ME Hotel, LondonNeeding a night in London before the second Hyatt London Do, we were delighted when American Express Platinum Services offered a complimentary night in one of a number of Melia hotels. Although we had never previously stayed with this hotel chain, situated at the corner of The Strand and Aldwych, the ME London is in a great location and gets reasonable reviews, so we jumped at the chance to try a night here for free.
On arrival at the hotel, we were greeted by the ground floor concierge, who took our suitcases, and directed us to the lifts to check in on the 1st floor. From the moment you enter the hotel, you are struck by its design, although some may find it too dark. Once at the reception area, we were offered a glass of "Champagne" (unfortunately this turned out to be Prosecco) and informed us that we had a one-level upgrade to a Vibe room. In addition, we were invited to join the Melia rewards program at Gold level, the second tier status. DiningThe only meal we ate in the hotel was our room service dinner, for which we chose dishes from the Radio Rooftop Bar menu. Food was well presented and delivered in reasonable time. However, we did not enjoy any of it and found many of the flavours strange. The goat's cheese in the beetroot salad had a weird foamy texture, every dish was cold and there was nothing we would order again.
On the other hand, the minibar in the room was outstanding with many unusual products at a reasonable price. There were 2 types of Joe and Seph's popcorn (one savoury, one sweet), 4 different premium gins, pots of porridge (just add water) for a quick breakfast and a few other surprises. It was great to see something different to the usual drinks, crisps and Kit-Kat. |
Vibe RoomThe rooms in the ME hotel are set on the outside of the hotel, around a central pyramid atrium. Although well equipped, they are small - even the signature Suite ME is only 99 square metres, with the standard suite measuring 40 square metres (not really a suite in our opinion).
Our Vibe room contained the bed, a small desk and compact seating area with a view over the Strand. A welcome amenity of a bottle of water and a pot of violet sweets was a nice touch, although a bowl of fruit would have been more use. The bathroom had a large rain shower and twin sinks (great to have his 'n' her sinks in a small room). There was a plentiful supply of fluffy towels and the bathroom products were nicely displayed, although not nice enough to bother taking with you. We had an interesting problem with the safe, which worked intermittently but generally would not lock. Even though a member of staff came to fix it, they were unable to do so. As we were going out, the duty manager agreed to keep the CCTV focussed on our room and not allow anyone in (including cleaning staff). A reasonable solution, but from reviews online it seems that there are a number of technical problems in the rooms. |
Overall Impression
As we were staying on a free night gift from AMEX, we cannot really complain about the value of the hotel. However, after looking at the normal rates, the hotel seems vastly overpriced. At around £300/night starting rate, there are plenty of other options in London. Looking at a low-season night (Saturday 5th Jan), for a similar price to the ME, you could stay in the Savoy, 51 Buckingham Gate, the Goring or the Ritz. For £100 less, you could stay opposite in the Waldorf Hilton, at our home-from-home the Hyatt London Churchill, with Jumeriah or JW Marriott (the list goes on).
The hotel is stunning and one cannot help be impressed on entering. The jellyfish projected onto the wall at reception were interesting, although a bit gimicky. However, the dark marble atrium and mixed use of metal, leather, glass etc was beautiful. Service was friendly, but the team is very young and their lack of experience shows. Having eaten room-service, we would not recommend paying extra for breakfast and would instead advise eating at the nearby Delaunay, which is fantastic and a similar price.
The hotel is stunning and one cannot help be impressed on entering. The jellyfish projected onto the wall at reception were interesting, although a bit gimicky. However, the dark marble atrium and mixed use of metal, leather, glass etc was beautiful. Service was friendly, but the team is very young and their lack of experience shows. Having eaten room-service, we would not recommend paying extra for breakfast and would instead advise eating at the nearby Delaunay, which is fantastic and a similar price.