Hotel for one overnight at Heathrow while on layover

do you know - or have a guess - which terminal you will arrive at from home?

About time you got this safari in. It was painful watching the last try.

Nigel, our flight to Heathrow will be on Delta and into Terminal 3.

I’ve heard good things about the new Hilton Garden Inn outside Terminal 2, I believe. It’s landside… you walk across an airport parking lot to reach it.

Consider the Premiere Inn near terminal 4 - an excellent hotel that we've used several times on our own layovers. Nothing fancy but it has everything you need - and for about one third the price of other places near the airport.
Getting there is pretty easy - use one of the mini cabs outside baggage claim for door to door service. For us, getting from the hotel to terminal 5 (or the reverse) cost less than GBP 15 and only took about 10 minutes. Using the free Heathrow Express underground train would be an option if you're traveling light, otherwise we usually prefer the mini cabs.

Geovagriffith…….I struggled with same issue…not knowing which terminal our departure flight would be leaving from….our flight is on American and until recently most if not all came and went from T3. That has changed since 3/27 and flights both ways are now split between T3 and T5. LAX, DFW, MIA & JFK will now use T5….. the remainder of AA flights will arrive and depart T3.

That said…..as of right now we are staying at LHR Sofitel just outside T5.

I also researched the Hilton Garden Inn at T 2 and T3…. As another option not knowing which terminal we would be departing from…the hotel is actually at T2 but there is a walkable underground tunnel to T3 from the hotel …..the hotel looks to have an indoor sky bar and restaurant as well.

I’m sure you aware of this but I’ll post anyway that there is a surcharge that can be over $1k when you use miles award on departure.

I was going to request upgrade with miles and cash for our departure home and in addition to the cash portion for that upgrade ….the Surcharge was $1600 per person….we declined to upgrade.

https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/lhrhegi-hilton-garden-inn-london-heathrow-terminals-2-and-3/

I might have suggested the Sheraton Heathrow but I think the other folks have given you choices that are closer given your preference for no taxi.

I know of the Sheraton Heathrow because I just organized a large conference there and without exception the staff were excellent.

If you don't want the hassle of having to take a bus, or the underground, or a cab, just book with the Hilton Garden Inn. It's only a few minutes walk.

Make sure it says "Heathrow Terminal 2 & 3 when you make the reservation. There is another Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow that would involve a ride on the Underground.

I have a reservation there for next week but just found out my flight will be arriving at Terminal 5 instead so I'm staying at the Sofitel.

For Chris:

I’m sure you aware of this but I’ll post anyway that there is a surcharge that can be over $1k when you use miles award on departure.

Let me guess, your flight back to the states is operated by British Airways. Their surcharges are ridiculous. I used to fly them but now stick to AA metal. I save about $600 doing that.

I've used the Premier Inn at T4 (previously mentioned) several times. The rate can be stunningly low--think 50-60 GBP. It's a relatively new hotel; there's nothing in the world wrong with it. It's quite large, and I guess they've had trouble keeping the occupancy level up where they want it to be. The hotel has been closed since early in the pandemic. The pandemic shut down T4, so there wasn't a great deal of demand for a hotel at that terminal, and the hotel was closed the last time I looked.

I've always just used the free airport transportation to get to T4. The hotel is a bit of a walk (indoors) once you get to T4, but as long as you have wheeled luggage and no particular mobility issues, it should be fine.

I hate paying airport-hotel rates, but if the T4 Premier Inn is open by the time of your trip, you don't need to. I just checked, and it appears they do plan to reopen that hotel before August. I was able pull up a rate for the night of August 1: 59 GBP, cancellable until 1 PM on the day of arrival. There are lower rates with less flexibility.

In the past this hotel was massively cheaper than other on-airport options every time I checked, but it's a different world at the moment, so it's possible there are additional possibilities at a good price point.

Terminal 4 and associated rail/underground links probably will be open again by August although a firm date has not been published yet.

Personally I quite like the Hilton at Hatton Cross which I consider better and is usually significantly cheaper than the one at T2, although of course you aren't on site.

FrankII….actually ……our RT is on American and when I was discussing an upgrade with cash and mileage she apprised me of the $1600 surcharge.

It’s insane!

I also looked into this for a May trip. Right now the only ones that don’t require a taxi/Uber or bus are the HGI at T 2/3 and the Sofitel at T5. I’ve stayed at that HGI and it’s fine. Room was sort of corporate cookie cutter ikea like sterile but fine. The Hilton at T4 was pretty nice but as indicated above that terminal is closed at this time

With an early arrival have you decided what to do before the usual 3pm check in time? You could hope that a room is ready. Or the only way that I know of to guarantee getting in early is to book the room for 2 nights . Do make sure to let the hotel know you will be arriving early the next morning.

My flight is scheduled to get in around noon. I plan to head into London for a few hours. Walk around to help with jet lag, get a SIM card and have a nice early dinner. So even though I like to accumulate Hilton points I went with the Sofitel. It was just a little bit more expensive. And the restaurant is supposed to be good. In case my flight is delayed I can scrap plans for London and just eat there.. all the to and fro trips getting to an off airport hotel were just too cumbersome for me. Especially on a tired jet lagged first day.

For off airport hotels you can check booking.com. There are many along bath road. I was looking at the Hyatt place and the Courtyard Marriott. Both get good reviews. For my dates the courtyard was about half the price of the Sofitel.

Yes, the surcharge for this trip will be about $450 for two.

Chris, you didn't mention an upgrade. You just said a surcharge. And BA charges a large surcharge for just using miles. Of course an upgrade is going to cost more.

We found good flights and decided to stay in Amsterdam instead of London.

I think the surcharges are because it's Heathrow and the airlines pass the costs along