The joy of a hotel attached to an airportA short-ish walk from the Heathrow Terminal 4
Hotel airports can be very hit or miss, and it’s easy to forgive the misses. If you’re arriving late and flying out early, you could be in the building for less than twelve hours. Hotel airports are judged differently: can you easily get something to eat and drink, and can you get a good night’s sleep?
The joy of a hotel attached to an airport
Look at any airport on a map, and you’ll find hotels surrounding it. Usually they’re a short taxi or shuttle bus journey from the terminals. A rarer find is a hotel connected to the airport, which you can easily walk to. Manchester has the Radisson Blu, which sits between the recently expanded T2 super terminal and the soon-to-be-closed T1. Migrating from hotel to flight, or in reverse, means no waiting around for a vehicle. Just tootle along a walkway, and you’re there.
Heathrow has it’s walkable hotels, too. We were due out on an early Etihad flight (see our flight review of The Residence) so we wanted the easiest option, and the Hilton at T4 was perfect for us. Along the same walkway, as you exit T4, there’s the Holiday Inn Express and the Crowne Plaza.
If you’re flying from T5 then the giant Sofitel is just a few hundred steps from the departures hall. For T2 and T3 there’s the Hilton Garden Inn, sat between the two terminals but allegedly walkable from both.
How much was the Hilton T4?
We booked a basic double room around six weeks before we stayed, which cost £137.58. The cost of booking the room direct was on par with the hotel aggregator websites, but by booking direct, I got the points and perks of being a Hilton Honors member.
Check-in at the Hilton T4
Finding the Hilton is easy. The long walkway from the terminal to the airport check-in does require some patience. You’ll pass the Travelodge, then the Crowne Plaza entrances first. It’s about six minutes if you’re pulling cases behind you.
Check-in was friendly and efficient. Sometimes, the hotel check-in process can drag on, but this was quick and to the point. There were no room upgrades available for being a gold (I have yet to experience one), but we were given access to the executive lounge, which saved us £30 on dinner. I had requested a quiet room during booking, and they confirmed this had been actioned.
The hotel reception is bright and airy. This is not a dim, low-ceilinged hotel lobby. The entrance atrium is around four floors high, with some of the bedrooms looking into it. Our room looked outwards, back towards the airport.
What are the rooms like?
The rooms are a typical size for an airport hotel – just enough room to move around, but nothing more. We had two big cases that we stored easily. On the wall opposite the bed there’s the TV, and a long surface that runs beneath it and turns into a desk. There’s a small mirror above the desk, placed well for doing make-up, and a desk lamp.
There’s an interesting piece of art on the wall: a backlit map of Europe. Thankfully this does turn off at night, as it’s quite bright. It’s not that quirky, and you end up asking the question: why?
Beneath the questionable artwork is a unit that has a fridge, kettle and ice-bucket. There’s tea and coffee sachets, and two coffee cups.
Each bedside table has a reading light, a larger light and a standard British plug socket which has a USB-A socket built in. The room came with two bottles of water.
The bathroom was well-sized, with a big shower down the back wall. The amenities are the same as in most Hiltons: Crabtree & Evelyn. Within the shower the shower gel, conditioner and shampoo are fixed to the wall. Next to the sink, you have hand wash and lotion.
There’s a long (not tall) bathroom mirror that runs the length of the vanity unit; there’s also a smaller magnifying mirror to the left of the sink.
When I’m staying in an airport hotel I really want three things from the bathroom: cleanliness, a powerful shower and enough space for myself and my wife to lay out all of our toiletries. Hilton always seems to deliver on this; I had a great shower – it blasted me away – the bathroom was clean (and modern), and the vanity unit had more than enough space.
Hilton T4 Executive Lounge
The executive lounge entrance is next to the hotel reception. Despite being lit up, we completely missed it, so we ended up wandering around looking for signs. We snuck in just before closing as we’d checked in late. You gain access to the lounge by swiping your room card at the entrance door.
The lounge was busy with just a few tables free. The rooms is split into three: to the right is a more relaxed seating area, with comfy chairs and a TV. The middle space contains the food buffet, and a long sharing table. There’s standard dining tables and seats to the left of the lounge, with a couple of sofas for larger groups.
It was a nicely designed exec lounge which could hold around forty at at push. The hard and soft drink options are self service. There’s also a coffee machine that you can use.
The food options were:
- Cold Options:
- Salmon with cream cheese
- Cheese board with crackers
- Vegetables and dips
- Hot Options:
- Pepperoni Pizza
- Vegetarian Samosa
Food options at the Hilton
On the ground floor, the super tall atrum, there’s the Oxbo. This is both a bar, sit-down restaurants and cafe. It looked like a real nice space, and had a pretty extensive and accessible menu. We flew in to Heathrow, and had eaten on the plane and in the lounge, so we opted for the executive lounge.
There’s also room service available 24 hours a day.
Checking out and re-entering the terminal
Leaving the Hilton was as easy as dropping off our keys into the box in reception. We had no extra room charges to pay for. Getting back to the main terminal was easy. Slightly easier than coming in as I think there’s a gradient on the walkway.
Final thoughts on the Hilton T4
A really solid option for an overnight stay at Heathrow. Pricing – for us at least – was at the lower end of mid-priced. Plenty of options for food and drink. And a check-in and check-out process that’s traveller-friendly (i.e. quick and easy). The best thing about this hotel is that there’s no shuttle bus or taxi needed. Just find your way to Terminal 4, then walk yourself to reception.
