The Park Hyatt London River Thames has only been open for 10 months. It still has that new hotel feel. It’s located in the Nine Elms district on the south side of the Thames, and many find it to be an odd location other than proximity to the U.S. Embassy.
The hotel has 203 guest rooms, including 34 suites, two ambassador suites, and one presidential suite. It occupies the first 18 floors of a two‑tower complex (the taller tower has residences that share some hotel amenities).
Base rooms run about 360 to 398 square feet, with standard suites around 560 square feet. They feature marble bathrooms (bathtub and separate shower), hardwood parquet floors, and Nespresso machines.
In the lobby is Nine Elms Bar & Lounge and Nine Elms Kitchen & Terrace (for all‑day dining and breakfast), and Cantonese restaurant Yú Gé.
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The hotel is a category 7 for redemptions and I spent 25,000 points per night and applied a confirmed suite uograde for my 3-night stay.
Most describe it as out of the way, but it’s well-connected by Vauxhall (Victoria line) and Nine Elms (Northern line) stations. It’s surrounded by towers, with only a few nearby amenities though the coffee shop right next door is pretty good.
This is not where you stay on your first visit to London as a tourist, and it’s not a hotel that gives you an especially English feel. Instead, it’s modern Park Hyatt luxury in a newly gentrified neighborhood. But honestly I loved it and it worked great for my purposes, giving me a very nice suite for my family at reasonable cost and we’re hardly London first-timers.
I was on the 12th floor and the room was incredibly bright and airy with great views down the river and high ceilings. While the suite itself was small, the layout was great and we had no problem as a family of four. Lower‑floor suites don’t have the same views and sense of spaciousness as a result.
Staff here are excellent, from the doormen to front desk, bar and room service.
Globalist breakfast is available in both the restaurant or via room service with 5 GBP tray charge, but each morning I’d get up with my son and take him downstairs for coffees and a pastry from the restaurant and we’d order room service later on. They didn’t charge us for the to go items since our breakfast was included.
I have to say their prawn congee was excellent, though the accompanying dim sum was just alright. My daughter absolutely loved her pancakes each morning. The coffee was good, and I’m a sucker for fresh squeezed orange juice.
The wellness floor includes a pool, gym, spa, sauna, and meditation pods. Yú Gé is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays, and we’d planned to eat there on a Wednesday evening but did a late tea and wound up skipping it.
This is a solid London 5-star hotel and a value for the points paid.
Some reports have suggested that the hard product falls short of real top‑tier five‑star standards but I really did not get that sense at all. I absolutely loved the bones of the property. I’d definitely stay here again, depending of course on where I needed to be and what I was doing in London.
Is it a nice hotel? Yes. But it is not luxury when you consider all of the legitimate 5-star hotels in London. I’m not sure you could even call it elegant. It could be a JW Marriott or Intercontinental. Nice. Somewhere between 4 and 5 stars but not luxury. I don’t know why a Hyatt elite using points would stay here over the Hyatt Regencies in London, two of which have a club lounge.
Seeing as I’ve stayed in London 3 times before, I suppose I’m due. At 25K/night, that’s a steal. While it’s a little out of the way from the most touristy spots, it’s real close to the US Embassy. In the past, I’ve enjoyed the views from the Shard, but the Shangri-La, surprisingly, doesn’t have the best breakfast. Besides, can’t really use points to maximum value as with this Park Hyatt. Good review, Gary! Safe travels!
@[redacted] — Oh, the irony… I was just mentioning Mr. Kelly in Gary’s earlier post… like, how he successfully used Shaggy’s ‘wasn’t me’ defense in his 2008 acquittal, but that sure didn’t work for him in 2021…
Anyway, Taiwan is part of the Republic of China; not the PRC, also known as the ‘mainland,’ which is a dictatorship, currently occupied by Xi and the CCP.
As for ‘recognition,’ just 12 countries currently have formal diplomatic relations with the ROC, because the rest of the world continues to appease the PRC, lest they ‘cut off’ trade, or bully them in some other way.
However, as others have said, please do try entering ROC with a visa for PRC, and vice versa, because that won’t end well for you. Each has it’s own sovereignty.
As I’ve said before, I just wish the people within PRC could actually self-determine without threat of ‘re-education.’ One more time, if you can’t respectfully disagree with your own government, that’s not ‘freedom’ or ‘liberty.’ At least in Taiwan, they can vote for their own leaders, and criticism them, if they wish; whereas, the people in Beijing, Chongqing, or Shenzhen can’t do that without being punished.
I’ve been to both countries, and would like to visit each again, soon; however, with Xi’s ‘promise’ to re-unify/attack by 2027, I’m not ‘excited’ by what’s to come there. Your thoughts?
@FNT Delta Diamond – this hotel is much nicer than any JW Marriott I’ve ever stayed at, and there really is not any comparison to Hyatt Regency The Churchill https://viewfromthewing.com/hyatt-regency-the-churchill-unveiling-the-value-of-points-in-london/
I live staying in Vauxhall in London. Out of the chaos and appealing to walk around, but a convenient tube stop.
“It’s surrounded by towers, with only a few nearby amenities though the coffee shop right next door is pretty good.”
It is only ten only minutes walk from the renovated Battersea Power Station, one of London’s newest restaurant and shopping complexes.
@ Gary — We’veve stayed here twice for a total of 8 nights. The rooms were constructed with cheap finishes and fixtures, which are already showing significant wear. This hotel will be in terrible condition in a few years. It is not of Park Hyatt quality.
Well said Gary!
Another great ON POINT review post & photo collection of one of the best Park Hyatts in the world.Thank you.Couldn’t agree more with your overall assessment
I’ve got 50 years with Hyatt and I went in as a sceptic and came out as a believer
Hyatt has been seriously failing in North America in quality and value where revenue IS now frequently less expensive to book a room than redeeming points due to Hyatt corporate failures to be polite.
While all hotels are subjective and opinions will surely vary based on personal tastes
this one is superb despite the critics and naysayers chasing the perfect pie in the sky.
In our Hyatt forum @ FT sure there are some vocal critics however London has never had a hotel on points this good.Peaceful quiet ,elegant & spacious
Churchill is laughable with noisy cramped rooms and OK suites and a puny room with bikes and treadmill’s for decades they call a fitness center.Did I mention antiquated elevators that get stuck occasionally? Yet I admit to somewhat liking the hotel and some of its excellent team members through the decades.
Park Hyatt Londons breakfast has an in house pastry chef and strong Executive chef
It’s about good quality and up there in my perception.Your salmon was breathtaking on the plate
I will say the Churchill has a better in room dining and dinner service but thats about it.
The Park has a good spacious reasonably equipped gym and lovely elegant accommodations views with good soundproofing.Service is reasonable and still getting up to speed
I’ll be back in October and can’t wait to return.As for location have uber will happily travel anywhere and everywhere! Safe travels all and happy healthy journeys
Hyatt Ambassador @ Flyertalk.com
777 global mile hound
I am staying there right now and will admit the hotel is not perfect, but it’s incredibly nice and still fresh.
The real benefit? Likely because of location, and an available deal, when booking through Amex FHR it was half the price of any other FHR, and most high end Hotel Collection properties. That pays for a lot of ubers if necessary, but as was mentioned, it’s very well positioned for public transit.
I would, at times, like to be closer to the hustle and bustle of London, but the peace and tranquility around here are wonderful.
It’s funny when people mention proximity to the US Embassy. Yes of course it’s the most recognizable landmark in the area. But why on earth would that matter to 99.9% of tourists? I have never been to a US Embassy or even thought about going to one when outside the US. Yes it’s helpful in an emergency, but otherwise why would proximity to it matter?
@MARK — FHR’s most impressive benefit remains that guaranteed 4PM late checkout; like, even Globalists may not get that. Enjoy!
@DCJoe — I only mentioned the embassy as a lark; though I have watched both seasons of The Diplomat with Keri Russell, and the embassy is featured in that show prominently, so I might wanna ‘see it’ but yeah no reason to stay there just for that. Bah!
Hyatt apologists, who seemingly book a property solely on cents per point, will find every conceivable reason (excuse) to rationalize this property. Even the most lame reasons (excuses).
@Fred — Uh, are you sure you’re not talking about Marriott? Hyatt (and Hilton) have never ‘done me wrong’ like Marriott. I just feel like you’re describing somebody else… @Gene, thoughts?
Gary, thanks for this review. We stayed at this property for 7 nights in March and generally enjoyed our stay. The pool and gym were amazing and the suite was massive with a powder room that came in handy. Service was a bit inconsistent but the restaurant staff were outstanding. What type of suite did they assign you to? It seems smaller than the Deluxe River View Suite that we stayed at but definitely on a much higher floor (i was told you have to book a higher rate suite to be above the 7th floor).
@Jay Pierpont – this was the smaller Park Suite River View, a base suite but on a high floor so only 581 square feet… your suite would have been a couple hundred square feet larger than mine. Traveling with family I would have preferred your Deluxe suite.