Geography for 18 Club Carlson hotels in London

London geography for 18 Club Carlson hotels is a look at where Radisson Blu Edwardian and Park Plaza hotels are located in London. Club Carlson website has impressed me these past few days as I have used the site extensively in planning hotel stays for London and Dublin.

The advantage for Club Carlson is they started fresh with web design in the past few years. They built a new Club Carlson site as part of the hotel company’s 5-year restructuring plan Ambition 2015. Loyalty Traveler – Ambition 2015 Carlson Rezidor Conference 2013 Chicago (March 4, 2013) is a good read for Club Carlson members summarizing the transition of Gold Points Plus hotel loyalty program to Club Carlson and the global corporate restructuring of Carlson Rezidor Hotels Group. (I reread the article myself while writing this and it has lots of good information revealing how different Club Carlson has changed compared to Gold Points Plus loyalty program in 2010. There was not even a Carlson Hotels forum when MilePoint.com originally launched in 2011.)

Club Carlson Points for 2014 Hotel Rate Savings

Map of Club Carlson hotels in London. This area around Westminster, Mayfair, Soho and Covent Garden holds 11 of 18 Radisson Blu Edwardian and Park Plaza hotels in London available with Club Carlson points.

Six of the other Radisson and Park Plaza London hotels are just outside this map view. Radisson Blu Edwardian New Providence Wharf hotel is six miles east along the Thames in the London Canary Wharf area. This hotel ranks #85 on TripAdvisor.com.

Last year I stayed at the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge, pin #8 at the lower right on the south bank of the Thames River. Big Ben and Palace of Westminster on the left side of the river are located at the bottom right. I took two walks of about three hours walking from the Park Plaza Westminster Bridge to Buckingham Palace and along The Mall.

I booked three hotel stays using Club Carlson points for three different hotels. The reservations can be changed with no penalty up to day of arrival, so my objective was to simply have reservations in place in case availability goes away.

Then, Kelly asks, “Are we staying in Kensington?”

“No. Do you want to stay in Kensington?”

Apparently she thinks she might glimpse Royal Kate’s baby bump at Kensington Palace.

Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt is near the west side of Hyde Park and Kensington Palace. TripAdvisor #386 of 1,062 hotels.

I could care less about Royals, but I wouldn’t mind creating our own AbFab tour around Holland Park.

Club Carlson ‘Search by Map’ feature is found in the middle of the black ribbon of links. This can be a useful tool when choosing between different Club Carlson hotels, especially in London where there are so many properties to chose from.

Luxurious London

London is my theme for the next six weeks as I plan a 12 night trip to Dublin and London. The higher cost to travel in London compared to Dublin is apparent in my research this past week. Four Seasons Dublin is under $200 per night. Four Seasons London Park Lane is $792 for November dates I checked. I am thinking of splurging in Dublin since luxury hotels are bargain rates.

Luxury in London is a $400+ per night experience. The Savoy is $725 per night. My wife and I worked a couple of summers as nannies for a Manhattan East 80s couple with infants in the 1990s. Mommy Cash raved about her girlfriend weeks at the Savoy. My wife and I honeymooned at St. James Court Hotel in 1989. We spent part of our stay in the residences which are now the 51 Buckingham Gate, Taj Suites and Residences at $483 per night. Taj 51 Buckingham Gate is currently ranked #5 out of 1,062 London hotels on TripAdvisor.com.

We paid about $130 per night for the St. James Court residential unit during our 1989 honeymoon when I used Entertainment.com for a 50% discount rate at the hotel. It was not a Taj hotel in 1989. Looks like I have been hotel rate scheming for more than 25 years.

I stopped by the hotel last year while in London to check out Taj 51 Buckingham Gate.

While we won’t be staying at Taj 51 Buckingham Gate this trip, the opportunity to return to London for our 25th wedding anniversary year is a dream come true.