Hotel Review: Park Inn Heathrow – Bath Road, London Heathrow.

By Patrick Griffin.

The Park Inn Heathrow, is a four-star hotel located on Bath Road just 1.6km from the Heathrow Airport and accessible via the regular Hotel Hoppa bus service.

It has 895 rooms, a conference centre with several meeting rooms, fitness suite and spa, high speed internet access, a choice of restaurants and bars and an on-site car park.

I had flown into Heathrow for a series of business meetings – one of them at the Park Inn – so decided to use the hotel as a base.

The Hotel Hoppa H2 bus (serving terminals 1,2 and 3 only) costs £4 each way and run every 12-15 minutes from 5.19 until 23.07 every day.

It had me to the hotel within minutes of my arrival at the airport and when I arrived there was no queue at the front desk to check in.

The receptionist was polite and friendly and made me feel welcome from the moment I stepped up to the desk – a great first impression.

The hotel looks clean, bright and modern and my room was white, spotlessly clean and comfortable. There was a room safe, TV, trouser press, well all the usual things you would expect in a four star hotel room these days.

There were also two pictures on the wall – both of London scenes – nothing remarkable really – except that they lit up from inside when the main room light was switched on.

A large old style Philips cathode ray tube TV took up half of the work desk – now that flat screen TVs are so common place I was surprised to find this clunky set in the room but it served as a reminder as to how old fashioned these devices now look.

Neat and tidy...the double bed was comfortable and the room clean and airy.

There were net curtains but no drapes on the window. Instead there was a button at one side of the window which lowered and raised an electric blackout screen.

As I like gadgets this appealed to me…as did the sign outside the door telling me which room I was in.

Unusually there was no physical room number outside the door, just a large electronic display with the number lit up in huge letters – you really could not miss it unless there was a power cut and then there might be a problem.

Below the sign was another nice feature – a door bell – I like hotel rooms with doorbells and I don’t know why this feature is not more common.

Another nice touch – there were no ‘do not disturb’ or ‘make up room now’ cards on the inside of the doorknob – yes, they had gone all hi-tech too.

For guests wanting to be left alone then there is a ‘do not disturb’ button to press just inside the door – this has two functions; first it disables the door bell and second, it illuminates a ‘do not disturb’ light outsside the room.

Sign of the times...room number display has gone all hi-tech.

There is also  a ‘make up room now’ button and this illuminates a green light outside the door to alert housekeeping that they can enter and tidy the room.

In the bathroom I was first surprised that the mixer taps for the sink and shower controls were unusual in that they did not have any markings on them indicating which way to turn them for ‘hot’ and ‘cold’.

Not a big problem, it was a problem I could easily solve, but unusual all the same.

On closer inspection I found that there were actually very faint red and blue stripes on either side of the mixer taps but they had been worn away by constant cleaning.

Similarly the temperature scale on the master shower control knob had been cleaned away but more worryingly, the anti-scald device which prevents guests selecting a too-hot water temperature was missing.

Room service is available 24 hours a day and there was a large selection available. I placed an order, was told it would be with me within 30 minutes and it was delivered 10 minutes ahead of the deadline.

The girl who delivered the tray was incredibly polite. She rang the bell and once I opened the door she informed me: “Hello room service. Can I come in?”

This is far better than the “Room service – where shall I put the tray” greeting that a lot of hotels make do with instead.

Maybe the girl with the tray had walked in on one too many embarrassing hotel room scene or, more likely, I suspect it is the hotel policy for room service staff to ask before they enter a guest room. Either way I  was impressed.

clean and bright...the white-tiled bathroom.

Breakfast, the next morning, was a surprise. The description I was given was just ‘buffet breakfast’ which could mean anything from a couple of cold items laid out on a table in the corner of a room to a veritable feast of hot and cold foods from around the world.

The Park Inn Heathrow’s breakfast comes in at the ‘veritable feast’ end of the scale – it was one of the best hotel breakfasts I have ever had and again there were top marks for the hotel management and staff.

You see a lot of hotels, even if they provide a good breakfast selection, fall down in trying to save money by cutting back on restaurant waiting staff.

This can mean that the promised pot of tea arrives as you are finishing your meal and turns out to be luke warm coffee and the glass of orange juice never arrives.

No such things at this hotel. Tea and coffee is delivered to the table almost instantly and as soon as a course is finished a waiter comes along and removes the empty plate.

In fact the waitress taking tea and coffee orders chose to do so in a rather unusual – if somewhat amusing – manner. She would take an order from guests and then pass it to a colleague in a sing-song voice as if she was auditioning for X-Factor or some other TV talent show.

“The-lady-behind-you-would-like-some-tea-la-la-la,” she would sing.

“She-is-the-one-over-there-wearing-a-green-blouse-tra-la-la.”

“The-man-to-your-right-says-his-coffee-is-co-oo-ld. Can-you-top-up-his-cup-da-da-de,” and so she went as she flitted between tables.

Amazingly the girl she was communicating all this to didn’t bat an eyelid and just took her sung instructions as if it was an every day occurrence – which perhaps it was.

Such service is always welcome but it is especially useful at a busy airport hotel where guests may be on a tight deadline as they order breakfast before checking in for a morning departure.

The food itself was excellent with a wide selection of juices, fresh fruits, cheeses, cold meats, breads, pastries and cereals all neatly laid out.

There was a selection of the normal ‘full English breakfast’ items and also an Asian option with soups and noodles on offer.

When I returned to the hotel in the evening I headed for the pool and fitness club. The first thing I noticed was that the hotel fitness club is called Innaction – a pun on the name of the hotel – Park Inn, Innaction.

Now I cannot quite decide whether Innaction is the best or worst name ever for a a health and fitness club. Whoever would have thought of naming a fitness club innaction.

It is like calling an airline ‘No Fly Airways’ or a pub ‘The No Beer Here Arms.”

However as it made me smile every time I passed the sign saying “Innaction Fitness Club” I have decided it must be the best ever name for a health club.

I ignored the gym, made do with a quick swim and a sauna, and made a mental note to add the Park Inn Heathrow to the list of hotels I would be happy to return to.

PG.