Great Scotland Yard Hotel Review

HYATT LOYALTY HIGHLIGHTS

Globalists receive free sit-down breakfast at the hotel restaurant Ekstedt. Both a la carte and buffet options are available. When providing your room number to the hostess, they confirm your Globalist status and you don’t need to sign a bill after eating.
Suite Upgrade Awards (SUAs) are accepted for the Koestler Suite.
Welcome note and gift (GSY mug, a chocolate dessert, and cookies) were waiting for us in our room. I had noted that we were celebrating my wife’s birthday in advance.

HOTEL BRAND OVERVIEW

Great Scotland Yard is part of Hyatt’s Unbound collection, which includes historical hotels such as this one.
This property is full of London history. It was previously headquarters to the London Police force, which is also referred to as “Scotland Yard.” You can find stylistic references to this throughout the hotel. The building served as a military recruiting office for London during WWI and WII.

BOOKING

This is a Hyatt category 6 (out of 8), meaning a stay here requires 25,000 Hyatt points per night at the standard rate. Cash rates during my 6 night stay were about $600/night, so I chose to use points.
I applied a suite upgrade award (SUA) to secure the Koestler Suite.

LOCATION

The hotel is wonderfully situated for tourists, as it stands steps from Trafalgar Square. Big Ben and Westminster Abbey are a 10 minute walk away. Picadilly Circus is a 15 minute walk away, and a great place to explore Christmas decorations.
An abundance of great restaurants can be found if you walk to Soho and other surrounding neighborhoods. Hopping on the London Underground is also simple, as the hotel is close to multiple stops.

CHECK IN

Check in is at 3:00pm. I loved that it felt like a concierge sit-down experience. We arrived early from London Heathrow at 10:00am and our room was not ready. They offered us free breakfast at the hotel while we waited and promised to text us when the room was ready. Two issues arose here: given that we did not have a room number, I had to charge the meal to my credit card and they didn’t know how to handle reversing this at check out, and I never received a text when the room was ready. Perhaps the latter was caused by texting an international number, but the hiccup was not ideal as we were exhausted from the flight.
Immediately when walking into the lobby of the hotel, I thought it was beautiful. We chose the hotel because of its history and personality - that did not disappoint! Our stay was at the end of November and the hotel was wonderfully dressed up for Christmas. There were even handcuffs worked into the decorations, giving nod to the hotel’s past.

ROOM

Rooms run small at Great Scotland Yard, as they do in London in general. As a result, I was glad for the extra space of a suite, even if the suite itself was not large.
In the Koestler Suite, there was a separate sitting area with an electric fireplace. Unfortunately, maintenance confirmed that the fireplace was not functioning during our stay. The Chromecast also did not work; unfortunately this is a hit-or-miss feature at hotels across the board, it seems.
The bathroom was lovely - it had a double sink and nice shower. There was also a fancy toilet with an electronic bidet. It was a nice little luxury, but my wife and I joked that we had a robot in the room with us, as it sometimes made noises on its own from the bathroom.
The minibar items are complimentary. This includes snacks, soft drinks, water, and beer.

AMENITIES

Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are available at Ekstedt. We did not try it for dinner, as the menu is not very vegetarian friendly for my wife, but the breakfast was pretty good.
I recommend getting afternoon tea at The Parlour. When I had checked availability online, there was none, but after calling the front desk they were able to get us a timeslot. We had a beautiful spread of sweets and savories to enjoy. The pastry chef truly gets creative, especially around the holidays!

SERVICE

Everyone we encountered was friendly, from the front desk to housekeeping.
One pain point was how long it took to receive items requested. At most luxury hotels at this price level, I would expect something simple to arrive within about 30 minute. It took hours for several items to arrive (e.g., bottle opener, ice, replacement iron) over our 6 night stay. Once I tried using the “request an item” feature in the Hyatt app and it appears those are not monitored by the hotel, so I suggest either calling or using WhatsApp.

NEARBY ACTIVITIES

There’s an unlimited number of activities you can do in London, whether you’re a history buff, a foodie, or a shopper.
If you’re a Harry Potter fan, I recommend spending a day at the Warner Brothers Studio for a tour. My biggest tip here: book early. Admission purchased directly through the studio (which is the best price) can sell out sometimes months in advance. If it is sold out, as it was for us, you can buy a tour through a 3rd party - just make sure it includes admission. The studio itself is about a 1 hour bus or train ride outside of the city. The tour we chose provided transportation via bus.

SUMMARY

Despite some hiccups we encountered with the room and service, I would stay at Great Scotland Yard again. The hotel is charming - far from a cookie-cutter building you might find elsewhere. During our next trip to London, if we do stay elsewhere, it would likely only be to explore a new neighborhood. But you can’t go wrong with this location if touring is your top priority.

Great Scotland Yard