Andaz London Liverpool Street
The Andaz hotel is located at Liverpool Street Station and was opened 1884 as „The Great Eastern Hotel“ and owned by the Great Eastern Railway Company. The building was designed by Charles Barry, who designed the London’s House of Parliament as well and it is a national landmark. Remodelled in 2000 it became after another renovation 2007 the first Andaz hotel and is mixing the style of the end of the 19th with modern design elements.
The small lobby is designed different from what you usual expect. There are not real check in counters instead you will be checked in on the go with members of staff using tablet PC or since 2011 Apple’s iPad. There is a desk used by staff members on the right side which host the printers. Lounge chairs are available and also a few tables. The lobby is a bit dark but modern designed and I like the style. A disadvantage is that you cannot access the hotel from the station but have to exit the station and walk 100 metres to the entrance of the hotel. A bit of a down; especially if it is raining.
There are three elevators to reach the floors. There is a small atrium in front of the elevators and one can look up to the glass roof.
The hotel has five restaurants and bars and offers a wide range of food. There is “1901 Restaurant and Bar” open for breakfast, lunch and dinner (except on Sunday). The restaurant is spread out underneath a glass dome and has very nice ambiance with the style of the 19th century if it comes to the room and modern designed but comfortable interior design. Breakfast is served as buffet from 07:30 to 10:00 on weekdays and 08:00 to 12:00 on weekends. Lunch is served on weekdays only between 12:00 and 14:30 and dinner on Saturday from 18:30 to 22:00 and one can sample classic British Cuisine or tapas and enjoy cocktails or other drinks. “Eastway” is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well and a Brasserie like restaurant with breakfast served à la carte from 07:00 to 11:30 on weekdays and 07:30 to 12:00 on weekend followed by brunch on weekend and lunch on weekdays until 16:00. Dinner is available from 17:00 to 23:00 and you can order sandwiches and tapas all day and in the evening European dishes including seafood, salads and specialties from the grill. If you are into seafood you should have a look at “Catch & Champagne Bar” which is open from noon to midnight or 01:00 and serving not only Champagne and other types of beverages in a very stylish ambiance but also serving seafood for lunch and dinner in weekday. Unfortunately it is closed on weekends. “George Pub” is a traditional English pub and open from 11:00 to 23:00 serving ale and lagers in addition to a selection of wine. Served are traditional English cuisine like shepherd’s pie, fish and chips for lunch and dinner. Last but not least there is “Miyako” for Japanese food and open for lunch on weekdays and dinner, except on Sunday when the restaurant is closed. The restaurant is specialized in sushi, sashimi and tempura and offering Bento Boxes as take away.
All restaurants could be reached from the hotel.
A gym and health club is located in the basement. Small, but there are different modern machines for various workout and training styles.
There a range of 14 private dining rooms and even spaced and also offers space for meetings with up to 700 persons.
A business center is located on the first floor.
The hotel does not offer a garage of its own but partners with a garage a few minutes away and offers valet service between 07:00 and 22:00. The valet service has to be prebooked.
visited on California + London (LA + Bay Area)
Stays May 1, 2010 - February 18, 2011 - January 13, 2012
direct link to hotel Andaz Liverpool Street Station
Arrival Date: May 1, 2010
Departure Date: May 2, 2010
Room type booked: Single Room (got Andaz King)
Rate Plan: Andaz5 Rate
Room Number: 633
Room Rate: 85.00 GBP (excluding taxes)
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
I arrived at the hotel early, around 08:40 in the morning and did not expect that I already could check in and therefore had only planed to store my luggage. I entered the hotel and since the Andaz has its own check in procedure, which is a bit different from these of other hotels. It took just seconds, even before I had noticed the location of the check in desk, that I was approached by a member of staff and asked if I like to check in. I told him, yes or at least store my luggage, and he told me to take a seat and if I like to have something to drink, coffee, tea, water, cappuccino, latte macchiato or something else. I took a cafe and he was notifying an agent of my presence and preparing the coffee, which he brought to me and informing me that an agent will soon become available.
And so I nipped on my coffee, not for long, because the agent arrived with his small tablet PC and checking me in. I was addressed by name and informed that a room would be available if I did not mind to have a room facing the atrium of the hotel. I accepted this room and I had to sign the screen of the laptop, which was a new experience to me. The keycard had to be prepared at the desk, since the machine attached to the laptop did not work. However my overall impression is, that it took more time than doing check in at a regular counter. The process on the screen with a combination of touch screen and pen was not really time efficient, also this might be caused by the software rather than the process itself.
The check in experience was in general okay. Staff was friendly and to have a seat and someone is coming to you rather than queuing is not bad, but the process is time consuming. And I could imagine that this might be a bit of a problem with more people.
I was accompanied to my room and while we were heading to my room, the hotel features were explained, the location of the many restaurants and the bar, the gym and Spa and we chatted also a bit of the renovations of such an old hotel.
After I opened the door, I was right in the room. My room was facing the courtyard (which was atrium style, since there was a glass roof over the yard) and had a round window to the courtyard. On the left side was the entrance to the bathroom.
With a combination of white and a few black tiles compared with bright light the bathroom looked bigger than it might have been in terms of size. A sink, a toilet and a bath with rainforest shower and an additional handshower. There was not really much missing. A mirror with place inside to store utensils, Towels for two persons were provided in addition to two bathrobes. The bathroom was featuring a water saving system using subpressure for toilet, bath and sink, which is also used in trains and planes for the flush. There was no shower curtain but a glass panel, which was like in many hotels too short to be of use, so water was dripping on the floor especially while using the rainforest shower.
The room was larger than average. On the wall next to the entrance was the built in closet. It was large by hotel standards and also featuring a safe and the minibar as tea and coffee facilities as well. Opposite the entrance was the desk which doubles as makeup place with a mirror inside and the hairdryer. For sure, this seems to be a nice feature, especially for the female traveler. A power outlet inside the desk was also nice, especially as international adapters were included and it does not matter if one forget to bring the own adapter.
The comfortable bed with two bedside tables as well as (reading) lamps was on the right side. There was a switch at one of the tables to turn off some of the lights, but unfortunately not all. I have not really discovered the system.
The minibar was free and included four bottles of water, still and sparkling, two bottles of juices and a few snacks. Nothing really big, but it was nice to have.
A lounge chair with a table was placed opposite the bed.
The room was nice and the design modern. The bed was comfortable.
The room was in good shape and there were only a few stains in the carpet and a few minor scratches at the wall. One has to take a really close look to discover them. However, it could be a down for somebody, that there were no entrance hall and one was standing right in the room. It does not matter for me and so I was really happy about this hotel, especially since the room rate was low for London with only 85 GBP for a single.
Arrival Date: February 18, 2011
Departure Date: February 18, 2011
Room type booked: Singe Room (got Double)
Rate Plan: Advanced Purchase Rate
Room Number: 506
Room Rate: 97.75 GBP (excluding taxes)
Status of Guest Program: Platinum
I arrived at the hotel very late or early, since it was already past midnight. My flight was delayed and I had to queue for immigration and missed a tube. I entered the deserted hotel lobby. I approached the check in desk before the agent of the night shift had noticed me. I was checked in quickly and did not ask about anything like upgrade, since I felt awful. The check in was quicker as it was done right at the desk and not the tablet PC like on my last stay back in May 2010.
After I opened the door, I was right in the room. This time, my room was facing the street and much smaller than the room in May. Also the layout of the room was more that of an average hotel room with a small hallway with the entrance to the bathroom and the closed along with minibar and in-room safe.
The bathroom, again with white and a few black tiles, had sink, toilet and bath. Towels for two persons were provided in addition to two bathrobes. There was again no shower curtain and the glass panel was way too short to be of use, so water was dripping on the floor especially while using the shower.
The desk doubles as makeup place with a mirror inside and the hairdryer, otherwise it is big enough to work on it. A power outlet inside the desk was also nice, especially as international adapters were included and it does not matter if one forget to bring the own adapter.
The comfortable bed with two bedside tables as well as (reading) lamps was on the right side. There was a switch at one of the tables to turn off some of the lights. I have no idea how the lamps must be switched, as I again failed to switch all light off.
The minibar was free and included beside the free bottles two bottles of beer, which are not free. The notice is a bit hidden from my impression, but I did not care. I enjoyed it, since it was not that expensive.
The room was again nice and the design modern, which I like. The bed was comfortable.
The room was in good shape and there were only very few stains in the carpet and a few minor scratches at the wall especially close to the entrance and in one corner. One has to take a really close look to discover them. The room was clean and also in the hidden corner were no dust.
Arrival Date: January 13, 2012
Departure Date: January 14, 2012
Room type booked: Singe Room (upgrade with certificate to Suite)
Rate Plan: Advanced Purchase Rate
Room Number: 202
Room Rate: 97.75 GBP (excluding taxes)
Status of Guest Program: Diamond
I arrived at the hotel at 18:45 and was greeted by an agent in the lobby, who welcomed me and after he verified my name welcomed me back. I noticed that they are now using iPad instead of the Tablet PC in 2010. I was checked in quickly and only the credit card had to be verified, all other details were already prefilled and I needed only to sign on the iPad. The upgrade to a suite was mentioned and confirmed. The agent asked me if I remember everything from my last stay or if he should explain the details again. I only inquired about breakfast time and was told I could have breakfast either in the eastway or the 1901 restaurant and room service would be possible as well. The amount I could spent for breakfast were 18 GBP I was told.
I was offered a hand with my luggage but was fine taking them with me, since I was traveling only with hand luggage.
After I opened the door to my suite, I was in the living room, which was shaped like a triangle. The suite was facing the street. There was an ottoman with a small table, a lounge chair, an impressive lamp and a modern painting in the living room. Right at the entrance was a dining table with four chairs and a fruit basked, but unfortunately there was no knife in the room to cut the fruits. The style and design was similar to the one of the rooms I had during my earlier stays. A desk was located in front of a window close to the door to the bedroom. There was also the minibar and a place where a bottle of red wine was placed as a gift. Unfortunately the light at this place could not turned off and even as I took the roomkey out of the central unit at the entrance the light was not switched off. Luckily the door of the bedroom blocked the light. I mentioned this during check out with some other issues.
The bedroom was quite large and had two wardrobes, one of them contained the safe. Iron and Ironing board were missing. A sofa was located in front of the window and there was also a Nespresso machine with seven capsules.
The comfortable bed with two bedside tables as well as (reading) lamps was facing the entrance. There was a switch at one of the tables to turn off some of the lights. A second TV was also in the bedroom.
The bathroom, again with white and a few black tiles on the floor and white tiles at the wall, had sink, toilet, shower and bath. Towels for two persons were provided in addition to two bathrobes and slippers. Unfortunately there were no hangers for towels close to the shower.
The minibar included the free organic drinks and also vodka and beer, which had to be paid. The room was nice and the design modern, which I like. The bed was comfortable.
The room was in good shape and there were a very few stains in the carpet and on the sofa in the bedroom and a few minor scratches at the wall
The room was clean like all other rooms I have stayed in so far and also in the hidden corner were no dust.
A welcome letter and a small plate with Tomato pesto, Grissini and Olive Paste Grust as amenity were very nice.
I had breakfast in the 1901 in the morning. It was served as extended continental breakfast with sausages, ham, mushroom, scrambled egg and potatoes, cereals, Muesli, yoghurt, fresh fruit, bread but no rolls and pastries as well as a selection of cheese, cold meat and a good selection of salami and jam. A wide selection of juice, among those Mango and Pineapple were available as well. Tea (no teabags but loose tea) and coffee was served by staff. The staff was more or less attentive, but a few times they were not noticing empty plates and guest wanting to order something but chatting with each other. Quality and quantity of the offering were very good and the buffet restocked frequently.
The air condition was turned off and the bedroom was quite cold. Unfortunately the air condition could not switched off in the bathroom as the unit in the bedroom as well as the one in the living room was not working and it showed no reaction if you pressed any button.
It was another enjoyable stay in this hotel which has become to one of my favourite places to stay in London, especially if I can get a rate for below 100 GBP which offers a very good value for money, especially if it comes with full breakfast and an confirmed upgrade to a suite like this time. The light and the air condition not working were not so nice but I god 5000 points credited to my account and I think this is very reasonable and I did not expect anything for this one night stay.
