A good choice!

Stayed at the Le Meridien for one night (21/04/04). This is an excellent hotel which is hard to fault. The staff were lovely, the room was a good size and was decorated to an immaculate standard. Cleanliness was top notch and the room was very comfortable. The only fault i could find with the room was that the bathroom was quite small although again decorated to an excellent standard. The cost of a taxi from the terminals may surprise some since it did cost £8 to get to terminal 2 for my very early morning departure, but if you are travelling between the hotel and the terminals in the daytime there are cheap hopper buses. Even better, there are also local buses which are free providing you do not leave the Heathrow airport area, i believe from terminal 2 bus station i got the number 106 which stopped right next to the hotel and only took about 5 minutes, at the cost of £0 i was very impressed. The leisure facilities at this hotel are good, the pool and spa bath both a reasonable size even if the gym is a bit on the small side and may not satisfy those enthusiasts who expect a good range of equipment. The restaurant was nice, a cavery style meal was served, the service was average and the quality of the food was good. One annoying aspect of my stay was that the room was fitted with a black-out roller blind to aid an excellent night's sleep. A great idea! Unfortunately that was ruined by the level of noise being created by the mini-bar fridge every five minutes. Incidentally the fridge was completely empty containing only a note to inform guests to ring room service should they require a drink! A word of advice, ask for the fridge to be removed before getting your head down if you want a good nights sleep, unplugging it was not an option since the plug was out of reach behind the fridge which appeared to be fixed in place. Apart from that i had a great stay and will definitely stay again next time i fly from Heathrow.

Very good deal

I stayed at Le Meridien before catching an early morning connecting flight. The hotel is nicely designed, but beware, it is a deceivingly long hotel. I checked in at 8pm without delay and then started my "hike" to my room. No doormen seemed to be on duty and I wasn't warned of the distance. Being young and fit it wasn't a problem, but after a day-long flight I was not in the mood for a long walk (at least 300m).

I got to the room only to find it completely unmade, towels on the floor, food on the desk. My attempt to tell the cleaning staff (Russian or Bulgarian) about the room only resulted in her confirmation that, "Yes, this your room.". Finally, after calling the front desk they asked me to hike back down and get a new key. I protested, it now being 8:20pm, and they allowed me to visit their Airline Express Desk one floor below.

After finally getting a room I was very happy. The layout is nice and clean and the bed was wonderful. Some aspects are too modern, I couldn't figure out how to turn the tv or radio on and the lights are controlled by ESP. All in all it was very nice and would like to stay again when I have more than 10 hours to spare.

Over Rated

I stayed at the Meridien Heathrow on 23 & 24 October 2003. My wife and I had two rooms, one double and a triple for our two daughters and their friend who was flying out the next morning. I felt the rooms were very 'basic' for the very high price and the triple room was a joke!

The third bed was a 'put-me-up' 'Z' type fold away, (which we were unaware of). My youngest daughter is 16 and almost 6feet tall so had a very bad night. The parking was practically non existent and the staff bordering on sullen with basic courtesy. The ONLY good part was the excellent buffet dinner - a 'must have' as you can eat as much as you want. Very handy for the Airport, although I would not stay there again!

Caution here...

A Hotel of two halves... The modern Executive wing is excellent with large stylish rooms, aircon, good sound proofing, good bathrooms. The original part of the hotel that holds the standard rooms, which are small, with no aircon, poor sound proofing, small bathroom. It can seem a long way to the standard bedrooms. Staff are, in the main, friendly and helpful, with the odd exception. Breakfast is buffet style and unlimited, some items cooked to order. Parking can be difficult. It is sometimes possible to upgrade from a standard room to an executive room for around £20.00- well worth it.

Great room good service great value

I needed a hotel for a quick stay at Heathrow before leaving the next morning on a connecting flight. The Meridien has very comfortable rooms, with all amenities and extremely comfortables beds. The desk service was great, but the bell hop service lagged. The hotel is long, so if you have bags you should inquire as to the room location, mine was at least 400 meters from the desk. I only had bar food as the restaurant is not an easy find, down a long corridor I didn't notice until I had coffee the next morning.

The biggest problem was that my room was not made up, opening the door I found dirty towels in the bathroom, an unmade bed, and the food trays still on the desk. The maid next door only confirmed that it was my room, but made no effort to help (Russian or Bulgarian). A call to the front desk only left me waiting for 10 minutes until I called again, they asked that I return to the desk (400 meters remember). I said no that they should have somebody bring me a new room key to which they said I could use their courtesy desk for airline employees one floor below (50 meter walk).

Aside from that it is a very pleasant hotel and would highly recommend it.

Perfect

This was my first stay at an airport hotel and it was fantastic. I was upgraded to one of the executive rooms overlooking the runway!!!

Massive bed with duvets, box of chocs, games console, mini bar, sofa, and the best breakfast i have ever had in a hotel - after stuffing myself silly at 6.30am i was walking out of the restaurant and saw the waffle machine - perfect. The staff were all fantastic and attentive - the bar staff were even remembering my drinks after an hour in a really busy bar. Lets hope the Crowne Plaza is just as good as my company have booked me there next week.

Close to airport

I stayed at Le Meridien Heathrow as we had a 10am flight and thought a hotel close by would cut down on the usual panic. The hotel itself was nice. Rooms were the same as any other chain hotel and at GBP75 not a bad price for an airport hotel. Breakfast was pricey as somebody already mentioned.

We phoned down to have our bags taken to reception at 7.30am. After a 15min wait we decided just to bring them down ourselves. Checked out quickly and was told the 'airport shuttle bus' would be along at 8am so we bought our tickets and waited. 8am came and went, as did 8.15 and then 8.30. Each time we asked we were told the bus was on it's way. We were just about to order a taxi (everyone was fed up waiting for the bus so there was a queue for taxis too or we would have gotten one earlier). Bus eventually turned up at 8.45am, got us to our terminal eventually at 9am and the rest of the check-in and security process was the usual panic. Not quite what I had in mind after paying so much to stay close to the hotel. Hotel was fine but don't rely on the bus service to get you to the airport.

Stylish!

I stayed here, on busines, for 1 night this week. Agreed, The hotel is not cheap, so the previous reviewer is correct to an extent, however, maybe unlike in the USA, over here, my experience tells me you get what you pay for. The Hotel cost my Co £89 room only, and yes the breakfast is an extortionate amount (16 quid for a full monty fry-up and 14 quid for the "continental), i had mine on room service and it was bang on time. You cannot fault the size/quality of the rooms either, the place has obviously been refurbed recently, and the results are superb (if you like this kind of thing - which i do), white, modern minimalist, chrome, beech woods, clean, bright and a very comfortable large bed, excellant wc/bath, room safe, fridge, sat tv (with games console) etc etc. busy hotel as well, it has contracts with airline crews who use it (Cathay Pacific were there in numbers on the night i was there). I have stayed at other hotels on the Bath Road Heathrow and for me this is better, certainly better than the Renaissance, which is about the same money but smaller and more 'stayed' rooms. Oh and in my room , you couldnt hear the planes!

Nick

Nice looking hotel - horrible in every other way

After traveling on business on a "start-up" budget, I learned that there seems to be a lot of hotels in the UK at the 65-85 pound range, then it shoots up to 150-299 pound range. Everyone loves a gorgeous hotel (which Le Meridien is *not*) - but let's be honest, you really need a comfy bed, control of the heater, a good comforter, and hot water. When in the UK add breaky. When I checked in, I asked at Le Meridien front desk if breakfast was included they told me yes. What they failed to tell me was that it was included for an additional $29.75! That's a little over the top for 2 poached eggs, toast, and yoghurt with honey. Additionally, the long distance rates were obscene! For example: I stayed at the Morgan hotel in London. Although the décor was not to my liking and my room a tiny I would definitely stay there again. The breakfast (which was, unlike Le Meridien, included) was excellent! The windows had double-paned glass. The heater worked like a charm. There was hot water at all times. The owners were really, really great. And Ive been told by the proprietor, that they are remodeling this winter (2003). I stayed there for 3 nights at 85 pounds per night, one night a flat, and two nights in a single room (which the owner corrected referred to as a cupboard but was more comfy for me than the flat). I made phone calls back to the US every night for about 45 minutes to an hour *each night* from the Morgan Hotel. The entire stay cost me about $450. The Le Meridien total bill for one night lodging at 65 pounds, breakfast (noted above), and ONE 20 MINUTE PHONE CALL to the US cost me $300. I attempted to discuss the gross inaccuracies of the bill (which Ive never done before), but to no avail. You do the math. The room wasnt much bigger either. Do not stay at this hotel if you are on a budget or want value for your dollar. If you have enough money to through into the toilet and dont mind staying at a poorly run hotel, this is the place for you.

Close to Heathrow

While the appearance and room size was not necessarily at the same standard as other Le Meridien's, the website pricing offer (about GBP75 VAT incl.), friendly staff and airport proximity contributed to a pleasant overnight stay before an early morning flight. For an afternoon flight, I would recommend staying downtown given the easy commute by express train or tube.