Crowne Plaza London Heathrow T4

The hotel is in a large eight-storey building shared with the (cheaper) Holiday Inn Express hotel and it is within walking distance to Heathrow Terminal 4. The adjoining hotel is around £35 cheaper per night and guests staying there have access to most facilities at the Crowne Plaza with the exception of the gym. Likewise, guests staying at the Crowne Plaza have access to the public areas at the Holiday Inn Express including its bar and restaurant.

All rooms have comfortable beds, a work desk, a flat-screen television, tea and coffee making facilities and en suite bathrooms. The hotel’s business rooms (which cost around £20 more) also have Nespresso coffee machines and a wireless speaker system. Four of the rooms are set up for guests who need wheelchair access.

Although the rooms in the adjoining Holiday Inn Express are quite nice considering how much cheaper they are, the Crowne Plaza is a step above with much nicer rooms, better bars and restaurants and simply more attention to detail. For instance, the work desk in your room is miles ahead of what you get at the Holiday Inn Express and it may be worth paying the extra to stay here if you are travelling for business and need a productive environment to get lots of work done.

The hotel has several in-house bars and restaurants including the Urban Brasserie, which is surprisingly good for a restaurant inside an airport hotel. There is also a nice cafe with a really good selection of cakes and the Destinations Bar is a great spot for a drink even though it lacks the atmosphere of a proper pub. Room service is available 24 hours.

There is a business centre that is open 24 hours, which is ideal for business travellers who may need to print or scan documents. This also comes in handy for travellers who simply need to print out their tickets and boarding passes. Guests at the Crowne Plaza also have access to the gym in the basement, which is also open 24 hours.

Free Wi-Fi wireless internet access is available throughout the hotel.

Most Heathrow Airport hotels are located far enough away from the airport that you need to catch a bus but this hotel (and a handful of others near Terminal 4) is an easy walk to the airport terminal. Access is via an elevated covered walkway from the departures level at Terminal 4 (this walkway also goes to the Hilton and Premier Inn hotels).

The location is perfect if you’re flying in or out of Terminal 4 and the close proximity to the terminal combined with free train and tube connections with Terminals 2, 3 and 5 mean that it is worth considering this hotel even if you’re flying from a different terminal. With direct trains linking Terminal 4 with Paddington railway station in Central London (with a 35-minute journey time), it is even worth considering this hotel as a better value alternative to more pricey hotels in the city centre.

An on-site car park is available but it will cost you £20 per day.