Why I Wouldn’t Book the Andaz London Liverpool Street Again

I recently stayed 3 nights at Andaz London Liverpool Street. I have enjoyed the Andaz brand in the past so I was really looking forward to this trip.

My stay wasn’t all bad, but it started out rocky and ended up being … just OK.

We arrived around 8:30 a.m. after a flight that wasn’t long enough to get a good amount of sleep. We were tired and really hoping for an early check-in, but we had no such luck. The front desk told us that we probably wouldn’t get in the room until around 3 p.m., so we left our luggage and powered through the day. Later that afternoon, we finally got into our room and were surprised to find that the suite I had booked wasn’t really a suite.

I’ll discuss that in more detail later, but first, let’s consider the good aspects of this hotel.

What I Liked About Andaz London Liverpool Street

Let’s start with a few good features of the Andaz London Liverpool Street by Hyatt. Even though I wouldn’t book this hotel again, my stay wasn’t all bad.

The hotel is on Liverpool Street, just steps away from the Liverpool Street Tube station. It’s just under a mile from the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge. Other popular London attractions, including Covent Garden, Leicester Square, and the National Gallery, are just over 2 miles away.

It’s Bookable With Hyatt Points

Andaz London Liverpool Street is a Hyatt hotel in London. I love using World of Hyatt points and currently have Hyatt Globalist status, so I only considered Hyatt hotels for this trip.

As a Hyatt Category 6 hotel, award nights cost 21,000 (off-peak), 25,000 (standard), or 29,000 (peak) points per night.

I paid 79,000 points for a 3-night stay, which would have cost $1,534 had I booked with cash. That gave me a cents-per-point value of 1.9, which isn’t bad considering we value Hyatt points at 1.5 cents each.

The Signature Andaz Style Was Evident in the Common Areas

If you’ve ever stayed at an Andaz hotel before, you know that each location is unique and full of artistic or quirky touches. I fell in love with the Andaz brand after my stay at Andaz Amsterdam Prinsengracht earlier in the year.

Andaz London Liverpool Street had a fun lobby that featured lots of colors and unique artwork, and the restaurants were bright and bold.

There Were 2 Globalist Breakfast Options

There were 2 ways to have breakfast at the Andaz London Liverpool Street, and Globalists could choose either. Rake’s Cafe Bar served à la carte breakfast from 8:30 to 11 a.m. Monday through Saturday. Globalists could choose 1 main menu item, 1 side item, and a beverage.

Eastway Brasserie served breakfast Monday through Friday from 6:30 to 11 a.m. and from 7 to 11 a.m. on weekends. Globalists had access to the breakfast buffet and could also order 1 item from the menu.

I generally don’t like buffets, but I thought the food was excellent, so I would happily eat at this buffet again.

What I Didn’t Like About Andaz London Liverpool Street

Now let’s get to the not-so-awesome aspects of this hotel. If you book a standard suite at the Andaz London Liverpool Street, be prepared for not getting a real suite. This is what left a bad taste in my mouth and is the main reason I wouldn’t recommend this hotel.

My Suite Wasn’t Sweet

I booked my room with World of Hyatt points and then applied a Suite Upgrade Award to secure a suite. I didn’t get any additional upgrades at the hotel and was assigned room 258. The room itself was spacious, but I wouldn’t call it a suite.

The room wasn’t what I remembered from the website, which shows photos of a suite with a separate area with a couch and TV.

The Andaz Suite photos from the hotel’s website clearly show a large divided room with a distinct red couch.

My room had 2 chairs next to the bed without a couch or separate sitting area. It didn’t look anything like the suite pictured on the website.

There was an additional space in my room, which is probably how they were able to call this a suite. But instead of a separate sitting area, as shown in all of the photos on the website, it was just a large closet area.

Curious if we were assigned a King Deluxe room by mistake, I called the front desk. A manager called me back. She apologized, said there weren’t any other rooms available, and offered me a 30,000-point rebate. I took the points refund since there were really no other options, but I was still disappointed that my suite wasn’t actually a suite.

When I questioned whether or not it was a suite, they acted like it wasn’t the first time they’d heard this complaint and were quick to offer a points refund (while still insisting this was a suite). The way it was handled indicated to me that they knew this wasn’t a real suite but hoped no one would call them on it. Of course, that’s all speculation on my part, but the whole experience just felt icky.

Bathroom

The other thing I didn’t love about my room was the shower. The bathroom itself, done in a black-and-white color scheme that I quite liked, was very nice.

However, the shower was tiny — I’m talking cruise ship small — and not what I would expect in a suite.

Final Thoughts

Andaz London Liverpool Street is one of many Hyatt hotels in London. I loved that it was bookable with points at a reasonable rate and that it had colorful and quirky common areas. Plus, there were 2 options for Globalist breakfast, which was great.

Unfortunately, the hotel had at least 1 Andaz Suite (room 258) that I wouldn’t classify as a suite. I used a Suite Upgrade Award to guarantee a suite, but what I got was a pretty basic room with a large closet area. My room didn’t resemble the photos of the Andaz Suite on the hotel’s website in any way.

I personally wouldn’t stay at the Andaz London Liverpool Street again, and I would warn against anyone who wants to use a Suite Upgrade Award there. You could end up very disappointed.