Marriott W India Quay - London, United Kingdom 

I stayed here over the weekend. Here's the good, the okay and the ugly: The good: Canary Wharf is pretty great, very modern upscale business district with high-end shops, a cinema and fine restaurants. It's in the docklands, which has now benefited from this major redvelopment project. The Marriott borders "the good" section and the remnants of the "bad" old neighborhood. Easy tube access to the tourist sites. The "tower" section of the hotel is quite nice, both exterior and interior. Room service was good. The okay: The fitness center is decent, modern equipment but a little small (leading to lines at peak times). The guestroom was your typical 4* Marriott room. Which is pretty good, but left me curious as to the 5* hotel rating. I mean, 5* hotels need something special, right? I've been at many Marriotts in the past 3 years, and several of the 4* ones (Mallorca comes to mind) were much nicer, Still, it was fine. Oh, did I mention this was the SECOND room I was placed in? Which leads me to... The ugly: I won this hotel on Priceline. I had a pretty good idea when I bid this would be the choice (there are Web sites you can research possible Priceline wins). I'm also pretty used to getting "Pricelined" into a substandard room. Well, the Marriott West India Quay definitely has a PL bias and tried to do just that. My first room was located on the only non-secured floor, right next to the conference rooms on the Mezzanine (which happened to be hosting a KIDDIE CONFERENCE). Oh. My. Gosh. So I asked to be moved to a secure floor (as a single female traveler), and was told the only option was a "twin" room. The hotel also offers kings and double queens, but they couldn't (later found out wouldn't) give me one of those. It was the twin or the mezzanine. And only in the old building. The tower was "sold out." (not true as I was to find out). I threw a fit. My room "underlooked" the freeway overpass, was dark, and had pretty worn furniture and mold in the bathroom. Definitely not 5*. The two reception people I was working with both repeatedly reminded me with Priceline I was only guaranteed a room...I couldn't pick and choose. I said that I bid for 5*, not 4*, and it was not their choice to downgrade me. After calling PL at 99 cents-per-minute international rates and complaining, the hotel finally "found" me a king room in the tower, and made a big deal about being forced to give me an upgrade. I got to the room, expecting something special after all the whining and...it was almost identical to the mezzanine room! The differences: it was cleaner (furniture not scratched up, no mold in the bathroom), overlooked the freeway overpass instead of looking up at it, and had an apple on the table. Everything else, from the bathroom decor to the size to the furniture type, was identical. I have no clue why they fought me so hard, but it was hardly an upgrade. It was a normal room, that I should have been given in the beginning. The other ugly: The tower also has GBP1million condos affiliated with Marriott. So apartment owners enter from the "nice" side of the building (Canary Wharf), and the little peon hotel guests enter from the not-so-nice side of the building (docklands). Try to enter from the apartment side and a nasty little man will put you in your place. Lastly, there's NO SIGN on the hotel if you are coming from Canary Wharf, so while you'll see the building you can walk around it for an hour and not know you've arrived. No doubt this is so the apartment owners feel like they live in condos. A sign would be so...gauche. Last ugly: The Marriott Web site doesn't have accurate public transit info. Take the Jubilee line to Canary Wharf, and walk to the right. You can hop on the DLR (docklands light railway) and get off right at the hotel (West India Quay stop), or walk the extra 150 meters yourself (and cross the West India Quay walking bridge). It's easy. But since there's no sign, look for the Marriott flag. It's on a pole at the base of the tower (you know, the tower for special people, not for Priceliners).

I stayed at the Marriott recently as I was attending a concert at the O2 - for this it is in an excellent position, one stop on the tube. However, having stayed previously at 5* hotels, I feel this is more 4*. Yes, it is clean and has all the necessary facilities, but I do expect that extra mile from 5*. For example, there were no robes or slippers, only one tea bag per person in the room etc. We did have a nice view of the river and Canary Wharf, and it is handy for the DLR etc., but nothing special, just a standard Marriott. I am unsure why it has a 5* rating. I also agree with previous reviews, that it is surprisingly difficult to find the entrance, particularly in the rain! There is a side entrance by the river, but you cannot access that until you have your key card, so initial access is difficult! All in all, a clean hotel, exactly as you would expect from the brand but 5*? No.