While planning our most recent trip to Europe, we found out that my brother-in-law was going to be in London while we were going to be in Paris, so we decided to cut a few days from our Paris trip to visit him in London. We decided to take the Eurostar (a train that goes directly from Paris to London in 2.5 hours) and booked a room at the Intercontinental Park Lane.

I was immediately impressed with the customer service — we had booked a Classic room and were immediately offered an upgrade via email to a Superior room and notified that there would be a large protest gathering outside the hotel on the date of my husband’s arrival. The protest that they warned us about turned out to be an anti-Brexit march with over a million people, so the heads-up was much appreciated.

Superior Room

To be super honest, I was not overly impressed with our room. While I truly appreciated the upgrade from a Classic to Superior room, we had just checked out of a true five-star hotel in Paris and this was more like a 3.5 star room.

While the room was fine, it was smaller than the Deluxe room we had just vacated at the Park Hyatt, the furnishings were stodgy and in desperate need of an update, and the carpet looked like it needed a cleaning. And friends… the shower had a shower curtain (shudder… and no, I’m not being a snob. I have a shower curtain in my home right now. They just don’t belong in five-star hotels).

Luckily — and I didn’t realize this when booking — the entire hotel is undergoing a renovation, and all rooms will soon be truly first class. Enter the Mayflower Collection.

Mayflower Collection Rooms

What I didn’t realize when booking our room was that there is a whole new category of rooms available for booking at the hotel: newly renovated rooms called the “Mayflower Collection.” The hotel is undergoing a floor-by-floor renovation and all rooms will eventually be Mayflower-style, but for now they are a separate booking category. But they are in a class of their own — and all Virtuoso benefits (including a confirmed upgrade at the time of booking) are included when you book a Mayflower Collection room.

Mayflower Room Photos

Mayflower Deluxe Suite Photos

In addition to the Deluxe and Grand Suites, there are six Signature Suites at the Intercontinental Park Lane — with up to ten bedrooms. Suites were also built with families in mind, and many of them have interconnecting rooms as an option.

Virtuoso Benefits, Including Access to Club Intercontinental Lounge

Booking with me will give you access to these exclusive benefits:

• Upgrade at time of booking, subject to availability (this is nice because you get a confirmed upgrade when you book rather than waiting to see at check-in what is available)

• Full English Breakfast daily in Club InterContinental for up to two guests per bedroom

• Complimentary internet access/Wi-Fi

• Complimentary access to Club InterContinental exclusive lounge, including: breakfast, afternoon tea and evening drinks and canapés

• Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability

Location

The InterCon Park Lane is located in a posh area (Mayfair/Westminster) and is directly across the street from the Four Seasons Hotel London at Park Lane and just down the road from the Dorchester. (We ate at China Tang’s Dorchester location one night for dinner and it was just as fab as in Hong Kong, albeit not as pretty — the HK location overlooks the harbor and has the most swoon-worthy chinoiserie.

The InterCon is a stone’s throw away from the nearest London Underground station, which is super convenient: catching the Tube is vital in London because traffic can be unpredictable (and awful).

Bottom Line: Book a Mayfair Collection room and you will not be disappointed! Contact me if you have questions or for bookings!