The welcome
I take the hotel’s dedicated boat service from Canary Wharf Pier. The boats run every 10 minutes, and take just a few minutes, making it a fun, scenic way to arrive. There’s also a bus service from the Canada Water Underground station. I roll my suitcase off the boat and up the ramp to the hotel’s reception, which is part of a rather odd glass structure in what was the outside area of an old shipyard. Reception is efficient and helpful, giving me a room in the old part of the building as I request.
The neighbourhood
The best thing about this hotel is the location, right on the river, which you can walk along large stretches of via the Thames Path. There are 378 rooms in three buildings, one of which is the striking, Grade II-listed Columbia Wharf, a four-storey, yellow-bricked former industrial structure. Close by is Surrey Docks Farm and, most conveniently, Canary Wharf.
The scene
Thanks to its proximity to Canary Wharf, the hotel is popular with business guests during the week. I stay on a weekend, and it’s full of British and European tourists – couples and families. There’s also a large local wedding taking place, which creates quite a lot of noise on the Saturday night. The brilliant position on the river, away from traffic noise, affords a great view of Canary Wharf, with seagulls wheeling through the air. The hotel has just been refurbished and rebranded as a DoubleTree, so everything feels fresh.
The room
My room is a deluxe queen room with river view. It’s on the fourth floor, and I love the views and exposed brickwork. Everything works, and it’s got a nice sense of space, air (you can open the windows, but not all the way) and feels private. There’s a continuation of the same strange glass-and-white-plastic structure covering the hallways behind the old building. In the modern buildings, most of the rooms have balconies; some face the river and docks, but they don’t have anywhere near the aesthetic appeal of Columbia Wharf.
The service
Hotel staff are friendly and helpful without being overattentive or sycophantic.
The food
The hotel’s main restaurant is called Columbia. Especially because of its location and lack of other options, and the dozens of quality restaurants at Canary Wharf, I felt it should have been better. Breakfast is standard buffet fare, but the riverside terrace on a sunny weekend morning seems to make everything taste better. At dinner, we like the Szechuan squid (£8.50 [Dh48]) and vegetable plank (£9 [Dh51]), which is tasty and nicely presented. For main courses, the sea bass fillet (£12 [Dh68]) is great, though it requires side dishes. The rib-eye steak (£18 [Dh102]) is rather less inspiring.
Loved
Going to sleep with the window open, and the sound of the river; the great views of Canary Wharf; and the local walking options.
Hated
On my second night, I can hear loud music coming from the bar until very late, and then the kitchen staff banging about until around 3.30am. I shut the windows and get out my earplugs. The Wi-Fi connection only lasts an hour on each device at a stretch, and there are different passwords for different parts of the hotel, so I spend too much time trying to reconnect.
The verdict
A pleasant hotel in an unusual location.
The bottom line
Double rooms at the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel London – Docklands Riverside (doubletree3.hilton.com) cost from £84 (Dh477) per night, including taxes.
rbehan@thenational.ae
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