4.5 stars. Excellent value and convenient location in Terminal 4 of London Heathrow Airport. Clean, modern rooms, comfortable bed, large bathtub...and a GREAT English breakfast buffet! I couldn't believe the value. I'm only knocking off 1/2 star due to the bathroom setup. See below.
$70 US for the room + 11 British Pounds for the AYCE breakfast buffet with eggs made to order. Normally AYCE buffets suck, especially at a hotel, but this one was damn good.
I had a connecting flight early the next day, so I spent the night at this Premier Inn. For $70 US in London, I was a bit worried this might be a fleabag hotel, but reviews and photos online assured me somewhat.
Well, I'm glad to say I wasn't disappointed. Is it a luxury hotel? Heck no. But it's definitely notches above your typical budget hotel/motel like a Days Inn or Howard's Inn. The room was clean, modern, and I really appreciated the electric kettle and fixings to make a decent cup of tea. They even had real milk, not the nasty, fake creamers you get in the US.
The bathroom, however, was where I could see the "budget" aspect of this hotel. First, there are no toiletries - just a liquid soap dispenser on the wall by the sink. Same in the shower. No shampoo, no moisturizer, not even a real bar of soap. Bummer. The liquid soap was harsh and drying. Also, there was no towel holder...and the toilet paper was like sandpaper.
BUT THE BEST PART of this hotel is the FULL ENGLISH BREAKFAST BUFFET!!!! The buffet had eggs sunny side up, but you can ask for made-to-order eggs any style you want. I chose poached. While waiting for the eggs, I went to buffet bar and was blown away by the selection of hot items. These included sausage, bacon (more like ham), eggs sunny side up, fried tomato slices, sauteed mushrooms, and my new favorite breakfast item called "bubble and squeak." It was like breakfast potatoes, but sauteed with various bits of veggies. Apparently it's a common thing in the UK. You just sautee your leftover potatoes and veggies from the previous night's dinner and serve it for breakfast. Cool.
They also had a coffee machine where you can make a latte, American-style coffee, espresso, etc. No, it wasn't gourmet coffee, but it was good for a machine. I ate like a pig, knowing the flight back to the US would involve pretty bad food at best.
I highly recommend this Premier Inn. (Just don't go to the other one near Heathrow. I hear that one doesn't have electric outlets near the bed, so you won't be able to charge your phone overnight and still be able to check the time. Also, that one is an older hotel, and I hear it's not so clean.) read more