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Which hotel at Heathrow has the best swimming pool?

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You may well have spent many hours awake at night wondering which Heathrow Airport hotel has the best swimming pool.  Good news – I’ve done the work for you!

For reasons too complex to explain, we decided to spend Friday at a hotel at the airport despite living fairly close.  This was in advance of a very early morning departure to Austria yesterday.

The kids decided that they wanted a hotel with a pool, so the search was on.  I reached out to a few people for guidance whom I know spend disproportionate numbers of nights at Heathrow hotels.

These appeared to be the candidates:

Sofitel London Heathrow (Terminal 5 )

Hilton London Heathrow Airport (Terminal 4)

Park Inn by Radisson London Heathrow

Marriott London Heathrow

Sheraton Skyline

Crowne Plaza London – Heathrow

The first two are connected to terminals whilst the others require the Hoppa bus or an Uber to get back to the airport.

On further investigation, the Sofitel Terminal 5 pool was clearly a non-starter:

Sofitel Heathrow Terminal 5 pool

….. as was the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4, at least in terms of keeping two little kids busy for an hour or so:

Hilton Hotel Heathrow Terminal 4 pool

The Park Inn Heathrow, on the other hand, turned out to be a real contender – take a look at this.  I was a little put off when I discovered that the hotel has 895 rooms which meant that it could be very busy.  I was also told by a regular guest that the pool is far more utilitarian than the official pictures suggest.

Park Inn Heathrow pool

Down at the Marriott on Bath Road, things looked a little less interesting with only three lanes (and simply having lanes makes it tough for kids who just want to mess about):

London Heathrow Marriott hotel pool

The Sheraton Skyline pool was also a contender but unofficial pictures make it look smaller than the official website:

Sheraton Skyline hotel pool

In the end, though, my winner was the Crowne Plaza London – Heathrow which is where we spent Friday afternoon.

The pool at the Crowne Plaza Heathrow is huge.  The first two pictures are library photos because it was busy when we were there:

Crowne Plaza Heathrow pool

The shallow end is 1.2m, running to 1.5m at the deep end.

There is also a 35cm deep baby pool attached to it, so the parents can be in the adult area if preferred:

Crowne Plaza Heathrow baby pool

There is also a small jacuzzi and a cold plunge pool adjacent to the main pool:

Crowne Plaza Heathrow jacuzzi

I’m not going to review the hotel itself, because it is about to undergo a full refurbishment.  The rooms and corridors are definitely ‘tired’, although spacious.  The meal we had at Orwell’s restaurant was surprisingly decent (and they had a kids buffet) and there was also an Indian restaurant and an Irish bar which served food.  

If it’s a kids pool you’re after, however, I’m sure the Crowne Plaza is the best option at Heathrow.


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Comments (41)

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  • Ciaran says:

    Which pool looks best for laps?

    • Aeronaut says:

      This.

      Nothing sorts me out better than half an hour or so doing some lengths… but to swim lengths, there needs to be a bit of, well, length to the pool!

      Unless the pool is big enough, then doing lengths isn’t necessarily compatible with kids larking about (something I should emphasize I also fully approve of!).

  • Mike says:

    I live fairly locally and have used payasugym to buy a day pass for the bath Road park inn.
    I’ve also been taken to the Crowne Plaza and paid for a day pass even though they’re not on payasugym.
    Nuffield (former Virgin Active and very good when I last went as a VA) at Stockley Park is also on there and very convenient from the central bus station on the A10 bus.
    I know this is pretty niche but if you’ve got a few hours to kill at LHR and gym/swim is your thing I’d say Stockley Park is an option at approx £15 for the gym pass and bus both ways.

    • Mike says:

      If you just want gym (no swim) then pay as you go at the gym group a few minutes walk from Hounslow central tube is also an option.

  • Nate1309 says:

    I am a big fan of the Hilton T5. Cracking Indian meal in the night. Nice pool and sauna/steam room before flying in the morning. But I have never seen any kids in there so I am unsure if they are allowed.

    • Npwharf says:

      You’re right, kids aren’t allowed as tried to take my 3 year old and was turned away. It’s a great hotel though.

  • SteveB says:

    When I was at the CP earlier this year the pool was completely rammed and didn’t feel particularly clean. Maybe things have improved but it didn’t leave me with a positive impression. Refurbishment is well overdue although I did get free breakfast for the family as Spire.

  • Leo says:

    “I reached out….”

    Aaaaaagh! What’s wrong with “I contacted? I realise we all spend a lot of time reading American sites but please let’s keep Americanisms to an absolute minimum!

  • pauldb says:

    Had it been T5, this is only 5 minutes away. https://www.runnymedehotel.com/gallery/

  • Tim says:

    Novatel pool is pretty good

  • Reached Out says:

    Oh dear. And from a Yorkshire man too 🙂

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