Review: the Holiday Inn Express hotel at Luton Airport

This is our review of the Holiday Inn Express at Luton Airport.

For reasons which will be revealed later this week, I have been spending a lot of time in UK airports recently. My tour started in Luton with an early morning flight, so an airport hotel seemed a sensible idea.

Having previously reviewed the new Courtyard by Marriott at Luton Airport we thought we would review the Holiday Inn Express, the closest hotel to the airport terminal.

The hotel website is here.

Location

As mentioned above, the Holiday Inn Express is the closest hotel to the airport terminal. It is still, however, a bit of a trudge along the main access road and underneath the taxiway connecting the terminal to the runway.

It is the first hotel you pass, by the roundabout. It is also next door to the Luton Signature private jet terminal which we have previously reviewed here.

Slightly annoyingly the main entrance is not on the roadside but around the back, by the car park.

Inside the Holiday Inn Express Luton Airport

The check-in desk is right next to the bar when you walk in:

Check in was super quick and easy, and the staff were very friendly. My IHG Rewards Gold status was acknowledged and I was offered a free drink from the bar or 500 points as my welcome amenity.

Behind the check-in desk you’ll also find a little mini market with a range of snacks on offer:

Rooms at the Holiday Inn Express Luton

As far as I can tell there are just three room types: a standard room, a standard room with twin beds and a standard family room with double bed and sofa bed. I booked the standard room and that’s exactly what I got:

As you would expect from a Holiday Inn Express everything is cheap and cheerful. That said, the room was fairly large:

The bed has sockets on each side:

As you can see there is a fairly large sofa/desk area to the right of the bed which I liked:

Opposite is a fairly dated TV as well as tea and instant coffee making facilities. There is no coffee machine.

Sound proofing is decent although not 100% effective. I could clearly hear the aircraft taking off from the runway.

The bathroom is small but adequate. You have a corner sink:

Plus a small shower:

Toiletries are completely unbranded – you get liquid soap and a combined hair/body-wash dispenser in the shower.

You also get plastic cups wrapped in plastic, which I always think is a bit stupid given that the hotel could easily cut out the plastic and provide reusable glass cups. It’s not like glasses are a new invention – they’ve been around for thousands of years and are fully reusable!

Annoyingly the shaver outlet wasn’t working which meant I couldn’t charge my electric toothbrush.

Bar and restaurant

Back on the ground floor you’ll find the bar and restaurant. Food is fairly basic, although there is a wide range available including burgers, curries, fish and chips, pizza, pies and pasta. You order at the bar and it is delivered to your table.

I went for the chicken and bacon salad:

It was pretty dull but kept me from starvation. The bacon could have been a little crisper and they forgot to provide any dressing when they first delivered it, although they quickly brought some.

This is also where breakfast is provided in the mornings, from 4am. I was expecting pre-packed ‘grab bags’ but they actually offer a small buffet including hot food:

and

Paper bags are provided if you want to take some ambient food away. Hot items obviously have to be consumed on site!

Conclusion

Holiday Inn Express Luton Airport is a perfectly adequate but otherwise uninspiring airport hotel. It gets the job done if you have an early morning flight and the staff are very friendly.

It is, for all intents and purposes, an ‘express’ hotel and you wouldn’t necessarily want to stay more than one night. Take a look at the new Courtyard by Marriott if you need a longer stay in the area, although this hotel does not offer free breakfast.

You can read our full series of London airport hotel reviews here.

The hotel website is here if you want to book or find out more.

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