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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