It’s taken long, but I’ve finally got a chance to see the Marriott Bonvoy Suite at the London O2 Arena! Marriott, like many other hotel groups and airlines, sponsors event venues across the globe and thus owns hospitality boxes which members can book using points.
In London specifically, Marriott works with O2, which is one of the major venues in the capital and the country. The O2 arena is much smaller than the Wembley Stadium, which isn’t a bad thing – it hosts many lower-profile performances that you can book easily using not many points.
I’m attending the Crowded House concert today, which is ridiculously cheap at 20,000 points for two tickets.
You can only bring a small handbag with you – any bag larger than the size of A4 paper will need to be stored. I suggest to travel light so that you can exit swiftly without queueing to enter the tube station.
Once you are inside, turn left for the suites.
Ground floor is where the American Express Lounge is, and we’ll investigate later. The other suites are on the first and second floor. Before you can go up, security will inspect your tickets to make sure you are a suite guest.
Marriott Bonvoy Luxury Suite is on the second (top) floor.
It’s a pretty small box. They invite only 12 guests every event (so 6 pairs of tickets for redemption) and it’s full today.
Compared to the other hospitality events that I’ve been to in the past, it’s got a rather casual atmosphere here. A lady from Marriott gave us a brief introduction of the box, catering and concert schedule, and then left us alone for most of the time. I don’t usually enjoy talking to strangers so quite like this.
The box extends into the arena, with a private section of 15 seats. Every ticket comes with a pre-assigned seat.
Honestly the view isn’t great given how high up we are. Even the first row is still pretty far from the stage so we just decided to stay on the stools.
As you can see there are many boxes on the two upper floors, although not all of them seem to be active or occupied. They are all similar in terms of size and configuration, with Qatar Airways being the one exception. The purple “bridge” you see in the photo above belongs to their suite.
Qatar Airways operates The NinetyThird on the second floor, at the far end. I only took a peek from outside but it looks much bigger and nicer, like a proper lounge.
There are three ways of booking an O2 suite using points. Qatar Airways has the best offering – great facility and £400 credit – but is purely auction-based so bit of a headache. Marriott and Virgin Red are both outright redemptions, but the latter doesn’t include catering beyond two welcome drinks.
Marriott on the other hand, offers a pretty decent buffet. Three hot dishes are available:
- Potato falafel
- Baked aubergine
- Grilled chicken and rice
Plus salad and stuff. The chicken is very tasty and I ate a lot!
There’s also free flowing bottled beer, house wine and soft drinks. If you want liquor or cocktails though you’ll have to pay.
So much for Marriott, let’s check out the American Express Lounge too. Unlike the “suites”, the Amex Lounge is much less exclusive as anyone with an Amex card can go in along with three guests. If I remember correctly you had to book via Amex Experiences beforehand in the past, but now it’s just walk-in on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Alternatively, all suite guests also have access as far as I understand.
Compared to the Marriott suite, it is what can be called a proper lounge with a bar, a restaurant and large seating areas. In the meantime it is very busy (we came here just before the concert started).
You get a complimentary drink by showing your Amex card at the front desk, and everything else is payable. There’s no viewing area inside the lounge so you just return to your seat when you are ready.
I thoroughly enjoyed my first Marriott Bonvoy Luxury Suite “adventure”. Although nothing exquisite, it is no doubt a very private and comfortable experience, especially given its very low cost. Many similar events are priced at 20,000 or 30,000 points, and I think it’s definitely worth booking them even if you don’t fancy the performance that much.
Marriott redeem now prices are actually 20k-40k and auctions off more popular artists/events at the O2. The Qatar 93rd lounge is huge and amazing!
Some helpful info if you are thinking of going to an O2 concert:
If you have a car to park, the cheapest option is North Greenwich Station Car Park Code – 801637 – Arrive before 7pm for £12.50 (£7.50 on Sundays). Use the ‘Pay by Phone’ app (AMEX not accepted) or manually at the machine located in the car park. Less than 5 mins walk to Entrance A/B through the station. If you want, you can also visit the many outlet stores as you are there. Getting out could take up to 30 mins, it does go though. Be wary of any Blackwall Tunnel closures.
If you want to access to the AMEX Invites lounge for more popular artists/events, you will need to get free admission passes. Go to The Guests Services Hub under the ICON Staircase just past All Bar One on the left – expect a big queue if you really want to go – they issue the tickets from 5-5:30pm. You need to get passes by showing your tickets.
Wow thanks for the very detailed comment!