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The Hilton Garden Inn at Heathrow could not be described as the most appealing hotel from the outside. It is about a ten minute walk from Hatton Cross Underground station or you can transfer from one of the terminals using the outrageously priced Hotel Hoppa buses – £4.50 per person, one way.
The hotel is located on the Terminal 4 side and so it not within easy reach of any terminals by public buses.
The reception, however, once you are inside is a pleasure. Light, bright and airy since the remodel by Hilton. It used to be a Jurys Inn.
The property is in Category 4 for HHonors Redemptions, but can often be secure for about £60-£70, especially during Hilton sales.
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The Reception desk was manned when I arrived, and I was told that I had a room on the 5th floor. They only seem to have two room types, but for a short, one night stay I was not too worried. As a Hilton Diamond member I was offered a choice of breakfast or HHonors points. I was also given a voucher for two bottles of water from the small shop that they have in the lobby, opposite the check-in desks. You can do online check-in using the HHonors app.
My room was pleasant:
The WiFi was free, and whilst small, everything I needed was there. Plenty of plugs on the desk, a flat screen TV, a choice of pillows and sound proofed windows. Tea and Coffee making facilities were provided.
The bathroom had been adapted for people with disabilities as you can see:
There we a reasonable number of towels but no bathrobe. The bath was quite narrow I found when I used it the next morning.
The hotel does have room service, although I thought it pretty expensive for a modest hotel such as this. The burger, dessert and drink was over £20 with the tray charge and tip.
I did sleep well on the firm mattress and woke ready for my trip the next day.
I had to hang around at check-in as the small number of staff on duty were dealing with things in the back office when I came down. There is a ticket machine to pay for the Hotel Hoppa ticket in the lobby. (Card or Cash, and the machine does supply change if needed). The bus turned up on time, having already picked up from the other hotel it served. It goes to Terminal 5, via Terminal 4 and so takes about 20 minutes. It deposits you on the bottom of T5, so you need to get a lift to departures.
There are actually a couple of free buses that will drop you right outside but they aren’t widely known about.
Heathrow has a free travel zone for buses around the area. It’s very useful for the hotels along Bath Road. The airport doesn’t really publicise these routes. Still, many people know about the free buses along Bath Road, but not about the ones that travel to the south of the airport.
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
The 423 journey is obviously longer but you could hop on the Heathrow Express from T5 to Heathrow Central and catch the 285 bus from there.
I forgot to add the bus map for free travel within the Heathrow area:
http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Company/Static/PDF/Heathrowcommuter/travel_around_Heathrow.pdf
Didn’t know this – will bear it in mind! Last time around we stayed at Holiday Inn Express (NW from T5) and wife & I just took an uber – £8 and fast vs same cost for 2 bus tix and a much slower journey.
And you could arguably use the free buses that travel south from T5 but you’d have to get off at Hatton Cross and walk.
Surely as a Diamond HHonors member, you should receive points AND free breakfast? I stayed there a few months ago, and I’d agree with your review, it was much better than I expected having stayed there when it was a Jury’s Inn. I would agree on the food being “optimistically” priced, but that’s standard Hilton price policy I tend to find. Some additional detail is that they have a fairly small fitness room with a couple of treadmills and cross trainers, some torture device with weights and wires in the corner and a stack of free weights. More than 3 people in there and it feel crowded, but everything was in excellent condition and you can watch planes approaching from the East from the treadmill.
Ian – your point about Diamond members is right in relation to standard Hilton hotels (1,000 points AND free breakfast, unlike Gold which requires you to choose between them).
However, Hilton Garden Inn is slightly different for Diamond members, offering:
750 HHonors Bonus Points per stay OR a complimentary Hot Cooked-to-Order Breakfast for you and up to one additional guest registered to the same room each day of your stay
So you are relegated to needing to choose, like the riff raff Gold members 🙂