After spending a few days at the London Marriott Hotel Maida Vale (trip report), we spent our last night in the UK at the Holiday Inn Express London – Heathrow T5, mostly to avoid an additional night of central London hotel prices.

Lobby of the Holiday Inn Express London Heathrow T5. Photo from ihg.com

Location: This hotel is located in Slough, a town just west of Heathrow Airport. It was a bit of a trek from our hotel in London – we had to take the Underground to Paddington Station, then paid £9.20 each to go one stop to Slough on a Great Western Railway train, then took a double decker bus about 20 minutes from the Slough railway station to this hotel. It’s located just off the M5 highway next to a water reservoir (not exactly an exciting location), and about 5 miles from the western edge of Heathrow airport.

To get between the hotel and the airport, you can either take the National Express Hotel Hoppa (£4.50 if bought in advance or £5 on board) or the Slough 7 bus (£4.20), which stops around the corner from the hotel. We opted for the local bus, not knowing how expensive it was (the fares weren’t posted at the bus stop and I could only find pricing for multi-trip passes on their website) or that they don’t take Oyster cards. We only had £5 in cash, but luckily the driver took pity on us and charged us the normal fare of £2.40 instead of the more expensive Heathrow fare.

Checkin/Checkout: Checkin was quick and painless; they had an express checkout box, so I just dropped our keys in it on our way out the door.

Room: The room was pretty straightforward – one queen size bed, a desk, two side tables, an electric tea kettle, and a bathroom. The walls were a bit thin – we could hear children playing in the evening, and in the morning one of our neighbors was having some kind of argument that involved shouting and slamming doors.

Internet: The hotel offered basic internet for free, but it was too slow for anything more than basic browsing, so I paid £5 for a 24-hour premium wifi pass. The wifi registration page said to talk to the front desk about discounts for multi-day passes.

Food: The hotel offered a decent continental breakfast – croissants and pain au chocolat, eggs and baked beans, cereal, yogurt, and fruit. There is a 24 hour gas station with a Marks and Spencer’s grocery store across the street, but my room didn’t have a refrigerator or microwave. There is also a bar/lounge in the lobby, as well as an Italian restaurant that’s open for dinner.

Service: We had little interaction with the staff, but what we did have was polite and efficient.

Verdict: An inexpensive and perfectly serviceable hotel with relatively convenient access to Heathrow. Would recommend for a one night stay before or after a flight, though for an overnight layover you may want to consider closer options.

Have you stayed at this hotel recently? What was your experience? If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. Cheers everyone!

P.S. The next stop on our big winter trip was Cancun, Mexico.  Stay tuned for the next part of my trip report.  Adios amigos!