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Review: the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Terminal 4

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This is our review of the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Heathrow Terminal 4.

I had to be at Heathrow at 5am recently to catch the first flight to Helsinki on my recent Finnair press trip. With the Hilton T4 having undergone a refurbishment since our last review in 2015 I figured it was a good opportunity to stay and take a look.

Hilton kindly provided our room for review purposes.

The hotel website is here.

You can read our full series of London airport hotel reviews here.

Getting to the Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4 hotel

Heathrow Terminal 4 has four hotels within easy walk of the terminal building thanks to a long covered walkway that connects a Premier Inn, Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn Express:

Review: the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Terminal 4

The Hilton is at the very end of the walkway – probably about five minutes walk – but it is better than trying to navigate the spaghetti of Heathrow access roads out in the open. You eventually pop out just to the side of the front entrance:

Hilton Heathrow T4 entrance

Built in 1991, the building reminds me of the Norman Foster-designed Sainsbury’s Centre at my old university, UEA. With the vast central atrium and glass panelling it is almost identical, albeit some 15 years younger. Here is a better photo from the hotel website:

Review: the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Terminal 4

Inside the Hilton at Heathrow Terminal 4

The refurbishment during covid was mostly to the vast atrium which is home to the cafe, restaurant and other hotel facilities. This is what it looks like when you step in:

Hilton Heathrow T4 atrium

Check-in was very quiet when I arrived around 2pm, although the cafe and lounge were busier and there was a conference going on in the conference centre. I was seen straight away and promptly checked in.

You can get a better view of the atrium from the bridge that connects you to the rooms:

Review: the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Terminal 4

As you can see it is vast and bright. The OXBO cafe is in front with the OXBO restaurant is behind. Both overlook an artificial lake/pond.

Rooms in the Hilton T4 at Heathrow

I was given a room on the fifth floor, which is as far as it goes. The corridor to the room was much darker, with funky airport-inspired dot-matrix displays displaying the room numbers:

Unlike the public areas, I don’t think the rooms have been refurbished since at least 2015, although they are still in surprisingly good nick. The only giveaway is the style of the decor, which isn’t quite a la mode, and the chunky flat screen TVs!

To my surprise, I had been upgraded to one of the suites:

Review: the Hilton London Heathrow Airport hotel at Terminal 4 suite

The design of the building means that half the rooms overlook the atrium whilst the other half have external views. I was in one of the former, which meant the room was fairly dark. There is virtually no natural light, in part because the windows are also tinted for additional privacy. If I were here for more than a quick pre-flight night I would have preferred some natural light, but as it was I wasn’t too bothered.

To the right was the bathroom, with a shower setup:

Hilton Heathrow T4 bathroom

Toiletries were the standard Crabtree & Evelyn Hilton set, with a whole range of amenities available:

Hilton Heathrow T4 bathroom amenities

You then had the living area, with a sofa, coffee table and very large desk:

Hilton Heathrow T4 suite living room

The addition of a mirror next to the desk would’ve made this a decent dressing table for anyone inclined. There was a large wardrobe in the living space.

A small free-standing mini bar was also available, with a Nespresso coffee machine:

Hilton Heathrow T4 nespresso

To the left was the bedroom, with a king size bed:

Hilton Heathrow T4

and

Hilton Heathrow T4 bed

Although not recently refurbished, I was pleased to see that there was a mains and USB plug socket on both sides of the bed!

Hilton Heathrow T4 connectivity

Opposite the bed was another wall-mounted TV.

I was perfectly happy with the room. The bed was comfortable and the air conditioning worked just fine, and I got a good amount of sleep until I was awoken at 4:30am by my screaming alarm.

If you want to see a shot of a standard bedroom, here is one sent in by a reader from a recent stay:

Hilton Heathrow Terminal 4 room

Executive lounge and dinner at Hilton Heathrow T4

I had an Executive room which gave me access to the Executive lounge. This would also be a benefit for any Diamond members of Hilton Honors, irrespective of room booked. The lounge is just by reception, on the ground floor to the side of the atrium:

Hilton Heathrow T4 club lounge

and

Hilton Heathrow T4 club lounge

All day refreshments are available from 6:30am until 10pm and incude tea, coffee, soft drinks and light snacks such as fruit and my favourite Penn State Sour Cream & Chive Pretzels:

Hilton Heathrow T4 club lounge snakcs

Breakfast is from 6:30am until 10:30am (11am at weekends) whilst happy hour is 6pm until 8pm.

The lounge itself is not huge and sadly doesn’t have any views – it would have been nicer in the main atrium or overlooking the lake – but it was a nicer spot to work than in my room.

During happy hour, a range of canapes were provided as well as house wines, beers and spirirts. The hot options were KFC-style chicken and some deep fried jalapenos (delicious).

Dinner at OXBO

I didn’t have too much in the Executive lounge because I was planning to have dinner at the OXBO restaurant. I am not sure who owns the OXBO name but I’ve previously eaten at the OXBO inside the Hilton Bankside (review here).

Hilton Heathrow T4 OXBO

OXBO serves mainly British food – think burgers, pie, fish and chips, chicken curry etc. I opted for the smoked salmon starter, which it turns out is absolutely massive, practically an entire fish, more than enough for two to share! It’s bigger than it looks here:

Hilton Heathrow T4 OXBO salmon

I then had the ribeye steak and the staff kindly swapped out the chips for the tenderstem brocolli side which I was pleased with:

Hilton Heathrow T4 OXBO steak

To be perfectly honest, I didn’t have massively high expectations – airport hotels rarely serve great food – but was pleasantly surprised. The staff were friendly and the food was actually very good – better than the lunch meeting I had round the corner from our City office last week.

If dinner is anything to go by then breakfast should be pretty good as well, although I was up too early to try.

Conclusion

The Hilton London Heathrow T4 is clearly very convenient if you’re travelling on Qatar Airways, Etihad or any of the other T4 airlines. The recent refurbishment has turned the atrium into a genuinely nice place to be, as shown by the hotel guests enjoying the cafe throughout the afternoon.

The rooms remain unchanged but are still comfortable and in good shape, although it is a shame that half the rooms only have windows overlooking the atrium.

The service and food in the restaurant is genuinely good and I wouldn’t hesitate to eat here again before a flight. You may even want to pop down here for a meal if you are staying at the nearby Premier Inn.

Rooms are available from £130 per night, rising to around £230 for suites. Redemptions are from 36,000 Hilton Honors points per night.

You can find out more, and book, on the hotel website here.

PS. The hotel used to have a pool, but it has now gone. I don’t know if it has been physically demolished or simply closed due to the cost of heating or refurbishing it.


How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Hilton Honors points and status from UK credit cards (October 2024)

There are various ways of earning Hilton Honors points from UK credit and debit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

There are two dedicated Hilton Honors debit cards. These are especially attractive when spending abroad due to the 0% or 0.5% FX fee, depending on card.

You also receive FREE Hilton Honors status for as long as you hold the debit cards – Gold status with the Plus card and Silver status with the basic card. This is a great reason to apply even if you rarely use it.

We reviewed the Hilton Honors Plus Debit Card here and the Hilton Honors Debit Card here.

You can apply for either card here.

NEW: Hilton Honors Plus Debit

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NEW: Hilton Honors Debit

3,500 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Silver status and 0.5% FX fees Read our full review

There is another way of getting Hilton Honors status, and earning Hilton Honors points, from a payment card.

Holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Hilton Honors Gold status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Marriott Bonvoy Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.

We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

50,000 bonus points and great travel benefits – for a large fee Read our full review

You can also earn Hilton Honors points indirectly with:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Hilton points is 1:2.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Hilton Honors points

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)

Comments (57)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Ian says:

    The standard rooms are much smaller and tight on space. But for an overnight stay, they are great.

    Emirates use the hotel, so you will often see a large number of crew there. But they don’t eat in the restaurant.

    The breakfast is one of the best at any Hilton. Hard to fault. Plus a very good lounge.

    The Concierge will take you on a buggy to T4 or pick you up if you want. There is a phone to call them at the end of the bridge.

    You had a junior suite. You mentioned a tub, but it is just a shower.

    There is an executive suite as well with outside windows.

    I would go as far to say that this is one of the best Hiltons in the UK!

    I have before now stayed here and got the tube into London. Which is now quicker thanks to the Elizabeth Line.

    There is a large car park, which combined with a stay can be an economical way to park at Heathrow. They are also happy for people to check-in around 7am or so after an overnight flight from the USA.

    All in all, a jewel in Hilton’s Crown.

    • E says:

      The car park isn’t that large. It’s often completely full when I arrive on a weekday at 7pm which then means being sent to their overflow car park. If they have a multi-day conference on (which seems to be often) or they’ve taken too many ‘park and stay’ bookings it seems to be full more often that not recently. The overflow car park isn’t very big either so I don’t know what happens once it’s full as well.

      • Ian says:

        Never had any issues parking. Plenty of spaces.

        Sorry to hear about your experience

    • Chris says:

      One of the best in the U.K.???
      The atrium facing rooms are totally dark, the canapés during the happy hour in the executive suite are very basic, there is no pool or Sauna anymore, however the breakfast is as good as many other hotels situated within the same vicinity. It’s a nice hotel for a 1 night stay before/after a flight but I wouldn’t go as far as believing one of the best Hiltons in the UK. Personally I would choose the very convenient Radisson as it’s often much cheaper, the breakfast is great and it has a gym, pool, sauna and steam room.

      • Rob says:

        Competition for best Hilton in the UK is pretty slim to be honest 🙂

        • Save East Coast Rewards says:

          The Hilton in Bournemouth is better overall but the lounge in T4 is better. Best lounge is Gateshead solely for the views of Newcastle and the Tyne Bridge. Manchester was good last time I stayed there.

        • Paul says:

          Glasgow- lounge meh but staff and breakfast simply outstanding

  • NigelthePensioner says:

    Brocolli…..?? Surely you mean Broccolini nowadays?!!

  • QwertyKnowsBest says:

    At T4 Hilton now. Stayed many times in the distant past, but much better now. I do miss the Chinese restaurant that used to be in the hotel, it’s now a sports bar. Second recent stay and the review sums it up accurately. Both times arriving and departing from T5/T3 but thought it worth the transfer time and steps, and keen rate 👍to stay here. Staff are exceptionally good and you get the impression that the Management are really trying hard to deliver.

  • Daniel says:

    Premier inn everytime and eat at either Crowne Plaza or Hilton along the corridor…

  • Yarki says:

    Erm – that photo of the shower over tub looks like a shower over shower tray to me!

  • tiriavpo says:

    I think a major point about all of those T4 hotels is not just how convenient (obviously) they are for T4 but how convenient they are for T3 and T5. Easy train connection to T3/2 and two TfL bus routes to T5. For the Premier you don’t even need to use the walkway as the buses stop right outside.

    And the T4 long stay car park is often the cheapest and usually only about half full.

  • Geoggy says:

    Don’t know Heathrow very well. Have booked the Sofitel for an overnight stay arriving from Manchester on BA, then flying out from T3 next day with Virgin.

    Is this a better / easier option?

    • Rob says:

      Aerotel or Hilton T2/3 are equally handy (and less bother in the morning as you’re already at T3) and cheaper. Not as plush but the Hilton is perfectly fine. Aerotel has no windows but still new.

  • Andrew J says:

    The Holiday Inn Exp at T4 is my choice and has the best runway view rooms – which always makes me late leaving the room in the morning! Free breakfast of course and the Crowne Plaza bar which is all part of the same building is very nice and you can use your free drink voucher from HIX there (and as usual still get the welcome points!). Oddly the CP doesn’t have any runway view rooms as the rooms are on the other side of the building.

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