London Hotels Insight provides up-to-date, independent advice for your perfect stay in London. We research guest feedback, meet management and identify hotels at the top of their game.
Royal Wedding insanity at London hotels.
Westminster Abbey is the venue for the upcoming Royal Wedding...we cast a critical eye over some pricey London hotel Royal Wedding packages (image credit below)
The Royal Wedding has given London hotels and hoteliers a real boost.
Some hotels are already fully booked for the Royal Wedding as this blog previously reported; and research house Verdict reckons the event as a whole will boost the UK economy by a cool £620m.
The problem for hoteliers, though, is that while everyone who’s interested in the Royal Wedding will want to be in London for the day itself, business types will probably steer clear of the capital for the week around it.
There’s a risk that they’ll sell a single night for the wedding, but lose four or five as other travellers decide to give the city a miss. So creating long-stay packages around the wedding is clearly a smart move – increase your revenue by offering higher value dining and champagne, for instance; and increase the attraction to the visitor by including trips to interesting royal locations like Kensington Palace, Hampton Court or the Tower of London.
Though to be frank, some of the packages don’t look all that exciting.
The Ritz’s ‘Monarchy and Matrimony’ (£1460 +VAT for 2 nights) includes the chance to have tea at the Ritz for £50 (which you can do anyway, though this one includes a limited edition chocolate heart with the royal pair’s initials). Not that special if you ask me, though some will no doubt love it.
Check the best rate for The Ritz Hotel from 30+ hotel booking sites
Afternoon tea at The Ritz is always a glamorous experience, but you can have it at any time, not just to celebrate the Royal Wedding
Swissotel The Howard offers a £2,904.11 ‘Royal Twist’, including a beauty treatment and a horse-carriage trip to Westminster Abbey (not on the day of the wedding itself, obviously!), as well as champagne and ‘Royal-tea’ (groan). I really worry about that 11p: why not make it an even £2,904?
More odd is the ‘Princess of Pop’ package – modelled on Cheryl Cole rather than Princess Anne, I suppose – which includes the same beauty treatment, a £250 Abercrombie & Fitch voucher and a chance to cut a disc.
And the same hotel’s ‘Pretty Little Princess’ package is one that worries me. I know I’m unromantic, but if I had a six year old daughter and two and a half grand, I’d be putting it in a unit trust for her – not buying her a luxury package including ‘non alcoholic champagne’.
Check the best rate for Swissotel The Howard from 30+ hotel booking sites
Swissotel The Howard has decided to target its Royal Wedding packages on families with a spoilt daughter!
Top of the range is the Mandarin Oriental’s Royal Wedding Tour, with a minimum six day stay at the hotel. It includes visits to Kensington Palace, Chartwell, Althorp, and Spencer House, as well as Westminster Abbey.
There is also dinner ‘at the home of a member of the royal family’, though I notice no mention of the name of that royal personage – while a number of other ‘great and good’ will be on hand throughout the tour.
It only costs £18,800 for two. Or a bargain £11,300 if you’re on your own. And you get the chance to eat at Dinner by Heston Blumenthal.
Check best rate for Mandarin Oriental London from 30+ hotel booking sites
Rather more sensibly-priced is Red Carnation Hotels‘ “Live Like Royalty” deal at its six luxury London boutique hotels. They keep it refreshingly simple: 2 nights accommodation with breakfast, champagne afternoon tea and tickets to visit the Queen’s Gallery, the Royal Mews or the State Rooms.
The group’s Rubens Hotel is opposite Buckingham Palace’s Royal Mews.
The Rubens Hotel near Victoria has the ideal location to revel in the Royal Wedding atmosphere
Many other top London hotels have not employed much imagination. They’ve simply celebrated the Royal Wedding by hiking up their prices.
I haven’t been able to confirm it, but have been told that a couple of central London luxury hotels have increased their rates from the £250 mark to £500 and in one case, nearly £700 for the night. And I imagine this is fairly typical: it’s simply a case of supply and demand.
One of the best ways to hunt down the last few remaining Royal Wedding hotel deals is by using this special Westminster Abbey Hotel Map.
Looking for a cheaper way to celebrate? My sense of humour was tickled by the chance to ‘Knit Your Own Royal Wedding’. It’s really rather cute and available on Amazon for just £6.49!
Get the best-value London hotel deal from 30+ booking sites in 1 click
Photo credits: TossMyPancake’s photostream, Rubens at the Palace Hotel, Swissotel The Howard, Ritz Hotel.
Previous post: Why the Cavendish Hotel is a great place to work.
Next post: Your cheap DIY £11,300 Royal Wedding Tour.
{ 5 trackbacks }
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
I had a look on-line now, and you can still find pretty good deals in London if you don’t have to stay right next to the wedding route. For an example, I found Andaz (5-star Hyatt hotel in the City) at only £165. And Chancery Court (5-star Mariott hotel at Holborn) at £179. Both places only 15 mins from Westminster by Tube. I’ll be planning a 5-star wedding-free weekend now!