For our last night in Britain, we chose to stay at the Sofitel London Heathrow, adjacent to London Heathrow Terminal 5, after our stay in Brighton and before heading back to Boston.

Booking

I booked this property a few weeks before our arrival, at the same time as booking our plane tickets. Initially booked at a public rate, I switched to a corporate rate a few days before our arrival, using my company ID, as I’m allowed to do.

Arrival

We arrived with our rental car in front of the Sofitel lobby.

It’s worth noting that the directions aren’t extremely clear on which parking lot to use; you have to follow the Sofitel signs, enter the hotel perimeter and then the rental car drop-off is correctly indicated.

I dropped my wife off in front of the lobby with our luggage, and a valet helped her carry them inside the hotel while I dropped off our rental car. Once up from the parking lot, my wife and I proceed with the check-in formalities for our one-night stay in this property. He asked me for our flight departure time so that we could possibly have a late check-out, which did not need as we would be leaving for Boston in the early morning.

Our room key was given to us after a credit card hold, along with a coupon for a free drink.

Room

Our room was located on the second floor of the hotel.

I had directly booked a Luxury Room, more spacious than the hotel’s standard rooms. Nevertheless, we were offered an internal view of the hotel’s atrium.

The entrance opens onto a corridor leading to the room.

On the left, a well-stocked courtesy tray, a large closet, the complimentary minibar to Luxury room guests, and a safe.

On the right was the well-equipped bathroom, with bath and shower, as well as a large washbasin and toilet. The toiletries were provided by Balmain. They were of excellent quality.

Back to the bedroom, with its extremely comfortable king-size bed facing the TV, and an armchair by the window.

While everything in a near-perfect state of maintenance, the room showed signs of its late-90s design, with a lack of power sockets, and no USB plug. This was particularly true around the bed, which is now indispensable.

Finally, the virtual tour:

Hotel facilities

The hotel has a spa, which we didn’t get to use during our short stay, and a fitness room, located in the basement.

Gym

We used the fitness room on the morning of our departure. Despite our early wake-up call, it was very busy, and we used the latest machines available to do our exercises.

Given the size of the hotel, it was relatively small, but the equipment was of good quality and fairly recent.

Catering

The hotel has several food and beverage outlets. We used the Vivre restaurant for both dinner and breakfast on the morning of our departure.

Vivre – Dinner Service

After arriving at the hotel and settling into our room, we headed downstairs for dinner at Vivre, the hotel’s all-day dining restaurant.

We were asked if we had a reservation, which is a little incongruous in an airport hotel, as it’s hard to imagine not having a table for dinner!

Tables were available and we were promptly seated.

While my wife chose the fish and chips, I opted for the Indian option, which turned out to be excellent. We used our welcome drink coupon in the restaurant, but not without difficulty.

Overall, the service was disjointed, and I’m not sure whether this was due to the waiter’s inexperience or to nonchalance!

Vivre – Breakfast Service

On the morning of our departure, we had an early breakfast at the Vivre restaurant where we’d dined the night before. For an airport hotel, I was quite impressed by the quality and diversity of the buffet, as everything looked absolutely appetizing, especially the English breakfast. We didn’t spend much time there, however, and headed back to the airport for our itinerary to Boston.

Service

This is a true full-service hotel, as you’d find in any European or American city. Apart from the restaurant, I found the staff to be very friendly and attentive to guests, and the housekeeping to be of a quality not seen here any more.

Departure

Departure formalities were simplicity itself, as I left our room card in the checkout box, before heading for the airport’s Terminal 5.

Bottom Line

A very good stay. But beware, the hotel knows its strengths and prices are set accordingly.

Itinerary

As a reminder, here is the itinerary followed:

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