Radisson RED London Heathrow

The hotel occupies part of what was previously the Park Inn by Radisson hotel. The Park Inn was a sprawling 895-room hotel that was starting to look a little dated but it was also one of the first hotels you see when you take the bus from Heathrow, which made it one of the more conveniently-located of the Bath Road hotels.

The Park Inn was due for refurbishment but rather than tidy it up a little, it was given a full overhaul and has now been split in two with part of the complex converted into the Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre London Heathrow and the other part reopened as a Radisson RED hotel.

With 258 guest rooms, the Radisson RED London Heathrow occupies around a third of the former Park Inn hotel. The rooms all have comfortable beds, a work desk, a flatscreen television, ironing facilities, tea and coffee making facilities and an en suite bathroom with a rainfall shower.

At 30m² (323 sq ft), rooms are more spacious than the Radisson that the hotel shares the same building with. Suites are larger still at 61m² (656 sq ft) and provide a few extra amenities including separate sleeping and living areas.

Guests staying in executive rooms and suites have access to an executive lounge where you can enjoy complimentary drinks and finger food between 6pm and 8pm.

Both hotels share the same reception area and most other public areas are also shared between the two hotels. This means that guests staying at the cheaper Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre side can enjoy the same swimming pool, sauna and fitness facilities that guests staying in the more expensive Radisson RED have access to. Some guests staying here may feel a little ripped off by this but the rooms are nicer if you’re staying in the Radisson RED.

The hotel’s Hope and Glory restaurant, which is also shared with the Radisson, is probably one of the nicer restaurants on Heathrow’s Bath Road hotel strip. It is a nice environment for a bite to eat and the food it s step up from your average chain hotel restaurant.

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

The Radisson RED is one of the more centrally-located of the hotels that line Bath Road but it is set back a fair distance from the road making it seem a little more remote than it actually is. There is a petrol station, an Italian restaurant and a couple of convenience stores nearby but for anything more than this you really need to hop on a bus to the airport terminal.

The closest bus stop is a five-minute walk from the hotel entrance with regular buses to the main Heathrow Bus Station near Terminals 2 and 3. Buses are frequent enough that you can usually count on getting from the hotel to Terminals 2 and 3 in around 10 minutes.

You can also take the Hotel Hoppa bus to the airport terminal but these are more expensive at £5.50 (£6 if you buy on board the bus) for a one-way trip and these buses run less frequently than the regular local buses. However, the Hotel Hoppa may be a better option if you are travelling with a lot of luggage as it will drop you off closer to the main entrance.

In summary, the Radisson RED London Heathrow is an improvement over the old Park Inn but the adjoining Radisson Hotel & Conference Centre offers much better value considering that guests staying there get to use the same public areas as the more expensive Radisson RED. Although it is convenient to Heathrow Terminals 2 and 3, it is still necessary to hop on a bus to get there.