The cruise line offered a London hotel and transfer to the ship in Southampton for $250 per person. I jumped on it because a) we were flying for free using frequent flyer miles---20K per person for one way to London. b) I knew London was expensive c) it was less hassle than trying to find a way to get to Southampton where the ship was 1.5 hours away d) I knew a Marriott would have a handicapped room.
And, we had a beautiful room in a historic hotel. The Earl of Grosvener once had a magnificent estate here with an art gallery that had "Blue Boy". In 1927, the new Grosvener House was built on two blocks consisting of flats and hotel.
The hotel had running ice water in the rooms, a gymnasium, pool, ballroom and an ice rink. To this day it has the most famous ballroom in Europe and is the scene for all of their famous award ceremonies.
Despite it being a handicapped room with grab bars, it was still a bit of a challenge getting into the shower.
Did I mention it was right across from Hyde Park?
As with most hotels of this calibre, the meals could be a bit pricey. BUT, they had a wonderful snackbar with delicious sandwiches and salads which we ate rather than the 30 £ ($46) burgers.
But, as with most old, historic structures. . .things happen. Dave woke up at 2 AM to go the bathroom and came back to report that there was water all over the floor. As you can see, the ceiling developed a rather ominous looking bulge. Within 20 minutes, they'd moved us to a suite around the corner---nice. Having a maintenance man pack up the bathroom was not optimal since he didn't get my toothbrush which the hotel replaced.
The next morning, we enjoyed a beautiful English breakfast brunch in the hotel which was included in the price of our room.
All in all, it was a beautiful hotel and I would stay there again in a heartbeat---they were very accommodating from start to finish. We arrived at noon and they showed us immediately to our room rather than having to sit around in the lobby as most hotels require. They gave us a beautiful handicapped room and when that didn't work out, upgraded us in the middle of the night with a minimum of fuss
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