LOCATION

This Hotel has recently changed its name from the Slough/Windsor Marriot to the Heathrow/Windsor Marriot - but despite this name change it remains in Slough! In terms of scenery and the local area this hotel isn't very well located - you are surrounded by motorway and residential main roads. The hotel is an ugly building, and unfortunately blends into the area well. I don't think this would put off any visitors however, because this hotel is really well situated for convenient access to loads of places, mainly Heathrow Airport. The location has excellent potential for being noisy - being right under Heathrow's flight path and adjacent to the M4, but I have never had a problem with this.

If you don't stay for Heathrow you might be staying for the handy proximity to a number other attractions. Nearby attractions are Windsor, Legoland, Chessington, Thorpe Park, and Ascot Racecourse. This hotel can be booked as part of the Legoland package deal. When Legoland is open during the spring-summer it's important to bear in mind the impact this has on the hotel clientele - i.e. there are loads of kids about. If you're travelling with family then this might really suit you - you can relax and let the kids enjoy themselves knowing they aren't disturbing people - but if you are childless it isn't exactly relaxing! You also have to book to use the pool during these busy times - and it will be full of children!

GENERAL HOTEL

The lobby is modern and welcoming - the check in desk is fairly large, and the staff always seem to be on top of serving customers even when it is busy. There are plenty of sofa areas, and a nice space for plugging in your laptop and getting on with some work. I haven't tried the Concierge, but someone seems to be available most times I have walked past the desk. They could do with some extra lifts, as the two that they have are busy and slow. The hotel layout is a bit of a rabbit warren -you may end up touring the corridors to get to your room.

ROOMS

The bedrooms are newly decorated in a modern style, which I don't think is particularly stylish, but it looks decent enough and does the job. There are nice, modern photos of Windsor Castle on the walls to give a bit of local flavour. The rooms are clean and well kept - as is the rest of hotel. All the rooms I have stayed in have 2 double beds - although other room types are available. The beds are a bit small for my taste in a hotel (I have been spoilt by too many US hotels) but the Egyptian cotton linen is nice, and I got a good nights sleep. There is a desk/dressing table in the rooms, and a table and two lounge chairs - this is all a bit crammed in, but serves it's purpose. Large mirrored wardrobes are nice, and there is a decent selection of lamps and lights. The air conditioning is a bit noisy - but I've been in hotels where the noise levels are worse. You can control the temp yourself easily. The rooms are OK, nothing special and quite small for an out of town hotel.

All the usual in-room facilities e.g.:
Coffee / Tea - and some decent wine glasses - better than the plastic cups you often get
Iron and ironing board in the wardrobe
Safe
Trouser press
Hair dryer - this is useless!
Mini-bar - with a fairly decent choice

The in room entertainment is rubbish! The TV is old fashioned - I though that these would have been replaced as part of a £5mil refurbishment. On my most recent stay my TV only had about 5 channels (plus pay for view). These didn't include BBC 1 or 2 or channel 4. I probably could have complained and got some better channels tuned in - but as I wasn't sitting in the room it wasn't really a big deal for me.

BATHROOM

The bathroom is fine - nothing special, but everything you would expect. A decent selection of towels is provided. Unfortunately there was no conditioner provided (I bring my own but this remains my pet hate). There was shampoo, soap, shower gel and a shower cap, the made for Marriot 'brand' which is OK.

LEISURE FACILITIES

The hotel has a good nice leisure area including an indoor pool, sauna, steam room, tennis courts and extensive fitness centre/ gym. The pool is fairly small and un-naturally shallow. It was a bit disappointing as it's not really built for serious swimming, due to the length and depth, but it was too cold for lounging about it. The sauna and steam room were small but decent.

The gym has an excellent range of up to date equipment. The entertainment in there was a bit outdated - but fine for a hotel stay. Changing rooms have obviously been recently refurbished and are excellent - the showers and hairdryers are better than those in the rooms, so you may as well use them after your workout. The showers also have conditioner in them, which you don't get in the rooms. There are towels available so that you don't have to use the room ones, but they are very small - ask for at least two.

DINING

There are 3 places to eat in the hotel - plus the room service menu.

The main restaurant is the Brasserie Centrale - Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. The breakfast is more than adequate. Plenty of items available, all the usual cooked bits and pieces, cereal, juices, fruit, toast and so on. There aren't any cakes and pastries provided which is a bit of a shame. The restaurant has an a la carte menu and serves a 'carvery' menu at dinner for £24. This includes a salad / soup starter, and a range of about 4 meat/fish mains, plus veg. The desert selection is varied and fairly large. You can eat as much as you want and quality is nice for the price. Service in the restaurant in the evening was excellent - poorer at breakfast time, but still more than adequate.

Chats Bar serves a bar menu - haven't tried the food - but plenty of people seem to eat in the bar throughout the day and evening, in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.

Pizza da Marco is a pizza restaurant open for dinner. Haven't tasted the Pizza's but you can see them being cooked in pizza ovens in the main carvery area. They look fresh and tasty and are served in an informal but stylish area of the restaurant.

If you want a cheaper option than the hotel food there is a Toby Carvery on the other side of the road, or a Harvester a bit further down - Less than 5 minutes walk.


BAR

Chats bar is a decent hotel bar. Nice soft seats and a comfortable, open plan surrounding. You can be served at the table, and prices are reasonable (about £4 for a single spirit and mixer). No music and two TV screens (showing the inevitable sports) but without the sound.

TRANSPORT

As I've said this is really well located for the M4, just off junction 5, so perfect for travelling by car. There is a good-sized car park so you should have no trouble getting a space. You do have to pay extra for parking - £1 per hour or £8 for the day. You can also "Park and Fly" from this hotel - where you leave your car parked for up to 14 days while you go and enjoy your holiday - so it's a good value choice if you have an early Heathrow flight. The Hotel Hoppa gets you to the airport in 10 minutes for 4 quid each way. About 20 minutes by train to London, but you'll have to make it to the station too.

COST

The List Price for this hotel is about £200 a night. But you can get a room here at the moment for about £140/150 a night on weeknights and £70/80 on weekends. The weekend prices are excellent value, and you can often get even better deals on this hotel as part of packages, so it's definitely worth a bit of research.

THE DETAILS

Heathrow/Windsor Marriott Hotel
Ditton Road, Langley
Slough, SL3 8PT United Kingdom
Phone: 44 1753 544244
Fax: 44 1753 540272
Sales: 44 1753 544244
Sales Fax: 44 1753 540272

371 rooms

Check-In is 2:00 pm but I have been able to check-in early each time I have stayed with no problems. Check-Out is 12:00 pm - so there's no need to rush out in the morning.

SUMMARY

The highlight of this hotel is really its convenient location. It is fairly unremarkable, but if you are using Heathrow or visiting the local attractions and want a nice hotel to stay in then you will be more than happy here.

London is 18 miles away, and you do get a fair few business travellers staying here, but I suspect most are using the airport, as I don't think this is a very handy airport for central London.