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Did you miss any of our 30 London airport hotel reviews?

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This is part of our occasional series where we remind you of some of the hotel reviews we’ve run in recent years.

We started off in February with all of the great hotels that were reader-reviewed during the pandemic as part of our ‘My Favourite Hotel’ series. The article was very popular and helped a lot of readers to discover content that they never knew we had.

We followed up with an article looking at the 37 London hotels we have reviewed since 2019.

Today I want to bring together our London airport hotel reviews.

London airport hotel reviews

Where to find these articles in the future

If you are reading this by email, you should know that there is a ‘Reviews’ tab in the menu bar of our desktop and mobile sites.

Under this tab you will find six categories:

Our London airport hotel reviews

This is far from a comprehensive list. We don’t pretend otherwise. However, we DO try to get to new and refurbished hotels when they open and the ones below are among the best of the bunch.

(There has been very little in terms of new or refurbished hotels at London’s airports over the last 18 months. The last new opening was, I think, the Courtyard at Heathrow in early 2022.)

If there is a particularly good hotel at Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted, Luton or London City which is not covered here, let us know in the comments and we’ll try to make it along.

For each hotel we have indicated which loyalty scheme it belongs to and whether it is walkable from, or even in, the terminal.

If you want to know which hotel loyalty scheme is currently running the most generous bonus points promotion, look at our list here.

London airport hotel reviews

London Heathrow airport hotel reviews

Hotel shuttle buses are banned at London Heathrow. The only way to reach hotels outside the terminal complex is via the Hotel Hoppa bus or public buses. A couple are easily walkable from Hatton Cross, the first underground station beyond the airport. The Thistle can be accessed by taking the driverless pods from Terminal 5.

In or attached to the terminals:

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3 (Hilton Honors, book here)

Aerotel London Heathrow Terminal 3 (independent, book here)

Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow Terminal 4 (IHG One Rewards, book here)

Crowne Plaza London Heathrow Terminal 4 (IHG One Rewards, same building as above, book here)

Premier Inn Heathrow Terminal 4 (independent, book here)

Hilton London Heathrow Hotel at Terminal 4 (image above, Hilton Honors, book here)

Sofitel London Heathrow Terminal 5 (ALL Accor, book here)

London airport hotel reviews

Requiring a bus or taxi transfer:

These hotels are listed by approximate distance from the terminals, nearest first:

Radisson Hotel London Heathrow (image above, Radisson Rewards, book here)

Radisson RED London Heathrow (Radisson Rewards, same building as above, book here)

ibis Styles London Heathrow Airport (ALL Accor, book here)

Courtyard London Heathrow Airport (Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

Holiday Inn London Heathrow Bath Road (IHG One Rewards, book here)

Staybridge Suites London Heathrow Bath Road (IHG One Rewards, same building as above, book here)

Hyatt Place London Heathrow Airport (World of Hyatt, book here)

Moxy London Heathrow Airport (Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

Accessible via a tube transfer to Hatton Cross:

Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow Airport (Hilton Honors, book here)

Atrium Hotel Heathrow (independent, book here)

Accessible via pod transfer from Terminal 5:

Thistle Heathrow Terminal 5 (independent, book here)

London airport hotel reviews

London Gatwick airport hotel reviews

Hilton London Gatwick Airport (top image above, attached to South Terminal, Hilton Honors, book here)

YOTELAIR Gatwick Airport (inside South Terminal, independent, book here)

Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport (inside North Terminal, Hilton Honors, book here)

Courtyard London Gatwick Airport (walkable without heavy luggage from South Terminal, Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

BLOC Hotel London Gatwick Airport (image above, inside South Terminal, independent, book here)

London City Airport hotel reviews

Aloft London Excel (walkable from terminal without luggage, but a bit of a trot – the Courtyard is much nearer)

Courtyard London City Airport (walkable from terminal without luggage, Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

Moxy London Excel (walkable from terminal without luggage, but a lot further than the Courtyard, Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

London airport hotel reviews

London Stansted airport hotel reviews

Hampton by Hilton Stansted Airport (image above, attached to the terminal, Hilton Honors, book here)

Luton Luton airport hotel reviews

Holiday Inn Express London Luton Airport (nearest walkable hotel from terminal, IHG One Rewards, book here)

Courtyard Luton Airport (fairly long walk or local bus from terminal, Marriott Bonvoy, book here)

London Southend airport hotel reviews

Holiday Inn Southend Airport (walkable from terminal, IHG One Rewards, book here)

Comments (14)

  • Christian says:

    Please pardon the simpleton question here but how difficult is it to change terminals in Heathrow? CDG can be very unpleasant for terminal changes but I didn’t know if LHR might be easier.

    • Lumma says:

      Airside or Landside?

      Landside you can just use the trains for free, either the underground or Elizabeth line/Heathrow Express. T4-T5 is the most difficult as you need to go via T2&3 regardless. Terminals 2 and 3 are walkable.

      Airside you need to take transit buses. Never done myself but I’ve heard that some people prefer entering the UK and transferring landside

      • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:

        T4-T5 and vv isn’t difficult at all

        The H30 bus runs every 20 mins between the two and is free with no need to change anywhere.

        • Bystander says:

          The 482 and 490 ‘buses also operate between T4 and T5, so offering a very frequent service. Given the plethora of hotels attached to T4 prices there are usually much lower than at the Sofitel at T5 or the two hotels by T2/T3. I have often stayed at T4 then ‘bussed to T5 (much quicker than rail or underground). But although the H30 is indeed free, the other ‘buses aren’t free any longer. Rail or underground transfer is free, although you need to get a ticket from the machines.

  • Robert says:

    Which Hilton’s are those in the images?

    You should try reviewing the Radisson at STN, probably the best hotel in this category after the T5 Sofitel. Good opportunity to use your status extension.

    • planeconcorde says:

      1st is Hilton Gatwick (south terminal), 2nd is Hilton Heathrow terminal 4

    • CamFlyer says:

      I agree with comments on the Radisson Stansted; for an airport hotel it gets things right, across service, rooms and food.

  • Barrel for Scraping says:

    If you’re coming from/to T5 and staying in the Holiday Inn/Staybridge you can take the Avis shuttle bus as the ‘Avis T5’ is now based in the Holiday Inn car park

  • Barrel for Scraping says:

    A number of hotels around the Heathrow area are now dedicated to customers who arrive by boat. The DoubleTree Heathrow (on Bath Road) was the latest to take on a group booking contract from the government. The original Crowne Plaza and the big Holiday Inn off the M4 have also been like this for ages. The Novotel on Bath Road seems to be in a similar situation as its sign is falling to bits and seems a bit unwelcoming. Anyone know of any others? Reducing the number of available hotels in the Heathrow area means prices are higher than they’d be otherwise

  • Patrick says:

    I also used the Sheraton skyline Heathrow back in 2012-13, sadly the pool is no longer there and the furniture looks dated now.

  • Steve says:

    Although not listed in the article, I stayed at Sheraton Skyline LHR earlier this year, something I have noticed about airport hotels is that maintenance is poor. I assumed it was due to fact most people only stay 1 night and do either don’t care or even notice when the is an issue with the room and so faults no not get reported. In the case of the Skyline is was a very tired hotel the AC didn’t work ( was a very warm night)
    Transfer to LHR terminal hub was very easy via local bus opposite hotel and only 7 minutes ride

  • Dmm says:

    As mentioned, Radisson at STN is missing. It is closer to the terminal than Hampton, better breakfast and a reasonable gym and pool (and spa i think).

  • dan_a_man says:

    The Courtyard even extended breakfast to me as a titanium – cant confirm, but would expect the same to platinum as well. Not the norm for Courtyards, but greatly appreciated!

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