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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

12,000 bonus points (special offer), Hilton Gold status and NO FX fees Read our full review

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.

  • Mark says:

    Rather cliche but their fish & chips are absolutely fantastic! I usually just eat in the bar area. Great hotel.

    • Andrew J says:

      Good to know – if I’m staying at HIX and need dinner I might go down there.

  • S says:

    On our last trip we did Staybridge Suites outbound and moxy inbound. We loved the staybridge and it has become our default, but our only minor gripe was the hassle of taking the bus with heavy suitcases. it seems like these t4 hotels combined with the free train transfer might be worth looking into

    Moxy we found to be rubbish!

  • Alan says:

    Avoid rooms anywhere near lift shaft, rattles up and down all night. I had to request another room at 4am after no sleep (was moved to an outside room). In common with other Hilton Club Lounges, food quality is poor.

    • Rhys says:

      The lift shafts are in the atrium, aren’t they?

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        There’s hidden lifts too. The purpose is to go directly to the lower level where the gym (and previously the pool and other leisure facilities) is. Very few people use these lifts as most don’t know where they are so I’m surprised they bothered you. They do have a loud bell though which makes a ding if you call it.

  • Sb says:

    Are there any suggested car parking spots around T4?

  • Definitas says:

    How do you get from the hotel to T5?

    • Andrew J says:

      Free inter-terminal transfer train on HEX, EL or Tube.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        Bus is better. There’s TfL buses from close to the T4 hotels (nearest stop for T5 is outside the Premier Inn). If you get the train you need to change at Heathrow Central and with trains currently only operating from T4 every 30 mins it could take an hour to get to T5.

        The night before take a look where the bus stop is (the TfL one on the street), there’s also a Hoppa that stops outside the hotel but that’s less frequent and more expensive. For ultimate convenience use Taxi or Uber

        • Richard Gordon says:

          It staying at the Hilton is it quicker (with cases) to get the bus outside premier inn to T5 or walk down the ramp to T4 and get it from outside there? Thanks.

          • Save East Coast Rewards says:

            Depends how heavy the luggage is, if too heavy I’d take the taxi option or time your departure with a Hotel Hoppa but if you want to use the significantly cheaper and more frequent TfL bus then you’d be able to take a luggage trolley from the hotel to T4 and so although it’s longer than the bus stop outside the Premier Inn I suspect it’s easier. The hotel will also take you in a buggy over the bridge to the terminal if you ask (and are available, I assume if busy disabled guests will have priority)

  • NorthernLass says:

    Also slightly off-topic – the HGI Heathrow Airport (i.e. not the T2/3 one) seems considerably cheaper than other LHR Hiltons – is it fairly easy (and free?) to get to T3 and T5 from this one? I’ve got a few overnights stays next year connecting from both T3 and T5 and this one is coming out as by far the most reasonable option (30k points most nights)

    • NorthernLass says:

      It looks pretty doable on the tube. For some reason I have a really hard time grasping the concept of being able to get public transport between different parts of an airport!

    • Rob says:

      2 mins walk to Hatton Cross tube so a doddle although first tube is not super early. Buses from Hatton Cross 24/7 though.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        Hatton Cross isn’t step free so could be an issue managing luggage.

        • ADS says:

          Hatton Cross station isn’t very deep though – just 33 steps from ticket hall to platform (according to Geofftech)

          • Rob says:

            The stairs are also quite generously pitched – you’re at no risk of falling over and effectively taking a steep drop.

    • Richard Gordon says:

      I’ve stayed there several times and you get good views of the planes landing if your room faces the road. Easy to walk to Hatton Cross for transport to the airport as stated. Very often the cheapest Hilton option I agree. Used to be a Jury’s Inn.

    • Save East Coast Rewards says:

      Hatton Cross tube is great for all terminals (check you’re on the right train. If you’re going to terminals 2/3 it’s best to get a T5 train as the T4 train goes to T4 first and often stands at the station for up to 8 minutes). At one time this hotel was nearly always under £100. It’s never as cheap as that these days but is often the second cheapest Hilton hotel at Heathrow. The cheapest is usually the DoubleTree.

  • Save East Coast Rewards says:

    I must have been the last person to use the pool in the Hilton T4. I was there the week before lockdown and was using the pool. They then came over and said they decided to close the pool due to the pandemic and I had to get out and they then locked the door.

    The pool area is now extended meeting room space. The gym still exists but the changing rooms are closed. The changing rooms used to have a sauna area too. I was told by reception the changing rooms are still physically there but unused but if you go down the stairs by the restaurant that open plan area outside the meeting rooms is where the pool used to be.

    When I’m there I find the lounge a good place to work in the afternoon. It gets busy on an evening so best to get there before 6pm

  • Brian Nicholls says:

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

    As you were there to review it, wouldn’t it have made more sense to reject the upgrade? We have no idea what the standard rooms are like.

    • Rob says:

      Sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. Caroline rejected a suite upgrade at one of the Thai hotels we covered over the weekend, although she didn’t mention it. At hotels like the Hilton, the suites are just bigger standard rooms so it wasn’t felt necessary.

      • Save East Coast Rewards says:

        If the purpose of the trip is to review the hotel then I’d agree you should try to insist on a normal room. But how do you ask for a normal room without raising suspicion (what reason would someone want a downgrade)? As the main purpose of this trip was Finnair then these reviews are just a bonus. For me it was more interesting because I’ve never had a significant upgrade at this hotel so I’ve not seen this room type before. In the past I’ve usually booked this hotel at short notice so that might be why I never had a decent upgrade.

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