While I’ve had overnight connections in London more times than I can count, I’ve always either gone into the city or stayed at the Hilton London Heathrow Terminal 4. The Hilton is an ideal option if you’re connecting to/from Terminal 4, since it’s connected to the terminal by air bridge.
I find most of the other Heathrow hotels to just be a pain, given that they’re not connected to the terminal and don’t have complimentary shuttles.
Well, a couple of nights ago I was connecting from Terminal 5 to Terminal 3, so decided to expand my Heathrow airport hotel horizons, so to speak.
There are two Sheraton properties at Heathrow — the Sheraton Heathrow and the Sheraton Skyline, and the rate difference is generally huge. For the night I was staying, the Sheraton Heathrow was 50GBP, while the Sheraton Skyline was 119GBP.
I’d like to check them both out at some point, but I figured the Sheraton Skyline couldn’t be that much better.
And if anything I was excited to check out the Sheraton Heathrow, since it gets absolutely terrible reviews. Based on what I’ve read about it online, you’d think it’s the Hotel Carter New York.
After all, for 50GBP (~$75) including the ridiculous 20% VAT, what can you really expect?
So yeah, the hotel does look like a bit like a funeral home from the outside…
And yes, that theme continues with the elevators…
And yes, the dreary hallways with random couches are a bit odd…
And yes, the club lounge “reception” seems to be a furniture storage area of sorts…
And yes, you’d think they’d have more than a total of three tables in the club lounge at a hotel frequented by Platinum members…
And yes, the views leave a bit to be desired…
But I was actually pleasantly surprised. The room was cleaner and fresher than I expected.
And at least there was a club lounge. And restaurant breakfast was included because the club lounge is closed for breakfast on weekends.
Frankly, the most offensive part of the hotel was the grammar. Seriously, how many grammar/punctuation mistakes can you find in the below promotional poster (not even accounting for the British-isms)?
Anyone care for “mozzarella stick?” Brings back horrible memories of my college roommate who was challenged when it came to pluralizing things — “lemme get a large fry.” But the spread itself was no doubt Tesco’s finest from the freezer section.
I guess that might actually explain why they only have three tables in the club lounge, since I can’t imagine anyone actually wanting to spend any time there.
Bottom line
Anyway, the price is certainly right at the Sheraton Heathrow, and I’d return again if it made sense under the circumstances. But you can’t argue with the value as a Platinum member, and the hotel did sort of exceed my expectations.
If you’ve stayed at the Sheraton Heathrow, what was your experience?
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.