I had a quick overnight at Heathrow Airport, as I arrived shortly before 9PM, while my flight the next morning was before 7AM. I was lucky in the sense that both my arriving and departing flights were out of Terminal 2, so this presented a great opportunity to review the (fairly) new Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminal 2.

Most Heathrow Airport hotels aren’t actually connected to terminals, so anytime you can stay in a hotel connected to the terminal you’re flying into and/or out of, it’s worth the premium, in my opinion. Some of the other hotels connected to terminals include the Hilton Terminal 4, Premier Inn Terminal 4, and Sofitel Terminal 5.

Booking The Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow

The Heathrow properties connected to the terminals can command a premium, and the Hilton Garden Inn is no exception. The rate for my one night stay was either ~140GBP (~180USD) or 35,000 Honors points for a free night award.

I ended up redeeming points for my stay — while it was more or less a breakeven redemption (given my valuation of Hilton Honors points), I have a lot of Hilton Honors points, so I figured I might as well.

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminal 2 Review

Admittedly I didn’t get to check out that many features of the hotel since I mostly just worked from my room and slept, though I’ll talk about the check-in experience, my room, the gym, and my weird picture taking experience.

Getting To The Hilton Garden Inn

Upon exiting Heathrow Terminal 2 on the arrivals level I just walked straight ahead…

Heathrow Terminal 2

There I saw signage for the Hilton Garden Inn, which pointed into the parking garage.

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow signage

Fortunately it’s just a very short walk, and at the end of the parking garage is a sign for the Hilton Garden Inn.


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow entrance

Then you just have to walk down a hallway…


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow entryway

…and then you’ll find yourself in the lobby.


Hilton Garden Inn lobby Heathrow Terminal 2

The location really can’t be beat if arriving or departing from Terminal 2. There’s also a covered walkway from the hotel to Terminal 3, though it’s my understanding that the walk is a bit longer.

Hilton Garden Inn Check-In & Lobby

The Hilton Garden Inn has a pretty nice lobby, with plenty of seating, including chairs and couches. The check-in area is at the back of the lobby, and there are four separate podiums.


Hilton Garden Inn lobby Heathrow Terminal 2


Hilton Garden Inn lobby Heathrow Terminal 2

Since a Hilton Garden Inn is (technically) a limited service property, there’s an area where you can buy drinks and snacks, which I always appreciate, since sometimes I want a snack or drink to take to my room, but don’t want a full meal in the restaurant or from room service.


Hilton Garden Inn lobby Heathrow Terminal 2

There was a short wait at check-in, though I was helped soon enough. The lady checking me in was extremely efficient and not very friendly, which I almost appreciated, since it was late at night and I just wanted to sleep.

She informed me I had been upgraded (I’m a Hilton Honors Diamond member), and asked what time I was checking out. That was the extent of our communication.

With a key in hand I headed to the elevators, located just behind reception. Reception is located on the second floor, while my room was on the seventh floor.


Hilton Garden Inn elevators

The hallways felt fresh and modern. Once outside the elevator I walked down the hall, and my room was a ways down on the right.


Hilton Garden Inn hallway

Hilton Garden Inn Room

I was assigned room 7006, and I’m not exactly sure what kind of a room this was. Online my reservation showed as being for a high floor king runway view room, though I feel like my room was significantly bigger, so maybe it was a junior suite? But it also doesn’t match the junior suite pictures I see on their website…

Hilton Garden Inn room exterior

Anyway, the room was quite large, and had a dining table with one chair, a desk and a wall-mounted TV, a large loveseat, and a king bed.

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room

While the mattress was on the hard side, I liked the pillows.


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room

At the desk was a mini-fridge, as well as a kettle with coffee and tea, as well as two bottles of complimentarty water.


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow in-room coffee & tea


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow king room

Back on the wall towards the entrance was a luggage rack and an exposed place to hang clothes.


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow closet

The bathroom was also back towards the entrance, and had a sink, toilet, and walk-in shower. My only complaint about the shower is that the controls were hard to access without getting in.


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow bathroom


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow toilet


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow shower

Toiletries were from Crabtree & Evelyn.

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow toiletries

I think my room had a runway view room (or something), though I couldn’t actually tell because it was dark for my entire stay, and they also had double pane windows that were spaced out — this meant the sound insulation was excellent, but it also meant you could barely look outside at night due to the glare.

While I didn’t order anything, the in-room dining menu read as follows (why on earth do people feel it’s appropriate/necessary to mark their orders on the actual menu?):

All-in-all the room felt fresh, spacious, and modern, and was more luxurious than I was expecting for a Hilton Garden Inn.

Wifi in the room was fast and free.

Hilton Garden Inn Gym

While I didn’t have a chance to use it, the hotel has a 24/7 gym just off the lobby, which was small but decent enough.

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow gym


Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow gym

Other Hilton Garden Inn Musings

The hotel offers guest laundry on the fifth and tenth floor, which is a nice amenity. I tried to check it out to get pictures, but it was locked overnight, so I couldn’t access it.

I also didn’t have a chance to check out the restaurant and bar. However, apparently the rooftop Runway Bar is pretty decent, and has the views you’d expect based on the name.

In the morning I checked out at around 4:30AM, and as usual, I like to take my hotel pictures very early in the morning so that there aren’t people in them. So as I was checking out I took some pictures of the lobby, and was approached by a security guy.

“Excuse me, may I ask why you’re taking pictures?”
“Yes, just for TripAdvisor. Is that a problem?” (which I say because I don’t need to explain to some random security guy I write a blog)
“What… is TripAdvisor?”
“It’s a website where people post reviews of hotels online, and post literally hundreds of pictures of every hotel.”
“Are you a guest here?”
“Yes, I’m just about to check-out.”
“What are you taking pictures of?”
“Just the lobby and my room. Is there a problem?”

Then he left me alone and went to talk to the front desk, presumably about me. I get the guy was just trying to do his job to the best of his ability, but it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth to be approached like that.

It’s one thing if I were taking pictures of security cameras and sneaking into employee hallways to photograph them, but in this day and age taking a picture of a hotel lobby shouldn’t cause anyone to bat an eyelid, in my opinion.

That’s especially true when you consider that virtually everyone is “reviewing” hotels nowadays thanks to sites like TripAdvisor.

It reminds me of that time that taking pictures of a Hyatt breakfast buffet was strictly prohibited…

Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Bottom Line

I had a quick but good stay at the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow Terminal 2. This is an incredibly convenient hotel if arriving or departing from Terminal 2 or 3, and I’d stay here again in a heartbeat under similar circumstances. The rooms were comfortable, so when you combine that with convenience, then you have just about everything I look for in a Heathrow hotel…

Has anyone else stayed at this hotel? What was your experience like?

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