orbitmic

No idea about the Hilton, but at the Premier Inn I certainly didn't get a free shuttle. It was the normal bus from across the street and very easy though as long as you checked the times in advance.

corporate-wage-slave

Correct. They had a legacy agreement with HAL for this but the agreement wasn't renewed. HAL doesn't want individual hotel shuttle services. This only applied to the Penta hotel which stood alone, before it turned into the Hilton.

KARFA

i am not sure I agree with this. I have rarely found that the thistle is cheaper than at least one of premier inn T4 or T5 - both of which I think offer better value and are as accessible to T5.

just to add price point and personal requirements are of course relevant here. If you want sofitel full service level of hotel then thistle or premier inns aren’t really comparable.

orbitmic

I suspect that pricing might depend on when you book (as well as your dates of course). I usually book my flights reasonably well in advance, and tend to decide in advance if I want to spend the night at LHR (typically, if I have departures before 8am so it is pretty straightforward. Otherwise, I just take the tube in the morning). I think that the most I have spent for the Thistle on my dates was about £67. It is sometimes more than that and then I simply don't book it. But more often than not, I have had it in the 50-60 range (£54 for my forthcoming stay).

I know the Premier Inn T4 very well and have stayed there many times. It is a better hotel than the Thistle, and I find it convenient and accessible, but I simply don't agree it is as accessible. Ultimately, you'll need to go out on the street a bit before the bus scheduled stop wait a bit in the cold, and the trip will take a bit longer. That compares to the Thistle which basically has the pod on its doorstep which will go on demand whenever you arrive. To me, that is really the second most convenient after the Sofitel. The only possible problem is if there are several people wanting to go in front of view, but that is rare and even then that tends to make for a shorter hotel-terminal time than from the PI. I find the PI T5 less convenient than both as it involves a transit both when I arrive and when I leave (whilst the PI T4 is a direct tunnel walk from T4, so when I arrive from the city I just walk which is nice).

So in my case, I'd certainly choose the PIs if I wanted the better quality budget hotel, but I will choose the Thistle over either of them any day when I prioritise convenience. Sometimes the PI T4 is cheaper and if the difference is significant, it is when I have chosen it (had it as low as £34 during some sales which is a complete bargain for a decent room!). Conversely, I will choose the Sofitel when someone else is paying! Or when I am paying but I find a good deal (occasionally with sales, etc I have had it for about £120 and then i consider that it is worth the difference).

So I guess that my own ratings within the lot we are discussing here, I would say:

Quality: Sofitel > PI T5 (only stayed there once as it is not a proposition that works well for me compared to the T4 one, but room felt nice and fresher than T4) > PI T4 > Thistle
Convenience: Sofitel > Thistle > PI T4 > PI T5

Price-wise, I think that general comparison makes little sense: people are best off considering the options for their dates and when they are ready to book as it can change a lot. Often, if booked in advance, there can be a lot of good deals (but rarely at the Sofitel).

I have stayed at many others over the years depending on promotions etc. I'd say that on balance, if one is happy to jump on a bus, Heathrow has a lot of decent options compared to many other large airports and it is worth comparing. In terms of my own use at least, Sofitel and Thistle are the clear gold and silver medalists in terms of convenience, but if I am booking a place because of quality then there are also a lot of much better than the Thistle on the Bath road. For instance I have occasionally had great deals at the Hyatt Place and if I focus more on quality and am going to need to take a bus anyway, when it is within a few pounds, I'd personally pick that over the PI T5 without hesitation.

USA_flyer

This is definitely one of those YMMV vary situations. Ive never stayed at the thistle however, TripAdvisor has it as 3.5 hotel vs 4.5 for the PI. I'm sure there some value equation in there however, even at 3.5 the thistle would need to be much more competitively priced than the PI for me to consider it.

orbitmic

I think that if you look at the actual comments rather than just the summary score, they tell you the story pretty well as summarised above: it's gloomy, rooms are dated, service is not great, but it's super convenient for T5. That is basically all there is to it. You have some reviewers who used it to spend a few days in London, so of course for them the location isn't such a huge bonus, and the same when people mention going to other terminals. There are also people who complain about the price of the pods - yes £6 one way for a few minutes in the air and that's per person so for a family it come up very quickly. In my case, I use it when I'm on my own, leaving from T5 early, and I consider it part of the price I pay. Would i recommend the Thistle for someone wanting a cheap outskirt hotel for their stay in London? Never. For someone leaving from T2 T3 or T4? Absolutely not, there are better hotels for those. But for an early departure from T5 on a budget at the price I am usually willing to pay for it, it fits my needs. As you say, YMMV and if your priorities are different (or indeed your budget) then I can completely see why someone would choose something else instead.

KARFA

£12 is a lot to pay for a bit of supposed extra convenience. The pathway between thistle and pods is outside as well. But anyway as noted YMMV.

(In my defence I am premier inn purple princess level so the status benefits might sway me )

Misco60

That's probably a worst-case scenario, but if you download one of the many available real-time bus apps (I use Probus) you'll be able to leave the hotel a minute or two before the bus arrives at the stop and not have to wait.

Generally, I think that the Premier Inn T4 is a much more pleasant hotel than the Thistle, and the 15-minute bus journey to T5 no hardship whatsoever.

orbitmic

I did not suggest it's a hardship. As mentioned, I've used the PI T4 many times and wouldn't if I felt that it was inconvenient. I simply said that the Thistle is more convenient. Even at the worst of times, it won't take you 15 minutes to go to T5 from there, that's the beauty of what is effectively on demand transportation I guess.

PI is a perfectly fine chain in their own particular niche, and it seems to me that what you and KARFA are saying is that to you to the extra convenience of the Thistle is not worth it as you find the PIs perfectly convenient enough for your purposes (and because at £12, the pods are more expensive than a bus) and more comfortable (and even more so when factoring in frequent guest perks) and I have absolutely no issue with people feeling that way. I have no share in Thistle and in many ways, I prefer fewer people to choose it as it keeps rates lower! All I'm suggesting is it is more convenient for T5, even if that might be the one thing to say for the Thistle, and to be honest, I'm still not sure how there is anything controversial about that statement, but everyone to their own I guess.

USA_flyer

In all seriousness, what's the breakfast like? I can deal with dated rooms if it's clean and the bed isn't a brick but, the breakfast has to be decent too.

mwp1

Having always used the Renaissance & Sofitel , I have booked the thistle a few weeks ago for a night for an early start next week

after reading some of the reports it sounds like this could be something resembling a beach front Blackpool hotel

for £53 suppose you get what you pay for

corporate-wage-slave

Full fry up is available there and all the usual options. But the big advantage is that the breakfast area overlooks the runway between the hotel and T5, so pretty captivating as the longhauls sweep in, one after the other.

Dark Blue

I cannot agree more. I stayed there on this occasion for the first time in many years. Dated but well-maintained. I am currently an Accor Platinum, the lounge access is given and sometimes the breakfast too. I could not go home this Sat because of the train strikes (suspended, but mine was cancelled anyway), too tired to take a bus. I will use the sofitel a lot more, also you can save time and 2 x £1.65.

So, no one is talking about IHG properties, why such a big IHG campaign at T5?

orbitmic

Yes the breakfast is actually ok. The restaurant is not great but it is cheap by Heathrow area standards and no worse than most. Some rooms overlook the runway too.

Dn212

As a slightly off topic, we're looking for somewhere to stay for a flight from terminal 3. We have stayed in the PI at terminal 4 before and take the train/tube/bus to T5 and think we'll probably do that again but is this a good option for T3 too? We aren't huge fans of busses so the train/tube is a big draw for us! Plus, train is free.