Summary
London Heathrow Airport has many hotels dotted around the perimeter and various terminals areas, and some offer fantastic opportunities for spotting (especially the Renaissance and Premier Inn T4).
Martin Dennett recently stayed in the Premier Inn T5 on the northern perimeter road and sent in this report:
I stayed at the Premier Inn T5 for the first time recently. I requested a “Room with a view” from their website which guarantees you a top floor room overlooking the airport. The one I received overlooked the threshold of runway 09L which was perfect as they were using this direction the whole time I was there. And of course, the bonus is that when easterlies are in use, there’s no 15:00 changeover between runways, so 09L is used for landings all day.
The Room
This was a typical Premier Inn room with one slight exception – you get a mini fridge, so it’s ideal if you take your own drinks into the room.
The room is completely soundproof. I mean, completely! Google Earth indicates that it’s 515 yards to the centreline and you can’t hear a thing! That’s good in as much as you won’t get woken up by the very early arrivals, but bad because if for some reason you just happen to look away, it’s only when you look on Flightradar24 that you realise you’ve missed something!
Talking of FR24, even with the Premier Inn Ultimate WiFi, which is included in the cost of the room, there seems to be a delay between the screen and real life. I’d occasionally miss stuff because I was watching the screen only to see the icon suddenly jump from being just before the threshold to being on the taxiway a mile and a half away! There would also be some aircraft that didn’t ping at all on approach. I had to check the arrival board to log the Bangladesh Dreamliner that I watched land but which most definitely hadn’t shown on screen!
There’s a restaurant on-site as per the majority of Premier Inns and also a bar (£6.85 for a pint of Stella!) plus a Costa Coffee franchise which sells hot & cold food. I chose the meal deal which gives you breakfast (unlimited) and dinner. There was a good selection at both meals. If you sit by the window you can still see the aircraft but they’re partly obscured by trees. For the less discerning guest there’s a McD’s right next door (left out of the hotel and a 200 yard walk) and a petrol station with the obligatory forecourt shop selling all the usual stuff.
Getting There
The hotel’s address is 420 Bath Rd, Longford, West Drayton UB7 0EA.
There’s (expensive) on-site parking – I think it was £18 for 24 hours.
I travelled by train / underground. You catch the 423 bus from stand 6 underneath the terminal and it’s a 10-minute ride to the hotel. The bus stop is directly outside for inbound and outbound.
Views & Photography
Photography from the Premier Inn T5 would be a no-no. There’s too much glass, none of which opens even slightly. So this makes it really difficult to get a good shot, even with a long lens.
In terms of movements, however, you can see them all – particularly on the nearest runway.
Our thanks to Martin Dennett for this report.
Have you stayed in the Premier Inn T5? What were your experiences? Leave a comment below!
