If you were planning a stay at the Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel, you will need to change your plans!
The Department of Health has taken over the hotel to use it as a coronavirus quarantine centre.
It is believed that it will be used to house anyone arriving at Heathrow who is considered to be at risk.
The Ariel is generally regarded as the most depressing of the Holiday Inn hotels around Heathrow. It is best known for its single bedded rooms, something you rarely see in branded hotels these days. In recent years these have sold for as little as £29 per night and were a favourite for people looking to do ‘mattress run’ stays to qualify for IHG promotional bonuses. Coronavirus stays are unlikely to qualify for IHG Rewards Club points, however, as they will be treated as third-party bookings …..
The photo below shows that it looked quite cool in its heydey:
As you can from ihg.com here:
….. the hotel is now booked out until 16th March.
PS. If you missed it, take a look at our recent article on 10 good reasons to get the IHG Rewards Club Premium Mastercard credit card.
(Want to earn more hotel points? Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Promos’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)
About Head for Points
“Coronavirus stays are unlikely to qualify for IHG Rewards Club” hardy haha
That was going to be my first question when I heard this story! A 14 night quarantine stay would be a fantastic start to the current 4x points promotion, almost worth travelling from China for…
At least 20,000 points for the cheapest room and not only free breakfast but lunch and dinner too, no status required.
Stayed here so many times with my Dad back in the 60’s when he was working for NCR at Greenford, although I’d only be around ten years old it seemed so glamorous at the time, so much so I decided to stay for a night last year while in transit at LHR, wish I hadn’t, the reality was nothing like the memory!
After they return it to service it’ll be the cleanest hotel at Heathrow!
& probably quietest for sometime thereafter, notwithstanding that…..
You understand the cleaners move from hotel to hotel….
I prefer Ariel to HI Heathrow M4, jct 4 and crowne plaza west drayton
which you can only get to with Hoppabus or taxo.
Well even more depressing now!
“If you were planning a stay at the Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel, you will need to change your plans!” – unless you catch coronavirus, then you don’t! 😉
Out of interest how long does the virus stay “alive” on surfaces?
Unknown, SARS could apparently last unto 9 days while the common flu is just 48 hours.