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New Premier Inn directly at Terminal 4 now bookable for just £29.50

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On Sunday I wrote about my stay at the Hilton Garden Inn at Hatton Cross. This is a decent budget hotel at Heathrow with one great advantage – you don’t need to use the rip-off and slow Hoppa Bus to get back to the airport, as Hatton Cross underground is just outside the front door.

I was reminded in the comments that there is another handy budget option on the way.  A Premier Inn is due to open at Terminal 4 in late May.

This will have a direct covered connection, via (I think) the same walkway used by the Hilton at Terminal 4, to the terminal.  You won’t need to get the Hoppa Bus.

Premier Inn Heathrow Terminal 4

If you are not flying from Terminal 4, you can use the tube (apparently free between terminals with Oyster) or the Heathrow Express / Heathrow Connect service (free to all) to get to the terminal you need.  Terminal 5 will be a bit of a faff because it will require a change of train however you do it, but Terminals 2 / 3 are easy to reach.

Here is the great news.  The Premier Inn Heathrow Terminal 4 is currently selling rooms for £29.50 per night.  This is an exceptional deal for a hotel directly connected to Heathrow.

You should also keep an eye on the prices for the Hilton Terminal 4, since they will be under massive pressure to cut their rates too.

Premier Inn Heathrow Terminal 4 interior

The hotel will have a huge 613 rooms.  Two floors have being allocated exclusively for the use of airline crew and presumably have a different room specification.

There is only one Premier Inn hotel that I stay in on a regular basis (Scarborough, of all places) so my experience is limited.  The quality of the bed and the room is excellent, however, and puts a lot of older Holiday Inn Express etc hotels to shame.  I think Premier Inn has been responsible for Holiday Inn Express raising the design and quality bar quite sharply with its ‘new generation’ hotels now rolling out.

The opening date is scheduled for Saturday 20th May.  The hotel website is here.  £29.50 rooms are available pretty much every day throughout the Summer.   Even if you don’t want to commit to a pre-paid rate, fully flexible rooms are just £45 on 95% of nights I checked.

Crowne Plaza Terminal 4

This is just part of a mini hotel boom at Heathrow.  A new combined Crowne Plaza / Holiday Inn Express will also open at Terminal 4 next year (see photo above) and will also be walkable to the terminal.

A new hotel is also being built at Terminal 2 which will be linked directly to the terminal:

Terminal 2 new hotel

…. but no operator has yet been selected.

Plaza Premium is also opening a hotel under its Aerotel brand later this year in a converted office block which will be directly connected to Terminal 3.

Part of the reason for this building spree, of course, is that all of the hotels on Bath Road – which account for the majority of the accommodation at Heathrow – will be demolished as part of the third runway.


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Comments (57)

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  • READTHEsmallPRINT says:

    * Interchange Only

    • Genghis says:

      That’s specific to Hatton Cross. Ie. You can only interchange there

      • Genghis says:

        This new Premier Inn is at T4

      • MeaCulpa says:

        Apologies – I thought that was the tube station in question. You are spot on otherwise, sorry again sir.

        I’m going back to bed!

  • hugo says:

    The tube is free between heathrow terminals as long as you use oyster or contactless.

  • RIcatti says:

    The attraction of transit/terminal attached hotels in Changi/Doha is understandable.

    But Heathrow is not 24 hour airport and it is a hub to trans-Atlantic traffic, not the entire globe/region. The only proposition is staying a night on arrival before going to town (not for SE inhabitants) or on departure.

    • TripRep says:

      Sorry I’m missing your point.

      If your not using the hotel for the night before travel or the night after then what else is it being used for? A daytime nap?

      Or are you refering to the 9 hours that some have to wait connecting through DOH?

      Or are you saying because its not located in ME/Asia, LHR has less need for Airport hotels?

      • Stu N says:

        Not everyone using Heathrow is starting or finishing their journey in London.

        Sometimes we fly down to Heathrow the night before a morning long haul flight as it’s either too tight a connection or too unpleasant to get the 0650 shuttle from Edinburgh. Wouldn’t generally go for a pre-1000 departure from that.

        Add all the people with a 2-3 hour drive or train ride to Heathrow and you’ve got a pretty substantial market.

    • callum says:

      I think the fact these hotels all exist is proof enough that there is plenty of attraction. They aren’t run as charities – if people weren’t staying there, they wouldn’t be built!

  • Stu R says:

    It’s also worth remembering that all buses around the perimeter of LHR as well as through the tunnels to the ‘inland’ terminals area are free.

    I remember missing the last Hoppa shuttle from T2 and wondering what the hell we were going to do to get to the hotel, only to be told when I rang the hotel to jump on any one of a number of buses (111, 285 etc) for free. Never used a Hoppa since, they’re an absolute rip off!

  • James A says:

    Don’t tell me they will demolish the renaissance… noooo 😛

  • kt74 says:

    Terminal 4 to 5 is dead easy – bus 482 or 490 from outside arrivals. Free of charge, no need to faff around with tube.

    • John says:

      Yes, I use the buses too, but they are slow and can be infrequent. You are more likely to stay overnight with a late arrival (doesn’t matter so much) or early departure so need to pay attention to the timetables, particularly as T5 has conformance

      • kt74 says:

        The buses are every 8 minutes from outside Arrivals and there are a maximum of 5 stops between T4 and T5. The tube is every 10 minutes and Heathrow Express every 15-30 minutes, and both require a connection and elevators to get into the basement of the terminal. So, overall, I’m not sure I can think of a more convenient budget hotel for any of the Heathrow terminals than this one (free bus to T5, free tube/HEX to T2/T3). Can you suggest anywhere else that is both cheap and equally convenient?

        Incidentally, I find the bus particularly useful to get to T4 if I’m coming in on the tube, as you can exit at Hatton Cross and take virtually any Heathrow bound bus. It’s free, it’s empty outside rush hour, it zooms down the perimeter road without any stops, and it drops you at the door of arrivals – no lifts, no escalators, and only one set of shallow steps at Hatton Cross. It’s almost invariably faster than waiting for a T4 train if you are on a T5 one, and it is also significantly cheaper using Oyster/Contactless to exit at Hatton Cross. (although it saves time, I wouldn’t do that going the opposite direction, in order to guarantee getting a seat on the tube into London)

        • Yan says:

          10 mins walk to T4 + T5 bus every 8 mins or T2/3 Tube every 10 mins

          unless you are actually to/from T4, this is not really more convenient than Hatton Cross HGI (advanced weekdays) or Bath Road iBis/iBis Styles (£25 Fri-Mon)

  • Alan says:

    Ermm the Tube is free between terminals, Rob? I use it quite a bit – you need to use Oyster or a contactless card though, can’t use a cash ticket. Shows up online as a zero cost after usage. If HEX down to half-hourly for engineering works or if I’ve just missed a HEX I find it handy.

  • Prins Polo says:

    Heathrow Express is free too between terminals. Note though it only runs once every half an hour between T4 and T2/3.

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