hotel is in a business district so things like Bank Holidays (like 5/27) shuts things down.
On my two stays, the Hyatt Regency London Blackfriars on the nights there was no club lounge allowed guests to get whatever alcohol they wanted from the lobby bar. This also applied during the day on day when there was a lounge but was closed daytime. I drank some lovely English sparkling wine.
I see there is a 5% discretionary service charge. How was this applied? Thank you!
There’s no extra charge if you pay with points or free night certs
thanks- was not sure if this applied across all food and bev as well. Looking forward to the trip. Appreciate the write up!
We visited here for 2 nights in March. I absolutely agree with the review and would go back. Definitely in a fantastic location for walking to the very touristy sort of places you might want to visit on trip to London. I loved the look and ambiance of the little restaurant used for breakfast. While I found the artwork interesting, more than once I momentarily jumped when it looked like someone was standing there out the corner of my eye.
Are Globalists supposed to receive a globalist welcome gift? If so, I never knew that.
I don’t think it’s required but many high end properties do.
The welcome amenity for Hyatt’s top tier was eliminated around the time the program was relaunched as World of Hyatt.
In my opinion, the lack of a required welcome amenity or some sort of voucher for a F&B credit makes Hyatt globalist somewhat uncompetitive to Marriott ambassador or even someone with joint IHG diamond-Intercontinental ambassador statuses. Especially domestically, where many Hyatt Regency properties don’t have an open club lounge (Denver Tech Center, Wichita, Houston IAH, Greenville, the Orlando airport, etc.).
Of course, I wouldn’t drink a bottle of the horrible Hyatt Canvas wine that would certainly be provided as a welcome amenity. That stuff is awful. I think Barefoot may be better.
Unfortunately they are strict on occupancy to the point of silliness. My concierge could not get the hotel to agree to 2 adults and an 8 year old child in a standard suite with a stated occupancy of 2.
nice post. why did you chose here vs hyatt regency churchill?
Location. My wife had meetings within an easy walk from the GSY
The Hyatt Regency Churchill is very tired, in my opinion. It will be interesting to see what happens once The Chancery Rosewood opens nearby at the former American embassy. I’m sure that will pull some business away from the Churchill and the JW Marriott Grosvenor House. Grosvenor House will also be hurt by the St. Regis once that opens. For years, Marriott has operated Grosvenor House at more of a Ritz-Carlton level since Marriott didn’t have a St. Regis or Ritz-Carlton in London.