In May 2013 I wrote about a truly disappointing room at the Hilton Docklands Riverside. It was a tiny room that at a hotel that I had previously enjoyed.

I needed to stay near London City Airport again recently and with the Great Getaway Sale in progress I was able to book one of the rooms I had really enjoyed at a pretty good rate. My review of this room is here.

At check-in the hotel told me that they had a very nice room for me, and as it turned out it, it wasn’t the room I had booked. They had honoured my Gold HHonors upgrade by giving me a suite. The two room suite was in the top of the older part of the hotel, which had been converted from a warehouse. (The older part is my personal preference.)

When I first entered the room I was a little disappointed. The ceiling protruded in to the room quite a lot giving it a feeling of being small and dark.

Living Room:

Bedroom:

Bathroom:

The seats were perfectly comfortable and there was no noise at all. There room had a small balcony which you access from the living room. It gave great views of Canary Wharf, day and night:

It seems that the balcony has been primarily used for people wanting a smoke, and that the cleaning time might need to take some action about their stubs:

I woke the next morning to a lovely clear sky with con trails above me:

The river was already awake with ships moving:

The hotel seems to play host to large groups, at least one of which was at breakfast when I arrived and the room was packed with people waiting for tables to be opened up. There was a substantial wait in line for the buffet:

I did get to see the hotel from the top for the first time, showing how it has been divided up with covered walkways and multiple staircases and lifts:

I left for London City Airport using the ferry which operates between the hotel and Canary Wharf (free tickets from Reception), and looking back saw how well the conversion of the property had been done:

More about my journey to the airport – ferry, bus and Docklands Light Railway – to follow.