There are two Hilton properties near Canary Wharf in London. One on the North and the other on the South side of the river. The Hilton Docklands Riverside is on the South. Whilst it does not operate a bus service, access to and from Canary Wharf is by boat – a free ticket is given at Check-in – or via the C10 bus to Canada Water and then the Jubilee Line. The C10 is fairly frequent Monday-Friday and whilst it takes a bit of a windy route, the stop of the Hilton is announced and the hotel is right across from the bus stop.

The other end of the bus is Victoria, and whilst it might take a while, you could in theory enjoy a tour of South London on the way if you boarded at Victoria.

From the roadway the property looks unassuming, but once up the ramp it has a very interesting new and old world feel.

The staff at check-in were helpful, acknowledging that the rate was pre-paid and that my breakfast was included. The indicated that I had a room in the older of the two wings.

The arrangement is a little odd with walkways over old slipways, linking the rooms to Reception.

Once in the older building, it is divided by a central walkway, as you can see here. You must choose the correct lift to get to your room, as apart from the ground floor there is no interconnection between the back and front of the building. The building is four stories high and I had a room on the third floor.

The rooms are joined together by little lobbies which typically lead to 3 or 4 rooms. I was allocated 1324

Upon entering the room, I was impressed. Great views of the river, a large and well converted space with lots of light from two large windows:

The windows opened and the brickwork is from the original building and so added character to the room. A HUGE marble bathroom was off the room, and could clearly have accepted a shower area as there was lots of empty space:

The TV was HD and had HD and non-HD channels over a good range of stations.

The view of Canary Wharf was super, both a dusk and dawn:

I ordered room service, which came very quickly and was tasty:

The staff were really friendly and the bill was correct on check-out. I had paid about £85 (incl VAT) in a Hilton spot sale and felt it very good value for money.

The pier from where the boat goes to Canary Wharf is just off Reception:

In the morning there are a number of cab drivers hanging around in Reception, but as I wanted to get to London City Airport I was determined to get the C10 back to Canada Water. The bus stop back to the station is 1 minute walk from the hotel on the main road

My bus was about 10 minutes early, and as they only run twice an hour on Saturdays, it was good that I had go to the bus stop in plenty of time. Check out times on the stop:

 

Summary – A good (but not great) location, but the novelty for a Londoner of having somewhere quiet, yet central was great. The rate was too good to miss and I would return if they had another sale at this price. (Keep your eyes out, rumour has it that one is due)