Introduction
When I started this series, I was simply trying to answer a practical question: which London Hilton properties trigger the American Express Business Platinum Hilton quarterly credit without an overnight stay? Fifteen London tests later, the answer is becoming clearer. But the credits are only half the story.
Spending an hour in each hotel has become an excuse to revisit parts of London I’ve known for years. Some of these hotels sit in neighborhoods I’ve lived in, worked in, or passed through countless times. Others were complete surprises.
This latest round ranges from one of London’s most characterful Curio hotels to perhaps the city’s least attractive hotel building.
Final results
Property | Hilton Brand | Amex Biz Platinum Hilton Credit |
|---|---|---|
DoubleTree Chelsea | DoubleTree | ✅ |
Hilton London Metropole (Bow Bar) | Hilton | ✅ |
DoubleTree Victoria | DoubleTree | ✅ |
100 Queen’s Gate | Curio Collection | ✅ |
DoubleTree Kensington (Cromwell Road) | DoubleTree | ✅ |
And alongside that we have the following supporting evidence:
Property | Card | Result |
|---|---|---|
DoubleTree Victoria | Hilton Surpass | Credit triggered + 12x Hilton points |
100 Queen’s Gate | Hilton Surpass | Credit triggered + 12x Hilton points |
100 Queen’s Gate | Hilton Aspire | 14x Hilton points as Hilton spend |
Methodology
Exactly as before: Small food or beverage purchase. No overnight stay. Wait for the Amex credit.
DoubleTree Chelsea
DoubleTree Chelsea sits just a short walk from Imperial Wharf station.
This wasn’t my first visit to the DoubleTree Chelsea.
Imperial Wharf station is only a few minutes’ walk from the hotel.
Long before I started testing Hilton credits, Gambado next door was a regular venue for children’s birthday parties. While the kids disappeared into soft play, the parents would often drift across to the hotel for a coffee.
Gambado next door explains why this hotel became a regular coffee stop during children’s parties years ago.
Returning years later, I was surprised how well the property has aged.
The renovated CRE Bar gives the hotel a far more contemporary feel than I remembered.
The CRE restaurant and bar are genuinely pleasant spaces, and the hotel is as much a neighborhood hotel as somewhere built to capture passing business travellers.
Hilton Metropole
Few London hotels divide opinion quite like the Hilton Metropole.
The Hilton Metropole’s exterior won’t win many beauty contests.
From the outside it’s difficult to love. The vast concrete building dominates the junction in a way that feels more dystopian than welcoming.
The Metropole occupies one of London’s busiest transport corridors.
Step inside, however, and the story changes.
Inside, Bow Bar tells a completely different story from the building outside.
Recent renovations have transformed the public spaces.
Bow Bar was one of the pleasant surprises of this round.
Bow Bar is one of the more impressive hotel bars I’ve visited during this round, and it’s difficult to reconcile the warm interior finishes with the uncompromising exterior.
DoubleTree Victoria
DoubleTree Victoria is every inch the classic station hotel.
Victoria has always been a transport neighborhood rather than a destination.
Victoria Station is another of London’s busiest transport hubs.
I lived nearby in Pimlico for several years and knew these streets well. Returning now, the DoubleTree feels much as I remembered it. It still feels like somewhere people pass through rather than somewhere they choose to spend time.
The lobby is comfortable and efficient but not particularly memorable.
The lobby and bar do exactly what they’re supposed to do, and are nice enough in isolation, but there’s little sense that the hotel wants you to stay any longer than necessary.
The bar serves its purpose well, even if the hotel isn’t designed for lingering.
That isn’t necessarily criticism. Station hotels exist to solve a problem, not create an experience.
100 Queen’s Gate
If there was one surprise from this round of testing, it was 100 Queen’s Gate.
100 Queen’s Gate feels more boutique hotel than chain property from the moment you arrive.
The hotel feels far removed from the typical chain property. The conservatory, staircase, library-inspired public spaces and intimate bar give it the atmosphere of a boutique hotel that just happens to participate in Hilton Honors.
The library-inspired lounge became my favorite public space in this round of testing.
Of the five properties tested here, this was the one I’d most happily return to even without a credit to chase. And on that note, it’s the one I’ll spend some time writing up separately, and will share a broader set of images of the hotel public spaces.
The bar at 100 Queen’s Gate strikes a balance between classic hotel elegance and a genuinely comfortable place to spend an evening.
DoubleTree Kensington (Cromwell Road)
DoubleTree Kensington’s Victorian façade gives little hint of the sizeable hotel behind it.
This is the other pleasant surprise. My expectations weren’t especially high.
The covered terrace provides a surprisingly peaceful outdoor space away from Cromwell Road traffic.
Instead, I found a hotel making a genuine effort to escape the standard DoubleTree formula.
The vibrant Umami Bar adds a welcome splash of color to the hotel’s interiors.
The period façade, London Secret Garden courtyard and bright restaurant give the property considerably more personality than I’d expected.
Gloucester Road Underground station is only a short walk from the hotel, making it easy to reach central London and Heathrow.
It isn’t going to compete with the luxury hotels around South Kensington, but it does command more respect than your typical non-signature brand chain hotel label.
Conclusion
One unexpected consequence of this series is that it has encouraged me to revisit familiar parts of London through a completely different lens. A small Hilton credit has become an excuse to spend an hour somewhere I might otherwise have walked past. Sometimes that’s confirmed my expectations. Sometimes it’s completely changed them.
The credits remain useful, but increasingly they’re also the reason for exploring another corner of the city.