My flight from Mumbai to London landed shortly before 8AM, while my connecting flight to Tunis was around 6PM. Both flights were arriving and departing from Terminal 4, and given how tired I knew I’d be, I figured I’d try to rest somewhere for a bit.
There are three hotel options connected to or near Terminal 4 — there’s the Hilton London Heathrow, the new Premier Inn, and the Yotel. For a long time I’ve been wanting to try out the Yotel concept, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity to do so.
For those of you not familiar with Yotel, it’s a chain of “hotels” (if you can call them that) with functional but small sleeping pods. They have a few airport locations, as well as a couple of city locations, like in New York.
I booked a standard cabin for an eight hour block, which cost 69.50GBP (~90USD). I’d say that’s a fairly good value, especially when you consider that the Yotel is directly in the terminal, unlike the other options.
Upon exiting the immigration hall I turned left and followed the signage towards the Yotel.
London Heathrow Terminal 4 arrivals area
At the far end of the arrivals hall I took the escalator up a level.
Escalator to Yotel London Heathrow Terminal 4
The Yotel is located near the prayer room and Plaza Premium Arrivals Lounge.
Yotel London Heathrow signage
At the top of the escalator I turned left, and saw the futuristic Yotel entrance at the end of the hallway.
Yotel London Heathrow entrance
Inside the entrance was some quirky art and a couple of monitors. I guess I could have checked in there, but the reception desk was just a few feet further down the hall.
Yotel London Heathrow check-in
It was referred to as “Mission Control,” and once there I was greeted by Georgios.
Yotel London Heathrow check-in
He had me checked in within a few minutes, and informed me that I had been upgraded to a premium cabin. I’m guessing I’m the first person to have ever made this request, but I asked if I could be “downgraded” to the room I had booked, but unfortunately they had no standard cabins available. Oh well. 😉
Since I didn’t get to stay in one, below is a picture from Yotel’s website of what a standard cabin looks like.
Yotel London Heathrow Standard Cabin
Below is the sign that was at the reception desk with information about some of the services offered.
Yotel London Heathrow amenities
Once I was checked in, I was asked to go down the hall for a quick security check. There a friendly lady did a quick explosives test on my bags, and within a minute cleared me to proceed to my cabin.
Yotel London Heathrow Terminal 4
The Yotel hallway was so cool, and felt sort of like a ship. My cabin, #11, was the first one on the left.
Yotel hallway London Heathrow
Yotel room exterior London Heathrow
Below is a picture of the layout of the Yotel facility.
Yotel Heathrow floorplan
I can’t even describe how much I love this concept. There’s something about it that’s just so cozy. My premium cabin had a bed that was folded to basically be a couch.
Yotel Premium Cabin London Heathrow
There was a window looking into the hallway that was open when I arrived, but there were blinds that could be lowered for privacy.
Yotel Premium Cabin London Heathrow
At the touch of a button the couch could be turned into a proper bed.
Yotel Premium Cabin bed London Heathrow
Underneath the bed was a storage compartment that was big enough for a large suitcase.
Yotel Premium Cabin storage London Heathrow
On the bedside table was a phone, dining menu, and TV remote control.
Yotel Premium Cabin London Heathrow
Across from the bed was a TV, as well as some outlets, earplugs, and a chair that could be removed from the wall to sit on. It wasn’t especially comfortable, so you’re much better off just sitting in bed.
Yotel Premium Cabin TV & chair London Heathrow
Yotel Premium Cabin London Heathrow
Yotel Premium Cabin outlets & earplugs London Heathrow
Then there was a glass partition separating the bedroom from the bathroom. The bathroom had a sink, toilet, and shower.
Yotel Premium Cabin bathroom London Heathrow
Yotel Premium Cabin sink London Heathrow
Yotel Premium Cabin shower London Heathrow
The toiletries were pretty basic, as there was just a single dispenser that doubled as body wash and shampoo.
Yotel Premium Cabin toiletries London Heathrow
The room controls were all right next to the bed. There were several lighting controls.
Yotel Premium Cabin controls London Heathrow
Then there were two buttons you could use to transform the couch into a bed. You just pushed the “ZZZ” button to turn it into a bed, and the “sun” button to turn it into a couch.
Yotel Premium Cabin controls London Heathrow
Then there was also a thermostat.
Yotel Premium Cabin controls London Heathrow
The room also had some cool mood lighting.
Yotel Premium Cabin mood lighting London Heathrow
While I didn’t order anything off the menu, here’s what the Yotel food & drink menu looks like:
Yotel food menu London Heathrow
Yotel drink menu London Heathrow
Coffee & tea are always free at mission control. As I said earlier, Georgios was a super nice guy, and offered me several bottles of water. I went there in the afternoon and grabbed an americano as well.
Yotel complimentary bottled water & coffee London Heathrow
The Yotel had a separate Wi-Fi network from the rest of the airport, and Wi-Fi was fast and free.
Yotel Wi-Fi London Heathrow
I managed to get a solid three hour nap at the Yotel, then worked from bed for a few hours, and then showered, before heading back to the terminal.
I had seen some people complain about noise at the Yotel. I didn’t have any issues at all, though I’m also not a light sleeper. There were occasional noises as I was trying to fall asleep, though they didn’t bother me one bit.
Yotel Heathrow bottom line
What an awesome concept. It’s weird how sometimes certain things make us disproportionately happy, and for me, this was one of them. I found the Yotel to be so cozy, and such a nice break from the rest of the terminal. Would I want to stay here if I had a 24 hour layover? No way. However, with a long daytime layover, or a quick overnight layover (let’s say landing at 10PM and leaving at 6AM), I could see this being a great option.
I’d stay at a Yotel again in a heartbeat, and next time hopefully I’ll get a standard cabin, which almost looks like a first class suite you’d get on a plane.
If you’ve stayed at a Yotel, what was your experience like?
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