Review: Hilton London Heathrow Hotel

Hi Lucky,

I left a question on one of Tiffany’s posts, and she said you might have the answer, so here it is. Thanks so much!

Here’s something I’ve been wondering, and this probably differs by hotel chain, but maybe you have a general answer. Because most hotels are not owned by the chain, but the loyalty programs are, who covers the cost for elite benefits? Obviously there’s not much extra cost to a hotel for, say, a suite upgrade if it otherwise would be empty, but what about breakfast or the food/drinks from the lounge? Does the loyalty program provide any sort of reimbursement for these costs? Or does the hotel have to cover the cost assuming that the elite will return and “pay them back” in profit? If the latter’s the case, I can understand why some hotels have a VERY conservative definition of continental breakfast.

And same thing with the My Elite Rate discount Hyatt had a few years ago. If a hotel wasn’t reimbursed, it’s not like they knew about having to cover the benefit when they signed their management contract. Almost seems like “taxation without representation.”

We recently stayed in the same hotel and enjoyed it. It is certainly better than the Sheraton, and the rate was quite reasonable for our overnight layover at LHR. We also stumbled into the Chinese restaurant off the lobby, and found it to be quite good. It's an outpost of a place from Hong Kong and Shanghai, and the food was absolutely delicious, and far from the typical hotel restaurant.

Great job lucky. A fave of mine too. Two additional points to make - coffee/tea kettle located in the right side of the minibar. And breakfast can either be taken in the lounge or the restaurant (at least as a Diamond).

Could you in theory go to the various lounges in the airport to eat your meals if you are staying in this hotel for a layover?

Great report! Just status matched to Hilton Diamond so may give it a try. I'd been staying at the Heathrow Airport Holiday Inn (the rooms look identical to the Heathrow Hilton), or the Radisson Blu. The good news is you're not stuck with the Hoppa Busses (overpriced) or a taxi. The city bus (111 or 140) will take you to the hotel strip on Bath Road and back. And last I rode them for that short of a distance, it was totally free. Just tell the driver you're going to the airport (or to the hotels). They run 24 hours a day.

"which has quite an impressive exterior"

What part of the exterior "impressed" you?

Great review here. Loved it and very detailed.

My favorite airport hotel is the renaissance, I know it's not the greatest, but I love its location and always ask for a room facing the runway to watch the late night heavies taking off from it. A small plus is that it was recently renovated.

If i'm flying BA then I try for the Sofitel T5, if that's super expensive then something on the Bath Road is what i'm left with.

Best hotel by far at LHR is http://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/lhrbr-renaissance-london-heathrow-hotel/...best executive lounge EVER for plane watchers that is.

When you do stay at one of the LHR hotels (aside from the T4 Hilton), why do you even bother with Hotel Hoppa? The frequencies are comparable to the regular buses, which run through a "free travel zone" that encompasses most airport hotels. Personally, I'd only use the Hoppa if I a) had a lot of luggage, b) was traveling with kids/seniors, or c) would have to trek through rain to get from the bus stop to the hotel. And even then a taxi would probably be a better value. Even when traveling lightly, I'll use a taxi if rushed, but never the Hoppa. JMHO.

While not your brand, the Hilton Garden Inn is about 5 minutes from the tube stop, from there it's 1 stop to the terminals.

Last time I did it was under 15 minutes from hotel to security after timing the tube right.

Nice report. I was in London last weekend for 1 night (Saturday) and debated between the Term 4 Hilton versus the Hilton Paddington. Since I was arriving on AA at Term 3, I took the Heathrow Express to Paddington and was in the hotel in less than 20 minutes. It would have taken longer had I stayed at the Term 4 Hilton or (as originally planned) the LHR Marriott.

I purchased the Heathrow Express RT ticket 30 days in advance which gives it to you at a 50% discount (90 days gives you a 75% discount).

While the Hilton Paddington is an older building, it is right at the train station and the Exec Lounge overlooks the station. I did get upgraded to a Deluxe room which was very nice with a nice bathroom (room totally redone).

The hotel itself (lobby) is dated, but the lounge was nice - but not particularly stylist. I thought the afternoon sandwiches and evening food was good. Better than what I got at the Marriott Grosvenor Sq the weekend before (doing those BA cheap J tickets - and getting those AA 25K bonuses).

By staying in downtown London at Paddington - it was only a 10 minute tube ride to Piccadilly Circus for going out that night.

Bottom line - I think you are better off taking Heathrow Express and go downtown then doing a LHR hotel. Hilton works for Term 4 but otherwise - you have to take the free train from 4 to 5 or 123. But still I think you would enjoy going into town rather than hang out in a room and lounge at LHR>

Sofitel is king at Heathrow but be prepared to spend 225 to 400 per night US for a room
The breakfast is the best at Heathrow year round
the worst basic room is typically a higher standard then any property at Heathrow
Sucks that they have a crap program 🙁
Ben nailed his review this time. The lobby is good the dining is meh but doable
but the beds are worse than the old they replaced. Hard as a rock! Otherwise renovation successful
For those that like cement and lines on your face from impressions on the hard mattress you will love it
I haven't been back since the beds became horrible and the Hilton at Terminal 5 is even worse if possible
The Sofitel beds are a dream like a St Regis or a RItz Carlton
Sheraton Skyline is ok but half is a good and still dated
Hyatt Place is coming near Heathrow if its as good as the LGA property in Flushing NY it will be welcome addition to escape the dated Heathrow house of horror hotels at high pricing
The Marriott Heathrow was so dated it was shocking and the club like like a gymnasium locker room
The gym smelled like dead bodies that were piled up in the back room
Was a great hotel when it first opened years ago clean and modern
Now its overpriced and tired

Hilton does have a brand bed, it's the Hilton Serenity Bed, and it's great!

@ Nolan
Yes its a good one
But it aint @ Heathrow Hilton!

The Hilton at T4 is really just OK. Ever since the Sofitel at T5 opened its a go to every time. I'm diamond with Hilton for the last fifteen years but Hyatt is my preferred brand where I am also diamond. Either way Sofitel all the way at T5 and a quick free train hop to T4. Just my opinion.

Sofitel. The Hilton rooms are closets and I trip over my shadow. Always opt for the Sofitel even if it means taking the Express between terminals to get there.

Another great Hilton option is the one near terminal five (about an 8 pound Uber ride away on return; take Hoppa going there). It has arguably one of the nicest free to guests spas I have visited with a relaxing pool with jets throughout and also a nice sauna and steam room (and a rain/mist shower and crystal room). We will sometimes catch the 9 am flight from Newark, arrive at 9 pm, go to the terminal 5 Hilton, get a great night sleep and then spend the morning in the spa to really get back to normal.

Great review!

I note you went landside and then got the Heathrow Connect to get to T4. It's worth mentioning you can also take the flight connections bus airside, before security, from T3 in order to arrive into T4.

This probably wouldn't save you much time from T3 - T4, especially since the connect comes out the right side of T4 for the Hilton, but if you were coming into T5, it would have saved you a good half an hour. Even more if you were coming into T5B, it's a little known fact that the inter terminal bus service runs from there too.

Nice reveiw Lucky.

A note of caution on transferring between terminals on the trains; it is free, but if you time it wrong you could spend a very long time switching terminals - just miss a train and you could end up spending 30 Mins+ getting from T5 to T4 (as you need to change at Heathrow Central, and there is a 15 min frequency on the Express, and the T4 Connector).

@Randy's suggestion of staying at the Hilton Paddington (and paying for the Heathrow Express there and back) is a good one, particualrly as it gives you the option of doing something in London, rather than being stuck at the airport.

I agree with what others have said that the Sofitel is by far and away the best hotel at Heathrow. On my last visit in September, I chose the Hilton Garden Inn though. It was actually a very good choice, as its walking distance to Hatton Cross Tube Station for easy access to Hounslow and Central London and the rooms were functional and clean for an overnight stay.

As you currently trying out new things, next time for a short overlay like this at T4 why not try the Yotel.

Sure you won’t get points, you won’t be able to access a lounge and you can’t cleverly tell us why credit card you used to maximize your points but at least it would be something new and it’s even less walk to the gates plus with the flexible check-in / out they have you won’t need to worry about early check in.

Thanks for the review Lucky! I stayed at the hotel couple of months ago and had a similar room and experience. Only difference was that I had breakfast at the restaurant (HH Gold) on the main level and it was very good.

One of the best kept secrets about Heathrow is the number of hotels that are accessible via free buses. Agreed with Tennen - FORGET the Hotel Hoppas! They are a massive con. The perfect example is the Premier Inn T5 which is a two or three minute public bus ride, for free, from the terminal. There are free buses every 20 minutes. Heathrow however insist on publicising the expensive and less frequent Hoppa bus to get there (and it doesn't actually go direct!).

Here is the map of the free travel area. It covers the majority of Bath Road to the North of the airport, and the main road along the south of the airport up to Hatton Cross.

http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Company/Static/PDF/Heathrowcommuter/travel_around_Heathrow.pdf

@omatravel says: "the Hilton Garden Inn is about 5 minutes from the tube stop, from there it’s 1 stop to the terminals."

This is another hotel you can access using free buses. There are two buses that run from T5 and Heathrow Central bus station, along Bath Road, then right down Northern Perimeter Road towards Hatton Cross. There is a a bus stop on Envoy Road right next to Hilton Garden Inn and you just have to walk around the corner. Both buses stop here, and the stop falls within the free travel zone. The buses are:

423 from Terminal 5
285 from Heathrow Central

@sven "As you currently trying out new things, next time for a short overlay like this at T4 why not try the Yotel."

I don't recommend it - the rooms are too warm and some of the mechanised doors at the front are extremely noisy if you're trying to sleep. Tried it once - never again. They gave me a full refund.

Agree with a few of the other comments about the Sofitel, though I would argue it's a bad option for Terminal 4 (but great for T5 and easy for T2 and T3). While the list price for the Sofitel can be high, you can sometimes find it as a secret hotel on Hotwire or lastminute.com, and sometimes accor runs some decent specials via their website.

@Dylan:

Travelling from T5 to T4 is easy - you can do it direct.

The 490 bus from T5 to T4 is free, runs every 10 minutes and gets you there in 13 minutes.

The 482 bus from T5 to T4 is also free, runs three times an hour and gets you there in 15 minutes.

It's the same for both buses in each direction.

You can of course go via the Heathrow Express service but you do have to change at Heathrow Central - and you might have to wait 15 minutes.

As Nolan Snoeyink mentioned, Hilton does have brand-standard bedding, but it only seems to apply to the U.S. Internationally, I find that mattress firmness and padding can vary considerably, though I've not had any complaints.

Lucky, I know you are not a big Hilton fan, but it's nice to see you giving them a shot lately. I'm loyal to Hilton mainly just because they have properties everywhere, so I can pool my points rather easily. Plus, I do like that I can get Diamond status just based on $40k spend on the card.

Anyway, another benefit of Hilton is that they have such a strong footprint in London. Both Starwood and Hyatt have such limited options there compared to Hilton. Sure, Hilton's properties aren't super lux, but they have a lot of decent options, including many Doubletrees, in London. I recently stayed at the London Hilton on Park Lane and was very surprised how good it was. Even better than the Conrad, which I stayed at last year.

Having stayed there a number of times and being a smoker, I must say rooms in the new(er) wing are a long long walk to the closest smoking area, over ten minutes. The suites in the new wing are also a good size and have an additional bathroom for the lounge area.

Hello everyone! Catching a morning flight out of Heathrow Terminal 3 on American. Want to stay at a "Heathrow" hotel the night before. Am booked at the T4 Hilton, but not sure that is the most convenient option given the limited train service to T3. Anyone have any other suggestions? Thanks. Feel free to respond to jharding94566@gmail if it is more convenient.

The T4 Hilton will be fine. You can get the Heathrow Connect train from T4 which runs every 15 minutes. You can also get the Tube from T4, which is free if you use a contactless or Oyster card. Just swipe in at the barrier and swipe out at the other end - it won't charge you. I speak from experience.

Thank you Andrew! I will enjoy the 100 pounds saved staying at the Hilton.

You're welcome. There are no hotels at T3, so the Hilton T4 is a good option. The only other onsite quality alternative is the Sofitel which is connected to T5.

If you have plenty of luggage, it's worth mentioning that the Heathrow Connect train is slightly better than the tube because the stop is closer to T3 than the tube station is. So you will have a shorter walk! The tube station is actually closer to T2 than T3.