Heavenly Heathrow (Travelodge Heathrow)

Member Name: kellylouj

Product:	Travelodge Heathrow
Date:	03/05/06 (1378 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Cheap rooms, comfortable, Clean

Disadvantages: Hard to get to from Heathrow

During my recent trip to New York our connecting flights to Manchester required us to have an overnight stay in London. Rather than travelling in to central london I decided to look for a hotel located close to the airport but also as cost effective as possible.

The flights and accommodation for New York had been booked since early 2005 so the hotel I have to admit was something I had forgotton to book so when it came to September and the balance for the hotel was due, so I decided to pay the balance and realised that I needed to book the hotel for our brief overnight stay.

Where to start I thought? So I went onto the Heathrow BAA website to try and find some hotels close to the hotel and as there was 4 of us we needed something within the budget and the hotels were coming out at £78.00 located within the airport, too expensive for me anyway so I decided to check out the old favourite the Travelodge.

~~*Making the Reservation*~~
I logged onto the website and typed in the area, Heathrow Heston popped up, I had never heard of Heston but it stated that it was just 0.7miles from Heathrow perfect. On the right hand side of the hotel page was an offer stating saver rooms for £26.00 andsupersaver rooms available for £10.00 perfect so I logged the dates that we required the rooms which was 5 December 2005, the super saver prices were available so I placed the two rooms in the basket to purchase. This allowed me to continue searching for alternative hotels that may be more suitable but after 5 minutes of searching I decided that the Heathrow Heston was the best hotel for us and went to the check-out.
I checked I had booked the correct date with the flight tickets and confirmed the number of rooms required. 2 family rooms non smoking. Total cost £10.00.

I reguarly book rooms with Travelodge on their website so I had a unique username and password which stored my personal details so all I had to enter was my form of payment which was a credit or debit card, there was no charge for using either card so I proceeded to enter my card details and confirmed that I wished to make the reservation. Once this was done I was provided with my reservation number and an email confirmation followed on shortly.

~~*Special Requests*~~
As with all travel lodge hotels you can make special requests at the time of your reservation, as there were 4 of us travelling I wanted to request two rooms that were located close together so I called through to the hotel and asked them to see if they could locate the rooms next to each other and to also advise them that due to our late international flight we would be arriving at the hotel later than the standard check-in times so of course we wanted to ensure that we did not lose our room, the staff were very helpful and said that they would do their best to accommodate our special requests.

~~*Getting to the Hotel*~~
I always panic about getting to the hotel in an unfamiliar area, so I decided to print off the directions from the AA to ensure that if we needed to get to the area I had the directions to get there. As we arrived in Heathrow there was a bit of confusion and I went to ask the information service if we could use the hotel shuttle bus which tickets could be bought on the bus, this took you to most of the surrounding areas. I was told that this travelodge was a drop off point so we proceeded outside to bus and was told by the conductor that this hotel was not serviced, great I thought, off I went to the information desk again and told them that I had been given the wrong information and they said that the hotel was not serviced by the shuttle service or even the taxi cab rank this is due to the fact that it is located on the motorway of the actual airport campus that it would cost us more to get a black cab as they would charge us for a 2-way journey and recommended that we call the local taxi company that would be half of the cost. The lady on the information desk provided me with a telephone number and off I went again to phone the taxi company and they told us where they would collect us and took my mobile number to call me once they arrived.
The fare cost us £14.00 and the journey took approximately 10 minutes.

~~*The Location*~~
Heathrow Heston is located between J2/3 M4 West and Eastbound. Make sure you know what side you are staying at as there is a Travelodge located on the Eastbound and Westbound and if you get dropped off at the wrong one you are responsible for getting over the other side of the motorway.

~~*Checking-in*~~
Check- in at the travelodge is 2pm although we arrived much later as our flight only landed in Heathrow at 8pm so I was glad that we had let the hotel know that we would be arriving later.
We arrived at the hotel and check-in was simple the rooms were reserved under my name and we just needed to check my personal details and sign the terms and conditions with the stay.
We were then provided with our keys and asked if we wished to purchase breakfast to which we replied with a united "No".
In the foyer was a leaflet stand with plenty of things to see and do during your stay in London and a vending machine offering food snacks and drink.
To access the bedrooms, you go straight ahead past the reception area through the door and the rooms are located to the left and the right, we were located on the bottom floor to the left which was just before another set of doors leading on to more rooms.

~~*The Room*~~
As I had stayed in Travel lodge hotels before I pretty much knew what to expect. We were booked into a family room which offere the following facilities:-

> King Size Double bed with quilt
> Ensuite bathroom with bath and overhead shower and toilet
> Direct Dial using your credit or debit card for payment
> Colour remote control television
> Tea and coffee making facilities
> 2 bath towels and a hand towel
> Complimentary soap and shower gel
> Sofa bed with pull out mattress
> Extra duvet, sheets and pillows

Advertised in the room and in reception is a breakfast bag which is £4.00 and in the bag is a banana, croissant, cereal complete with milk and spoon, orange juice and a large cup for you to take a cup of tea and coffee away with you from your room.

We never opted for this as we wanted to ensure that we had a good night's sleep without being woken up and thought by the time we checked out then we would be ready for lunch.

The hotel offered a peaceful stay there was no noise from the motorway and the guests were pretty quiet too considering the corridors are narrow and you can normally hear people talking as they pass your room, and if this did occur I must have been dead to the world as I was shattered.

The room was clean and comfortable and what more could you ask for, for the price of £10.00.

When it was time to check-out I noticed that the cost of the room should of been £ 54.95 so that was a real saving to get it for just £10.00.
All that was required at the check-out time of 11am was to drop your keys in reception and that was it your trip to the travel lodge was complete.

Heathrow Heston M4 Eastbound
M4 Motorway
Phoenix Way
Hounslow
Middlesex
TW5 9NA

This is located in the Moto Service area which offered a Burger King, Little Chef and a convenience store but this closed at 11pm.

For a short overnight stay this hotel is ideal if you are waiting for a connecting flight and you cannot go wrong for the price.

Summary: A bargain hotel.