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Ritzy enough for The May Fair London

The May Fair is the flagship property of Club Carlson in London. The hotel in the Mayfair district of London is 70,000 points per reward night or about $400 to $500 per night, on average. This hotel is one of two hotels in London to enter Club Carlson category 7 rewards when that highest tier was introduced in March 2014.

Proximity to the Green Park Underground Station one block away on the Piccadilly line with direct service to London Heathrow Airport and a Sainsbury food market across the street makes this hotel one of the best choices for Club Carlson members who want luxury on the cheap.

The May Fair exterior

This part of London has some of the finest hotels in the city with The Ritz London on the next block and Bond Street with luxury designer shops a few minutes walk from The May Fair.

May Fair Queen

The hotel lobby was filled with people in suits and dresses nearly every time we entered the place. One night we came back to the hotel after 11pm and I was able to snap a quick shot of the lobby.

May Fair lobby

At check-in I received a voucher for one free drink at the hotel bar. That was a good value considering cocktails were priced around 13 GBP.

may fair bar

Our room was on the 7th floor of the eight floor hotel, where there were many suites being used for employment interviews for engineers seeking work in Saudi Arabia. I could not have felt more relaxed walking through a hallway of nervous men in their business suits each day seated in rows of chairs holding briefcases as I walked back and forth to our room with an ice bucket to fill for lunch and evening drinks. The surreal hotel guest floor setting made me appreciate my self-employment and the joy of being a writer working without a suit.

May Fair-1

The room has wall to wall windows, with an added second set of interior window panes (perhaps seasonal for winter?). There is no way to open a window. The couch was not comfortable to me; the chairs were.

May Fair bed

And the bed is heavenly.

MayFair Minibar

The electronic mini bar is below the TV, necessitating the frequent need for ice to chill our beverages.

L-shape room

The L-shape of the room gives this room a feeling of space, along with the airiness of a high ceiling.

The bathroom is the feature that made the room feel more luxurious with both a full bath and shower.

May fair tub     may fair sink

Kelley’s complaint about the Essentiel Elements bath products is they are out of San Francisco. She wanted London/European based toiletries. Turns out Essentiel Elements were bought out by Gilchrist & Soames of London.

May Fair shower     wall mirror

The blow dryer is attached to the inside of the closet, similar to the Radisson Blu Mercer and Radisson Blu Bloomsbury Street hotels. God, good hair and rain relief are found in the bibles, the blower and the brolly in the bathroom closet on one side.

blow dryer     Press robes safe

The hangars, robes, safe and trouser press in the closet are located on the other side of the bathroom. Kelley loved the robe feel. I dared her to walk down the hall through the rows of engineer interviewees for more ice. She was not amused.

The May Fair was a fun stay in the beautiful neighborhood of Mayfair London. The place was relaxing at night to walk through areas with fine cars, fine homes and fine shops lighted in Christmas displays.

I did not have the attire suitable for the hotel restaurant and bar at The May Fair since I had not planned to stay at the hotel initially. I changed our reservation from the Plaza on the River to The May Fair on the day of our arrival. Plaza on the River is a residential style hotel and the other London property at 70,000 Club Carlson points per reward night.

London Fashion

Fashionable dress is a requirement for many of the establishments in the Mayfair and Park Lane area of London. I was ritzy enough to walk across the lobby to the elevators for The May Fair London in Levis and trainers.

The Ritz London is another story. I researched the history of The Ritz London hotel while we were staying at The May Fair. Heading back to The May Fair one evening after walking around Hyde Park and the hotels at Park Lane, like The Dorchester and InterContinental Park Lane, I said to Kelley I want to walk inside The Ritz and take a look at the historic 1906 hotel before going back to our room. Kelley bet me they would not let me walk in the door wearing my tennis shoes. She was right. The Ritz has a dress code and tennis shoes are not proper attire for the public spaces. The hotel website has an explicit message to that effect. The doormen at the Ritz stopped me from walking into the hotel, pointing to my shoes.

I was not ritzy enough for The Ritz London.

The Ritz London

The Ritz London does not participate in Marriott Rewards anyway.

Prada Bond Street

If only I had made it to Prada on Bond Street before the store closed.

5 Comments

  • Robert December 4, 2014

    I stayed there last fall before the devaluation. The location is nice but I all I got was a standard room with no other discernible benefits as a Gold/Credit Card holder. On the same trip, we also stayed at Plaza on the River (also on points) and got a nice upgrade to a one bedroom suite. I enjoyed the Plaza much more. Unfortunately, the location isn’t quite as favorable for sightseeing.

  • Ric Garrido December 4, 2014

    @Robert – I gave Kelley the choice of a large room or the May Fair location. She said she did not want to be south of the river. The May Fair was nice for us.

    We had such a wonderful time in London that we may try and go back there again this summer to see places we just couldn’t get to on her short trip.

    One thing we really liked about touring London this time of year was the ability to see stuff in museums with small crowds. I can’t imagine trying to tour some of these places in peak summer.

  • Gregory December 4, 2014

    I stayed at The May fair in may using pre-devaluation points. I really enjoyed the free afternoon candy buffet. The prices at the Sainsbury were amazing.

  • UAPhil December 4, 2014

    I’ve stayed at the Mayfair twice pre-devaluation, and at several of the Radisson Blu Edwardian hotels nearby, in the theatre district. The Mayfair was nice, but not worth the extra points to me.

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