Review: Park Hyatt London River Thames (Solid Generic Luxury Hotel)

For the next hotel stay of my trip of downgrades, suspensions, and delays, I spent a night at the Park Hyatt London River Thames. The 203-room hotel opened in late 2024, so it’s still quite new. As a Hyatt fan, I was looking forward to staying at this hotel — after all, Park Hyatt is one of Hyatt’s flagship brands, and London is one of the world’s most competitive hotel markets.

I walked away from my stay at this hotel with mixed feelings. To the hotel’s credit, it’s a physically beautiful property, and it feels spacious, with a huge pool, a nice spa, and a solid gym. The design might be a little on the generic side — this hotel could be in any city in the world, and you wouldn’t know the difference — but that’s also generally what you expect from Park Hyatt.

The major downside to the hotel is the location, as it simply isn’t where most people visiting London want to stay. I think that location also contributes to the property lacking a vibe, since the various outlets don’t see many non-hotel guests. Furthermore, this isn’t exactly a boutique property, so service doesn’t feel very personalized, necessarily.

Booking the Park Hyatt London

The Park Hyatt London is a Category 7 World of Hyatt property. So if redeeming World of Hyatt points, you can expect to pay anywhere from 25,000 to 35,000 points per night. Fortunately I had a Category 1-7 free night award that I had earned with the Milestone Rewards program, and it was expiring soon, so I redeemed that for my stay. It’s always nice when you can maximize a certificate like this shortly before it expires!

As you’d expect, cash rates at this hotel can vary quite a bit, depending on the time of year, day of week, what’s going on in town, etc. Rates for entry level rooms range from anywhere from £350 to £700 per night, give or take. On the night I was staying, the rate would’ve been £470.

If you’re paying cash for your stay, I’d recommend booking through the Hyatt Privé program, which offers extra perks, including a room upgrade, a property credit, complimentary breakfast, and more.

Park Hyatt London location

Let’s start with the biggest negative of this property, which is the location. The Park Hyatt London is located in the Nine Elms district, which is on the south bank of the River Thames. The Park Hyatt is located within a high rise development that consists of two towers. The hotel takes up the lowest floors of one of the towers, so that limits the views.

This is a fast growing area, given how space constrained central London is. There’s a ton of construction around the hotel, and it all feels very modern, with lots of high rises. In many ways, the setting on the River Thames is pretty. There are lots of promenades along the river, that are nice for a stroll.

The hotel is located near the US Embassy, and it’s also close to Vauxhall, which I guess has a bunch of (largely LGBTQ focused) nightlife. So of course location preferences are always going to be subjective.

That being said, I think most people would agree that this isn’t necessarily the ideal location for a flagship luxury property like this. I’ve heard a lot of people say “oh, I don’t mind the location,” or share some other reason why this isn’t too far by transit from the parts of London most people want to visit.

My point is simply to say that unless you have a reason you’re needing to be in this area, odds are that you’re not going to stroll out of this hotel and feel like you’re in the center of all the action. In fairness, there’s a tube station not too far away, so it isn’t that difficult to get wherever you’d like to go.

Park Hyatt London lobby & check-in

The Park Hyatt London has a rather grand-feeling lobby, in the sense that the ceilings are high, and it’s designed rather opulently. However, there’s not really that much to it.

As you enter the lobby, you’ll first see a nice flower arrangement, which is right in front of the Nine Elms Bar & Lounge (the hotel’s lobby bar).

Then if you turn left you’ll find yourself at Nine Elms Kitchen & Terrace (the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant), and if you turn right, you’ll find yourself at reception, which just consists of three individual podiums.

Oddly there’s not a proper lobby seating area, aside from the lobby bar, as well as a couple of pairs of seats further down the hall.

The hotel’s elevators are located just beyond reception and to the left.

I arrived at the hotel late morning (after flying British Airways from Munich), and had a friendly check-in experience. However, I was told that my room wasn’t yet ready, so I left my phone number with the front desk, and then headed to the lobby bar to get some work done, until my room would be ready. Sure enough, about two hours later, I got a call that I could collect my keys.

Park Hyatt London suite

As a World of Hyatt Globalist member, I was upgraded to a Park Suite Deluxe (specifically, room 307). The good news is that a Park Suite Deluxe is a great upgrade, and even one level above the base suite. The bad news is that my room was on the lowest floor with guest rooms, and that impacted views. But hey, I was grateful for the upgrade!

Hotel guest rooms are on levels 3-16, so while a higher floor would be better, you’re never really going to get panoramic views from this hotel.

I loved the hotel’s hallways, and thought they were very elegantly done (so many hotels have bland and uninspiring hallways).

The property’s Park Suite Deluxe category rooms are 796 square feet (74 square meters), so they’re super spacious. I really like the design of the rooms, and it feels like the owners invested a fair amount in design, rather than cutting corners.

Upon entering the suite, I found myself in the living room, which boasted a seating area with an “L” shaped couch and a chair, along with a wall-mounted TV.

On the living room table was a welcome amenity, consisting of a bottle of 2024 Perrin Cotes du Rhone Blanc Reserve (~$11 retail, for those curious), plus some tasty smoked and truffle nuts.

There was also a dining table with two chairs in the living room. While the living room didn’t have a proper desk, I thought this table did the trick for those purposes.

The dining table was next to the minibar, which had a Nespresso coffee machine, a selection of tea, and variety of drinks and snacks for purchase.

There was also a half bathroom off the living room, and all toilets here have a bidet feature.

There was then a door separating the living room from the bedroom. There was a king size bed — it was reasonably comfortable, but I tend to think that beds are an area where Park Hyatt could improve, in comparison to some other luxury brands.

The bedroom also had a TV on a stand in the corner, as well as two more seating options by the foot of the bed.

When I entered the room, all the blinds were lowered, which typically isn’t the case when you first enter a hotel room. However, I quickly figured out why — my room just didn’t have great views, with some sot of big outdoor structure and railing obstructing most of what could be seen.

But if you’re higher up, you potentially have pretty nice views of the River Thames in one direction, and of some other buildings in the other direction.

The main bathroom was quite large, with the entrance being inside the bedroom. The bathroom had double sinks, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, a toilet in a separate room, and a closet area.

Toiletries were from Blaise Mautin in large, reusable containers.

All-in-all, I thought the room was great, and very nicely appointed. I appreciate all the extra space, and was grateful for the upgrade, despite the lack of views.

There were just a few minor issues with room maintenance and design. For example, one of the blinds was stuck and didn’t close correctly, the water just kind of sprayed out of the shower head in an inconsistent way, the water also easily flowed out of the shower and into the rest of the bathroom, and the toilet kept flushing randomly (I’m not sure why?). Furthermore, there’s no “do not disturb” button, but instead you’re supposed to hang the sign outside the door, which seems odd for a newly built luxury hotel.

Those are all minor things, though I think they’re worth mentioning.

Park Hyatt London spa, pool, & gym

The Park Hyatt London has an impressive wellness facility, located on level one (one floor above the lobby). While I didn’t get any treatments, the hotel has a full service spa with six treatment rooms, and you can find all the treatment options here.

The hotel then has a mighty large indoor pool, which is 20 meters (66 feet) long and eight meters (26 feet) wide. It’s impressive how big the pool is, but I can’t help but find the whole setup to be a bit quirky.

The pool is so big that there’s barely room for seating around it, and there’s not a hot tub or any other feature. So the pool almost seems unnecessarily large, and like it would’ve been better to instead have a bigger deck. Still, how nice to have a pool of this size in a city like London, since it’s pretty rare.

There’s also a locker room area, where pool and spa guests can change, shower, use the sauna, etc.

The hotel then has a 24/7 gym, located on the wellness floor. I appreciate how much natural light the gym has, and it also boasted a solid selection of cardio and weight equipment, along with an area for yoga and stretching.

All-in-all, this has to be one of the better wellness facilities I’ve seen at any hotel in London.

Park Hyatt London restaurants & bars

When it comes to dining at the Park Hyatt London, there are three venues:

• The Nine Elms Bar & Lounge is open from late morning until late at night, and is the hotel’s lobby lounge, serving drinks, light bites, etc.
• The Nine Elms Kitchen & Terrace is the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant, serving breakfast, lunch, and dinner
• Yú Gé Cantonese Cuisine is the hotel’s Chinese restaurant, and it’s open for lunch and dinner

To start, the Nine Elms Bar & Lounge is located just inside the lobby as you enter, and it’s open daily from 11AM until 11PM (12AM on Thursdays through Saturdays). You can find the menu and drink list here. It’s physically a beautiful space, with comfortable seating.

I would say, however, that it very much lacks a vibe, which probably partly comes down to the hotel’s location, plus the lack of other lobby seating. At other London luxury hotels, the lobby lounges can have quite the buzzy vibe and people watching, while this one basically just has us Americans sitting there waiting for our rooms to be ready, or discussing their daily London excursion plans.

Next, the hotel has Nine Elms Kitchen & Terrace, located inside the lobby and to the left. This is where breakfast is served daily from 7AM util 10:30AM (11AM on weekends), and then it’s open for lunch and dinner from 12PM until 10PM, except on Sundays, when it’s not open for dinner. You can find the menu here.

The restaurant is described as serving food “inspired by the cultural diversity of London,” so it basically serves high quality international cuisine, a step up from what you’d typically find at a chain hotel. The restaurant features a variety of seating options, all positioned around the open kitchen.

This is where breakfast is served, which was included on account of my World of Hyatt Globalist status. Breakfast includes access to a continental buffet spread, plus the ability to order one item from the menu. You can find the menu and drink list below.

The breakfast buffet was high quality but not huge, and included things like fresh fruit, veggies, cold cuts, cheese, smoked salmon, yogurt, cereal, pastries, bread, juice, and more. Everything seemed like it was pretty freshly prepared, so it was definitely about quality over quantity.

I ordered the avocado toast off the menu, natch. It was more of a thin layer of guacamole-style spread than an actual toast with cut avocado, so it was good, but not amazing.

I also ordered a cappuccino to drink, which was excellent, and prepared by a barista.

As mentioned above, the restaurant doesn’t serve dinner on Sundays, which is the night I was staying, unfortunately. However, the hotel does have a snack menu in the restaurant on Sundays, so I ordered from there, as I just wanted an early night, and to go to sleep at a reasonable hour.

I ordered a negroni to drink, and then ordered a flatbread and the chicken satay to eat. The quality was excellent, though pricing was also on the steep side.

Lastly, the hotel has Yú Gé Cantonese Cuisine, open Wednesdays through Sundays for lunch and dinner (from 12PM until 3PM, and then from 5PM until 10:30PM). This is the hotel’s fine dining restaurant, and you can find the menu here.

I just took a lot at the restaurant, and loved the design. I would’ve eaten here, except I didn’t want to dress up, and I’m also not a huge fan of dining at nice restaurants alone. I think company is half of what makes it fun! Still, I’d definitely dine here if I were to return.

Last (and least), the hotel also has what appears to be some sort of a little chocolate and pastry stand in the lobby, though I’m not sure if that’s used to source desserts for other hotel outlets, or if it’s a standalone business.

Park Hyatt London service

Service at the Park Hyatt London was good enough, I thought. Everyone was quite friendly, but there was nothing here that differentiated service from what you’d expect at a nice Hyatt Regency, for example.

The hotel didn’t quite have the five-star service feel that you’d get at some other hotels, and that’s largely probably also a function of this being quite a big hotel. For example, there’s no addressing by name at any interactions (like in the restaurant at breakfast). There’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s often little details that differentiate good service from great service.

Bottom line

The Park Hyatt London is a solid luxury hotel with nicely appointed rooms, a great wellness area, and solid dining. However, the hotel has a location that most people won’t prefer, and the whole property also largely lacks a vibe and feels a bit soulless, in my opinion.

I think this is the perfect example of a hotel that’s propped up entirely by its association with a brand. If this were an independent hotel, virtually no one would’ve heard about it, or would talk about it. But because it’s a Park Hyatt and a World of Hyatt property, that’s what creates interest.

Let me be clear, I’m not trying to be negative here. The hotel is priced well below London’s top tier luxury properties, so it potentially represents a good value. Personally I’d recommend staying here if you really value the loyalty aspects (like being able to confirm a suite upgrade in advance).

However, if price is no object, there are of course better places to stay. And even if price is an object, personally I’d prefer to stay in a more convenient location in a hotel that has a bit more of a vibe. There’s something I love about the diversity of guests at many London hotels, the people watching at lobby bars, etc. This property seems like it’s 90% Americans with an affinity for World of Hyatt (which… *raises hand*… that includes me).

What’s your take on the Park Hyatt London River Thames?