Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

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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  • Janet says:

    Hi Rob
    Have used Premier Inn STN regularly and it’s a perfect option for the airport. Worth openimg a free account as they often run a ‘stay X nights get a free night’ promo.

    Cheers
    Janet

  • Steve says:

    Looks like there’s no parking at the hotel. Seems like a massive missed opportunity to me!

  • Simon says:

    Seems to be a great play by Premier Inn.
    I doubt that the airlines will be paying very much. Hence, it’ll be suitable for IRROPS and also Alex Cruz.

  • Graham Walsh says:

    It’s possible to walk between T2 and T3 underground (as I did it Good Friday by accident). Got off the wrong bus stop. Doh!! I’ve also used the Heathrow Express free from T3 to T5 (or something) when I parked at T5 as out BA and back SAS. Wouldn’t recommend it. I see now some meet and greet offer drop off at one terminal and collect from another.

  • William Shearer says:

    I find airport Premier Inns to be really poor.
    That £29.50 rate is funded by having inadequate staffing, so you end up queuing for everything. Reception, lift, dining… A 600 room hotel at peak time doesn’t bare thinking about.

  • Lee Harris says:

    That’s really useful, thanks! I just cancelled a family Hilton room (£38 plus 74,000 points) and booked the new Premier Inn for £34 for a night in August. That’s saved me the cost of a beer and 74k Hilton points. 🙂

  • Bob says:

    Could anyone tell me what’s the point of an Airport hotel? Unless you miss your flight or have an lon connecting flight?

    • Genghis says:

      I sometimes use them for early morning flights, even from LHR. Saves an hour and twenty in a car from SE London (and that’s on a good day)

    • the real harry1 says:

      early morning flights/ late evening arrivals/ people travelling from afar at awkward times/ flight crew need sleep/ awkward connection etc

      also can be good/ cost-effective hotel solution for people not necessarily flying who have a business meeting in London/ SE next day (or whose meeting finished late in the day with no flight out that evening)

      • Lady London says:

        depending on the rate can also be used for meetings just due to convenient location to many. Albeit with expensive parking if not parking at the actual hotel.

    • Kathy says:

      Some of us live hours away from Heathrow (2 in my case – if there are no train problems, which there regularly are). If you have an early morning flight and you’ve got to allow 2 hours at the airport and 2 hours traveling time you end up having to get up in the middle of the night. Much nicer and less stressful to arrive at Heathrow the evening before and get up at a reasonable hour the next day.

      Though only if you get a decent night’s sleep in the hotel, which admittedly I usually don’t!

    • Peter K says:

      I live 4+ hours from Gatwick but the BA flight I wanted to use the 241 voucher on only does from there. I didn’t fancy a 14+ hour journey to start my hol (4+ hrs driving, 2 hours at airport, 8hr flight) so booked a hotel overnight to start the hol in a better frame of mind.
      Also, no risk of missing my flight due to accident on the motorway!

    • Mark says:

      I like to stay the night before even though I live in London, otherwise I am at the whim of southern trains to get me there on time on the day. Plus I think it adds to the holiday and certainly extends my clubhouse time.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Nice relaxed start to an early flight rather than panic? or nice relaxed end to a great holiday before life begins again?

      Also actually useful for the surrounding areas

      • Rob says:

        I did a Hilton T4 a couple of years ago despite only living 40 minutes away, because my Mrs put her foot down about being woken at 4am. To be honest, I would have appreciated it if she’d stayed at Stansted last night instead of waking me at 5am before getting a taxi up there for an early Ryanair flight to Bremen.

    • Bob says:

      Thanks everyone. I’m enlightened.

  • The Original Nick. says:

    Can anyone help out here and talk me the cheapest and easiest route from Hilton T5 to Terminal 3 for Saturday morning? There’s 4 people.

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