Two hotels, one street, very different buildings
Marsh Wall runs along the south side of the dock opposite the estate, and two of the island's big hotels stand on it a short walk apart. The one at E14 9SH is the longer established of the two: a lower, broader block built for business travel. The one at E14 9TP is the newer, a tower of nearly forty storeys with a bar and restaurant, Bokan, on its top floors.
Both are on the Isle of Dogs rather than on the estate itself, which matters less than it sounds. South Quay DLR is a few minutes from either door and the towers of Canary Wharf stand directly across the water. What differs is nearly everything else, and it is worth knowing before you book, because the choice of hotel quietly sets the shape of the evening.
They appear here for one reason: guests sleep in them. Neither has any arrangement with this desk, and nobody at either front desk is told anything by us, before or after.
Room size, and how to get a straight answer
Neither is a suite hotel and neither pretends to be. The standard rooms in both are business rooms, sized for one person, a laptop and a suitcase, and the gap between them is smaller than either brochure implies. The honest way to compare is to ask each hotel for the floor area of the exact room type you are booking. It is usually printed on the room description in square metres, and when it is not, a one line email gets it.
What differs more reliably is age. The tower is the more recent building and it shows in the fittings, the windows and the general sense of a room designed in the last decade. The block offers executive rooms with access to a lounge, which is useful if you want somewhere other than the bedroom to sit with a drink, though the lounge keeps its own hours.
If the evening involves supper sent up and wants a sofa as well as a bed, take the next room category up in either hotel. It is the single change that does most for a night in, and it is worth more than any view.
The walk to Canada Square
From either lobby the estate is about seven to ten minutes on foot. Walk to the South Quay footbridge, cross the dock, and you come up into Heron Quays with the Jubilee line and the malls ahead of you. In good weather it is a pleasant walk, with the towers reflected in the water. In bad weather it is the least sheltered ten minutes you will spend in E14, because the footbridge is open and the dock funnels the wind straight along it.
The DLR is the dry alternative. South Quay station is two stops from Canary Wharf, with Heron Quays between them, and the ride takes about three minutes. Late at night that changes: the trains stop at around half past midnight, and after that the choice is the walk or a car round by the road.
For a table on the estate, then, the two hotels are equally placed. For a table on the island itself, on Marsh Wall or down towards Millharbour, neither needs a bridge at all.
Lifts after dark
Most large hotels now lock their guest floors behind the room key in the evening, so that the lift will not move until a key is shown. Expect it in both of these. It is not an obstacle, only a step: a visitor cannot go up alone, so the guest comes down to the lift lobby, shows the key and the two of you go up together.
Build that into the plan. When Maude confirms a room call at either address, the arrival time is the time she will be at the lifts, not at your door, and the message saying she is five minutes away is the one to act on. Two minutes down, two minutes up, and nobody waits in a corridor or explains themselves to a night manager.
The tower adds one wrinkle. Its top floors hold a bar and restaurant that non residents visit, so its ground floor is busier after dark than the block's. That makes a drink at the top an easy first step, and it makes the lobby a less private place to wait.
Which floors actually see the towers
The estate lies north of Marsh Wall, across the dock. A room that sees it faces north; a room that faces south looks down the island towards Greenwich, which is a fine view in its own right but not the one most people are paying for. Ask for a north facing room when you book, and get the request confirmed in writing.
Height is the other half of it. Marsh Wall has filled with residential towers over the last decade, and from a low floor the view can be a neighbour's balconies rather than the skyline. In the tower the upper half of the building clears most of that. In the lower of the two the view depends more on which side and which end of the building the room sits, so ask the hotel directly which rooms look across the dock.
For the full effect, the lit towers doubled in the black water, the room needs to be both north facing and high. If it is neither, Bokan at the top of the tower is the fallback for guests of either hotel: one lift ride and the whole estate is in front of you.
Choosing, and who suits each
Take the tower for height, a newer room and a bar at the top of the building. Take the block for a quieter lobby, a lounge if your rate includes one, and a building that feels like a hotel rather than a tower. For a room call, which is how most bookings at either address begin, the difference comes down to the lift lobby and the view. One hour at £250 works in both, and ninety minutes at £400, with supper sent up, is the island's usual length.
On the statuesque column, Stacy is the one for the tower: she climbs for fun, likes heights more than is sensible and will want the table by the window near the top of the building. Violetta dislikes crowds and loud rooms, and the quiet lounge in the block suits her better than any rooftop. Milena is the choice if the evening begins at The Space on Westferry Road, the island's small theatre in a former church, further down the island.
How the island compares with the estate and with Limehouse as a base for an evening is set out in the note on the three districts. Send Maude the hotel and the room number and she will give you the minute to be at the lifts.
Filed on one line: most of the names above also sit under statuesque in the the ledger.
Questions this raises
Which is closer to Canary Wharf station, the tower or the block?
They are about equal: seven to ten minutes on foot to Canada Square by the South Quay footbridge, or two stops on the DLR from South Quay, which is a few minutes from either lobby.
Does the tower on Marsh Wall have a rooftop bar?
Yes. Bokan occupies the top floors of the tower, with a bar and restaurant looking back across the dock to the estate, and it is open to people who are not staying in the hotel.
Which rooms have a view of the Canary Wharf towers?
North facing rooms on high floors, in either hotel. Ask when you book and have it confirmed in writing; a south facing room looks down the island towards Greenwich instead.
More off the tape
Put it to use
The evening this describes is one message away, and Booking shows how plainly it confirms.