Airport hotels meet the basic travelers need and get them on their way without any extra thrills. This has been my experience with most hotels located within any airport vicinity and this is the case with the Hilton at London Heathrow T4. The airport is comfortable with small rooms, offering basic necessity, but isn’t anything over the top or worth visiting unless you have a short overnight at LHR and wants to sleep between flights.
I landed at LHR around 930pm and had an early departure the following day, so I opted to cash in 44,000 HHonors points (they were having a sale, usual 50,000 points) for a room. The hotel is connected by a skybridge to T4 and would allow for easy access to the airport in the morning. I used the free train between terminals and then walked to the hotel, thus saving 5 quid, but took slightly more time than the airport bus.
Check in was quick and I was on my way to my room after a quick stop by the restaurant for a quick bite to eat. I hadn’t eaten on my flight from Tel Aviv because my vegetarian meal was not loaded on the plane and the FAs refused to provide me with a salad from business class; so by this point I was very hungry. The restaurant was alright, but nothing better than any other casual dinner so I won’t go into details. The executive lounge was still open when I had arrived, but snack and drink service had ended so only water, soda, and computers were available to use. I took my meal to my room and went to sleep.
Executive Lounge Pictures @ Breakfast
The room was extremely small but offered all the basic necessities. The full size bed took up the majority of the room and the bathroom was small, but then again this was an airport hotel. The room was equipped with bathrobes and slippers, but I opted not to use them. After eating my meal, I quickly fell asleep and in the morning I checked out the gym and executive lounge again.
The gym was quite big, but did not snap any pictures as there were many people working out. The Airport Hilton gym has more equipment than most hotel gyms. I did not get a chance to see the pool, but there appeared to be a pool and spa with complimentary access to the sauna and team room attached. Back upstairs in the executive lounge, the lounge offered boiled eggs, breads, breakfast pastries, some fresh fruit, and typical English breakfast options such as tomatoes and beans. Not really feeling the breakfast options, I opted for an espresso and a boiled egg and headed towards the airport.
The hotels is a modern, has a beautiful atrium, and many options for dining and can keep a business traveler occupied on lay overs. However, if visiting London, I would not recommend this hotel as its primary purpose is for people with layovers and flight crews. I noticed the reception area was mainly pilots and cabin crew. In addition, I am not a fan of the set-up of this hotel as ½ the rooms face the outside of the building and the other ½ face the large atrium/lobby. Meaning if there’s a loud party in the bar, one’s sleep may suffer.
The Hilton at Terminal 4 is functional and nice for what it is, but rooms are small and cramped and rooms that face the lobby are less than ideal. Unless you are just spending the night between flights, I would highly suggest looking at other hotel options.
