Did you miss any of our 28 London airport hotel reviews?

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• Adam says:

  3 Mar3 March 06:16

  The Sofitel at LGW, attached directly and worthy of a look.

  • TGLoyalty says:

    3 Mar3 March 12:21

    The Sofitel LGW consistently gets terrible reviews which is odd as it’s Arora who do quite well with their other more luxury brands

    Is it Directly attacked by a bridge?

    • TGLoyalty says:

      3 Mar3 March 12:22

      Attached! I still wish we could edit atleast for 5 mins like the forum.

• daveinitalia says:

  3 Mar3 March 07:16

  For London City I usually stay at the Doubletree Excel as it’s the closest Hilton option. Now it’s close to Custom House on the Elizabeth line I sometimes stay there too when arriving from Heathrow. In fact I’m staying there this week before going to Tuesday’s BA event

  • Andrew Beaumont says:

    3 Mar3 March 07:44

    Came on here just to say that. I love that hotel for London City. They always look after status well and it’s an easy 15 min walk to the terminal.

    • daveinitalia says:

      3 Mar3 March 07:50

      I often have a room where you can see the planes landing from your bed

• daveinitalia says:

  3 Mar3 March 08:10

  From the Heathrow side there’s a few things worth mentioning:

  First of all, the hotels attached to T4 are also convenient for T5 but not by getting the train as you have to change at T2/3 to go by train between T4 and T5. There’s a TfL bus stop outside of the Premier Inn T4 (short walk from the Hilton, quicker than walking back into the terminal) that takes you to T5 and the bus is usual TfL fare of £1.75

  Opposite the Thistle is the Premier Inn T5 and that’s also a short bus ride to T5. The TfL bus is also much cheaper than the pods if you’re staying at the Thistle

  The Hotel Hoppa should only be used as the last resort. It’s overpriced as a bus service and is not very frequent. They’re also no help whatsoever should one of the trips be cancelled

  • Richie says:

    3 Mar3 March 08:36

    BTW The TfL buses can get very busy, if you have luggage of check-in size, you simply may not get on at peak times.

    • daveinitalia says:

      3 Mar3 March 09:42

      I’d say if you’re carrying lots of luggage you don’t want to be using a bus anyway. An Uber isn’t much more than the Hotel Hoppa and leaves when you want it to leave. Many hotels can also recommend minicab firms

      • Richie says:

        3 Mar3 March 11:33

        At peak times an Uber isn’t going to be readily available to go the short distance from the T5 Premier Inn to T5 departures.

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        3 Mar3 March 11:48

        I’ve managed two cases and a carry on to/from the CP

        Plenty of baggage carts around and you can take them virtually door to door and it’s all step free so the only time you have to move your bags yourself is to get through the ticket barrier and on / off the train.

  • Paul says:

    3 Mar3 March 08:45

    +1 on the hotel hoppa- service is dire and it’s an absolute rip off! It should be repeatedly called out as such.

    • daveinitalia says:

      3 Mar3 March 09:47

      It’s improved since 2022 but my experience then has put me off using it. Anyone who’s used the so-called Hilton T5 will probably say it’s a nice hotel but a pain to get to by public transport. So back in 2022 when I was leaving the airport I checked online and noticed a Hoppa was due. When I got there there were people waiting and they’d been waiting since the last one was due. It didn’t turn up and I asked a driver of another Hoppa to radio control and find out what’s going on – he refused. The hotel had no idea what was going on either, they said (correctly) it’s out of their control.

• jj says:

  3 Mar3 March 08:19

  Sofitel is by far the best option for T5: no need to faff with buses or trains.

  And this is probably a good time to note that the HfP review of the Sofitel misses out its best feature. The hotel car park is as close to the terminal building as the official short stay car park, but is cheaper per night than the official long stay car park.

  The review also fails to note that the Sofitel has the best restaurant in Heathrow with La Belle Epoque

  • Paul says:

    3 Mar3 March 08:47

    And is by some margin (factor of 2 at least) the most expensive option at Heathrow. You pays your money….

    • numpty says:

      3 Mar3 March 09:18

      The Hilton at T2 is usually just as expensive as Sofitel and sometimes more. Seems to be the premium you pay for convenience. Stayed once at Sofitel on the last flight in from GLA followed with an early morning departure, and it was worth it (grudgingly) for the sheer convenience, and a bit of a longer lie-in in the morning!

  • Ed says:

    3 Mar3 March 09:34

    How do you book Sofitel parking, without an overnight stay? (Is it possible?) thanks

    • jj says:

      3 Mar3 March 11:05

      Ed – you can just pay on exit, but the prices are outrageous at £50 or more per day. If you book a room, you can gain access to stay-and-fly packages at a preferential rate.

      They seem to take a flexible approach to hotel guests. I once forgot to book parking and they added it to bill on arrival at £20 per day, which is a decent last-minute rate for under-cover parking adjacent to the terminal.

      • Ed says:

        3 Mar3 March 11:10

        Thanks

      • Tariq says:

        3 Mar3 March 17:23

        Sadly All Plus Voyageur rate cannot be applied to the parking inclusive packages.

• Dmm says:

  3 Mar3 March 08:59

  Radisson at Stansted is missing from the list and a closer walk than the Hampton. Stayed there a couple of times as ut often pops up on holiday extras secret hotels, but is very obvious as to what it is. Note, if you fancy breakfast (decent) book it atvchecin as its cheaper than deciding later.

• Philondon says:

  3 Mar3 March 09:25

  Do Radisson Blu at Heathrow review? My partner stayed there free when his flight was cancelled. The room was tiny (probably because it was free. I assume standard rooms are bigger). Hotel lobby area looked nice. Service in the restaurant was terrible. Very slow. I assume they don’t have enough staff. But…. the highlight of the stay was….. the free to use spa with a hot tub, sauna and steam room.

  • Rob says:

    3 Mar3 March 09:32

    There is no Blu. There is the standard Radisson and the RED, both reviewed, plus the Edwardian.

    • daveinitalia says:

      3 Mar3 March 09:49

      The Edwardians have been considered Radisson Blu for many years now. Although as you mentioned in a recent article they’ve been sold so this will likely change.

    • Rob says:

      3 Mar3 March 12:19

      Sorry, forget that at some point in recent years they stuck ‘Blu’ in the middle!

      • daveinitalia says:

        3 Mar3 March 21:28

        It was 2012 they rebranded!

• daveinitalia says:

  3 Mar3 March 09:58

  For any Hilton diamonds here (and occasionally golds who sometimes also get lounge access) there’s been an annoying trend over the past few years where Hilton happy hours (the time in the lounge they put food and booze out) have changed in an increasing number of hotels to 17:00-19:00 where traditionally it was usually 18:00-20:00

  For airport hotels the Hilton T5 is one of these that changed the hours when the hotel was sold to new owners (another consequence of the sale was the excellent Mr Todiwala’s Kitchen was closed). For an airport hotel it’s particularly bad moving the happy hour an hour earlier as I’m often arriving on an evening flight or I need to get to the airport after a meeting in London. This particular hotel has also reduced the food options available since the ownership change.

  Last time I stayed in the Hilton T4 they also had moved to 17:00-19:00 when they were using a temporary lounge due to refurbishment. I’ve been told by others now the proper lounge has reopened its back to 18:00-20:00 though. Perhaps feedback made them change it back.

  Worth mentioning the app has an easy way to give feedback on your stay. If you go to Account > Stay History for each hotel there’s a button to leave feedback. Also complete a survey if you get one.

  • Chris says:

    3 Mar3 March 13:27

    You are certainly right about Mr Todiwalas – it’s a huge loss and the alternatives very limited.

  • Tom says:

    3 Mar3 March 14:34

    Not an airport hotel but IIRC the Park Lane Hilton has a 5 to 8 lounge happy hour. That should be the trend, particularly at busy Hiltons.

    At the other end of the spectrum the T4 Premier Inn is perfectly fine for any terminal, and usually much cheaper. I hate anything on the Bath Road.

• BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

  3 Mar3 March 10:39

  For LCY the CP Docklands is also handy.

  Close to Custom House for the Lizzie line and slightly closer is the Royal Vicoria DLR station

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