Stay: August 2022
Paid: 17,000 Hyatt points per room (34,000 points total) for one night; this property has moved up from a Category 5 to a Category 6 in 2023, so an off-peak night will now cost 21,000 points
Status: Discoverist
Rooms: Two standard adjoining king rooms
Would I stay again: Absolutely
Would I recommend to friends: Yes, absolutely, as long as they’re aware that it’s in a business district and not in a residential or typical tourist-heavy area
I really liked this property and wouldn’t hesitate to stay there again. The overall feel of the place was fun, modern, and spacious, and it’s incredibly convenient to public transit. We love riding the Tube and the buses in London, and the Andaz is perfectly placed to make that easy for you. The rooms are also pretty large, especially for London.
Check-in/service: We had a seamless check-in and check-out, and we didn’t really require any other service during our stay. Everyone was friendly.
We had also mentioned in our reservation that it was our wedding anniversary, and the hotel left us a chilled bottle of prosecco and a nice note, which was a lovely surprise. (I’m very low on the Hyatt status rungs as a Discoverist, so a welcome gift like this was unexpected.)
Rooms: We had two standard king rooms—one for the parents and one for the kids. When we made our reservation, we had just asked if the rooms could be near each other (our kids are old enough that we’re not that concerned with proximity), but the Andaz did us one better—they gave us adjoining rooms. And both rooms were comfortable, quiet, and clean. And had air-conditioning, which we were desperate for because London was having a terrible heat wave while we were there. The air-conditioning was wonderful. (Fun fact: I am never booking a VRBO flat without air-conditioning in the UK again. That’s what we were dealing with before we got to the Andaz and it was not fun!)
One of the fun things about staying at an Andaz property is that there’s a complimentary minibar with snacks and nonalcoholic drinks. (Not pictured below was the minifridge with drinks.)
We used points for both rooms because the cash rate for the night we were there was high, but this property also participates in the Hyatt Family Plan, so you can get a special rate for a second room if you have to book two rooms for your family. The first room can be booked with money or points, but the second room that you can book at a 50% discount must be booked with money.
If you’re fitness-minded, you can even book a room at the Andaz that comes set up with a Peloton bike, a yoga mat, and dumbbells. I didn’t see these “fitness-equipped” rooms available with points when we looked, but if that idea intrigues you, it’d be worth emailing the hotel to ask about.
Hotel amenities: This hotel has so many restaurants! Being in this part of London, you’re spoiled for choice for outstanding restaurants with food from all over the world, but if you want the ultimate convenience of not having to leave the hotel to eat, there’s a pub, Japanese restaurant, brasserie, café/bar, and a wine lounge. Plus room service. Part of me would really want to try these hotel-affiliated spots just to see what they’re like, but the rest of me would want to go out and eat at local restaurants. London has so many outstanding restaurants; it’d be a shame not to go explore them!
The hotel also has a fitness room and a spa.
Parking/transportation/location:
The location is great overall and close to a ton of things you’ll want to see as a tourist: St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tate Modern, Leadenhall Market, the Sky Garden, Borough Market, Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. The Liverpool Street Tube station is on the same block as the hotel—you can’t get closer than that—and the Liverpool Street train station is just behind the hotel. The Elizabeth Line, which is the newest Tube line (and air-conditioned!), serves this station, and so do the Circle, Central, Metropolitan, and Hammersmith & City lines. The Overground stops there, too. You’ll be able to get around London really easily. It’d also be extremely easy to either have the front desk call a taxi for you or to walk over to the taxi rank at Liverpool Street train station.
The area the hotel is in is called the City of London, which is actually something different from just the city of London (with a lowercase c). (Confused? Here’s a free tangent about history and geography, which are two of my favorite topics. My rough 30-second-long explanation of this is that the area that’s now called the City is basically the earliest-settled part of what is now London, and that’s why it’s called the City of London. As the area grew into what has become modern London, different boroughs developed all around it. The outer boroughs became more residential and the City stayed the center of business and finance. The area of London where Parliament and Westminster Abbey are is the City of Westminster, and there’s also the Boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea, Camden, Islington, etc. When people who are already in greater London say something is located “in the City,” they mean in the City of London.)
The only downside to the hotel’s location (and it’s not a big downside) is the businessy feel of the area around it. On the weekends when there are fewer office workers around, it feels a little empty, and there are some restaurants and cafés that are only open during the work week. But overall there are still plenty of options nearby, even on the weekends. It’s just not going to be the same kind of vibe you’d get from staying in a more residential area or the areas that cater more to tourists toward the western part of London (e.g., Victoria, Westminster, Kensington, Paddington, Marylebone). It’s about an hour’s walk from the Andaz over to Buckingham Palace, for example, or a 20-minute Tube ride.
My take: The Andaz London Liverpool Street is a great, fun place to stay if you’re looking for something cool, modern, and really, really close to excellent transit. I’m on a mission to try all the Hyatts in London, so I’m not staying here the next time I’m in London, but once I’ve accomplished that, I’m coming back here. The Family Plan with the adjoining rooms makes this hotel a great option for families with kids.
How you can stay here:
You can earn World of Hyatt points directly by using a World of Hyatt credit card, or you can earn Chase Ultimate Rewards points and transfer those to the World of Hyatt program. Any of these cards will work! If I had to recommend just one, I’d recommend the Chase Ink Business Preferred, because it has a 100,000-point welcome bonus and only a $95 annual fee. You could book up to four nights at the Andaz London Liverpool Street with the bonus from just this one card. For a luxury hotel in the heart of London, that’s an absolute steal.
* You must also have a Sapphire Reserve, Sapphire Preferred, or Ink Business Preferred to be able to transfer these points to Hyatt.
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