1. Bring biscuits, make a note of these shops
There are no snacks in the room (and no mini-bar).
Apparently there's not a single biscuit to be had in the entire DoubleTree Docklands hotel to dunk in a cup of tea, or wasn't during my stay. There is tea and coffee (and a kettle) in the room. But no bottled water.
Reception said all the taps have drinkable water so I just used that (I had to ask because there's no information in the room confirming that tap water's OK to drink). They also suggested I walk over to the bar & restaurant to ask them about biscuits (but it turns out they don't have any either, which wasn't a huge surprise).
Happily I was already near the bar (it's just along from Reception) because I'd had to go down to Reception in person (as no-one was answering the phone). I made several visits there during my two night stay as it was quicker than waiting for the phone to be answered.
The bar (and door) staff suggested I try a shop, giving me directions to two local shops: a nearer one (3 mins away) and a bigger one (10 mins away). As it was heatwave-hot I said I'd try the nearer one.
When I arrived I discovered that the nearer shop had already closed for the evening, the second was open and had biscuits. That was great but the extended walk between the two in the heatwave (~8.30pm on the evening of 18th July) wasn't. I'd rather have been told before that the first one was closed, to save myself the detour - but really, how could anyone possibly know this easily accessible and predictable information about shop timings?
Take note (and check in case things have changed) -
Docklands Trading Post - 2 Timbrell Place
020 7252 0816
7am to 8pm every day
Google Map code: GX38+6F London
Co-op Food - 346 Rotherhithe Street
020 7394 0577
7am to 10pm every day
Google Map code: GX45+M9 London
The Co-op also does Deliveroo stuff but I thought it was too hot to have someone sweltering on a motorbike just to bring me snacks, but worth being aware of in cooler times. The C10 bus will pick you up outside the hotel and drop you off. I discovered this en route, no-one having thought to mention it. The C10 route goes between Victoria Station (rail, and coach) and Canada Water. I was glad of it in reverse and it dropped me back to the hotel. You can use a contactless payment card or Oyster card to pay for it.
2. Free croissants
Near reception there's a self-serve stall where they put croissants, pains au chocolat and other jam pastries during the day. I didn't notice it until the second day otherwise I might have had one with my cup of tea (if they'd not all gone). No-one mentioned it.
3. Free cookies, allegedly
I discovered*, via the tray liner on the Room Service tray (food was lovely) and subsequent Googling, that Hilton Hotels are actually famous for cookies, which they apparently offer to guests on arrival. I didn't get one and while I can live with that I'm a bit surprised that me asking for a biscuit didn't trigger some sort of "no, but we have cookies" response. As opposed to "please walk for longer than you need in this sweltering heat to the shop". I would have gladly paid for a cookie.
To be fair I've seen zero evidence of these free cookies so it may well be an internet myth.
*Discovered later in the evening after I'd returned from my biscuit expedition. At this point I felt like I was being trolled.
"There's more in our kitchen than cookies".
No-one said there were cookies so this came as a surprise.
4. If arriving by boat try and time it for high tide
I regularly travel by the Thames Clippers so I do already know this but because I wanted to arrive before the temperatures got into the mid-30s I prioritised temperature-avoidance instead of low-tide avoidance so it was a bit of an uphill climb at low tide.
Explanation: piers consist of two bits: one bit attached to the shore and another linked bit that floats on the water. As the Thames rises and falls the angle of the connecting gangway changes with it. At low tide the water-bit is considerably lower than the shore-bit. When the tide is high the water-bit is pushed up so it's more level with the shore - and a nice flat walk.
5. The Room Service menu is on TV
This isn't completely alien but I'd not stayed in a hotel for 3 years (Coronavirus) so had forgotten. Usually when you walk into a hotel room the television is either already on and telling you how to access all the information and/or there's a printed information pack with timing details and contact numbers for the amenities.
This hotel has neither the pack, nor an already-switched on TV and not even a sign alerting you to investigate the TV options. The lack of info pack made me think info had been missed from my room anyway (no, just not given) but I managed to pick up both the TV explanation and a paper Room Service menu on my first of several visits to Reception (phone rarely answered so in-person visits).
The phone line for the bar / restaurant was also completely dead, at least the Reception line rang and rang.
6. Make a note of the hotel's phone number (020 7231 1001)
I was pleased that I happened to have the number saved in my mobile phone. When I first arrived at my room after checking in neither of the two access cards worked so I called them, from my mobile (which they did answer, surprisingly).
Fifteen minutes later a maintenance man appeared. He was there for a completely unrelated reason but he was able to take my cards downstairs, get new ones and come back and let me in at 3:50pm (I'd checked in at ~3:20pm. Actually I checked in just after 3pm but there was a separate delay but I wasn't too bothered about that, at the time).
Shortly after making the call on my mobile I spotted that there was a phone by the lift which I could have used (if anyone answered the internal phones which, on Monday 18th July 2022, they were not).
7. Check and see what other hotels are available
Would be my overarching advice. Or at least book a cheaper room. I did put in a formal complaint (the arrangement really was not what I'd paid for) and I was partially reimbursed. I waited a month before posting this as I wanted to see if I'd calmed down about it since. Nope ;) That biscuit thing tipped me over the edge.
After my polite-but-firm complaint email, which covered more than I've put here, they gave me a 50% reimbursement. It took a few days to get a response to the email (I tried phoning too...) but we got there in the end.
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