Review: the new Radisson Hotel, London Heathrow Airport

This is our review of the new Radisson London Heathrow Hotel at Heathrow Airport.

Formerly the Park Inn, the hotel saw a complete refurbishment and rebrand over the summer. It now serves two different brands: the trendier Radisson RED, which Rob reviewed here, and a ‘standard’ Radisson which I review here.

As we have already reviewed half the hotel, we thought we should also take a look at the other half! The Radisson side is generally £20 – £30 per night cheaper than the Radisson RED side, even though all the facilities are shared.

Take a look at both of our reviews and see if you think this is justfied.

Inside the Radisson Heathrow hotel

The Radisson brand – as opposed to Radisson Blu, Radisson RED and Radisson Collection – is normally only seen in the US, so it was a little surprising to see it in London when the hotel re-opened.

The Radisson side is by far the larger of the two, with 637 of the 895 rooms. However, both sides share a single entrance, lobby and reception. There is no separation between the brands when you walk in unlike most dual-brand hotels.

This means that you get the trendy lobby complete with red phone boxes and a mini, just like a guest on the Radisson RED side.

Getting to the Radisson at London Heathrow

As the crow flies, the hotel is very close to Terminals 2 and 3. It is virtually impossible to walk, however, as you would have to walk through the tunnel that passes below the runway, which doesn’t have a pavement.

The easiest way to access the hotel is via a range of local bus services from any of the terminals. Buses take less than 5 minutes to the central bus station at T2 and T3 and about 10 minutes to Terminal 5. Rob’s review of the Radisson RED has more information on bus transfers.

Remember that local buses are free within the airport boundary so do NOT touch in with a payment card when you board.

Arriving at the Radisson

The hotel is tucked away just behind the main road, overlooking a car park. It has a pretty cool entrance:

When I arrived only one check in desk out of four or five was open and dealing with what appeared to be an extensive guest query. A queue had built up:

Luckily a second attendant arrived to deal with the rest of us!

During check-in I was asked if I wanted to use the pool or gym, which was available by pre-booking a timeslot. I figured I would, since I had nothing better to do!

To get to the lifts you walk past this row of (fake) red phone boxes:

The doors at the end are for the conference facilities, and the gym and pool are around the corner.

The rooms at the Radisson London Heathrow

I was given a room on the third floor:

I don’t think any of the rooms have particularly good views so it probably doesn’t make a difference which floor you are on. The hotel isn’t really high enough to get a good view of the runway.

Weirdly, there are no overhead lights in the room. Instead there are two lamps as well as two bedside lights. This makes it very cosy albeit not necessarily that bright.

Storage space is limited. There is a small open corner wardrobe immediately behind the door. This is probably less of an issue as you might think, as most people are likely to stay just one night at the hotel before or after a flight. To that end, a very large padded bench offers ample room as a suitcase rack.

You also get an armchair and decently sized desk:

The TV remote was wrapped in plastic with a label that suggested it had been fully disinfected between guests. The hotel also provided a mini bottle of hand sanitiser:

There is no coffee machine in the room, only a kettle and a selection of instant sachets and teabags etc. There is also no fridge or mini bar, despite a cupboard for one underneath. This is the same as Rob found when he stayed at the RED. The extra money you spend at the RED does not get you a proper coffee machine.

An ironing board and hair dryer are also supplied.

Bathrooms at the Radisson London Heathrow

The bathroom was decent, featuring a shower with dual shower head:

Toiletries provided were Radisson’s own ‘Simply Delightful’ brand in miniature bottles.

A bar of soap was provided but – bizarrely – there is nowhere to put the soap once you have used it. There is no soap tray so you have to decide between putting it directly on the counter top or leaving in the sink. Weird!

Eating at the Radisson London Heathrow

When it comes to food, you have two options. There is the ‘Hope & Glory’ restaurant bar, which serves both Radisson and Radisson RED, or there is a rather sad looking vending area:

As Rob noted in his review, the menu in the Hope & Glory restaurant is an odd mix of items. It seems to swing between basic pub food and a trendier brunch place!

I went for the cheeseburger, which was fine but really nothing special:

The second restaurant is currently closed.

I left before breakfast as I had lounge access at Terminal 5 and it was not included in my room rate.

The gym and pool at the Radisson London Heathrow

Since it was open, I thought I would check out the pool and gym. These are accessed via a fairly narrow corridor a few steps away from the lift.

I was expecting the facilities to be virtually empty as the hotel was very quiet, but there were a surprising number of people working out and swimming.

I’m not 100% certain but it seems like the pool and gym are open for public use.

You’ll also find a sauna and steam room in the pool area, although the steam room was closed in line with government guidelines at the time. The sauna, oddly, was open.

Whilst the addition of pool and gym are welcome, they are relatively small for a hotel this size. It must get pretty crowded on peak days.

Conclusion

Although it’s not as easily connected to the terminals as some hotels at Heathrow, the Radisson has been refurbished well and has some facilities you might not find elsewhere.

That said, the menu at the Hope & Glory restaurant is in desperate need of a rethink. There is a place for a basic but good quality restaurant here.

Looking at Rob’s review of the Radisson RED side of the hotel, there doesn’t seem to be much difference – apart from slightly trendier decor – between those rooms and the one I had on the Radisson side.

If the Radisson is noticeably cheaper than the Radisson RED, as it normally is, I would take that and spend the saving in the bar and restaurant.

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

Booking

You can book, or find out more about, the Radisson RED Heathrow here and the Radisson Heathrow here.

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How to earn Radisson Rewards points and status from UK credit cards (January 2024)

Radisson Rewards does not have a dedicated UK credit card. However, you can earn Radisson Rewards points by converting Membership Rewards points earned from selected UK American Express cards.

These cards earn Membership Rewards points:

• American Express Preferred Rewards Gold (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 20,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 60,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for your first year and also comes with four free airport lounge passes.

• The Platinum Card from American Express (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 40,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 120,000 Radisson Rewards points

• American Express Rewards credit card (review here, apply here) – sign-up bonus of 10,000 Membership Rewards points converts into 30,000 Radisson Rewards points. This card is FREE for life.

Membership Rewards points convert at 1:3 into Radisson Rewards points which is a very attractive rate.  The cards above all earn 1 Membership Rewards point per £1 spent on your card, which converts to 3 Radisson Rewards points.

Even better, holders of The Platinum Card receive free Radisson Rewards Premium status for as long as they hold the card.  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Marriott Bonvoy Gold and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here.

(Want to earn more hotel points?  Click here to see our complete list of promotions from the major hotel chains or use the ‘Hotel Offers’ link in the menu bar at the top of the page.)