The Private Traveller

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Hotel Review: Sofitel London Heathrow - Prestige Suite

The Private Traveller

Overview

I’ve loved this hotel ever since it opened, it was a game-changer in terms of the standard of hotels at Heathrow, not least because of the direct connection to the Terminal 5 building. I love everything about airports and travel, so being able to stay so close in such nice surroundings and, with the runway views if you’re lucky enough to be located in the outward facing parts of the hotel, this makes for a fantastic stay.

You can read my previous review here (this was based on a Luxury Room).


Hotel website: https://all.accor.com/hotel/6214/index.en.shtml?

Would I stay here again?   Whenever we fly from Heathrow T5 with an early flight, the Sofitel is our out and out first choice, I don’t even look at any other hotels - being able to walk through the tunnel to the terminal makes this so easy.

Location

If you’re flying into or out of Heathrow (particularly Terminal 5) the location of the Sofitel is just incredible. Can be slightly tricky to find the right lift from the arrivals floor to get to the section of the connected car park which is also the entrance to the tunnel to the hotel, but once you’re there it’s a dream. The tunnel is heated and air-conditioned and completely covered so regardless of the weather or time of year this is a very comfortable, short walk.

Despite having stayed here numerous times, I hadn’t actually been outside of the hotel buildings, but this time I made the point of walking around outside the main entrance to get a handle on where it’s located exactly. The other difference was that we’ve only ever had internal facing rooms - there are six buildings in total, so only the outer edges of each block face to the outside. That said, the internal facing rooms don’t feel enclosed and there are huge spaces in between each building that overlook spacious areas on the lower levels of the hotel.

Accommodation

There is a choice of twin and queen/king rooms in various categories - Classic, Superior and Luxury; then Junior, Prestige, Opera and Imperial Suites options. All suite categories usually have access to a private Club lounge (and there is the option to have a ‘Club’ Luxury room too) but at the moment with Covid restrictions this lounge is closed - more on this under Food & Drink below.

Although some of the furniture and furnishings are beginning to show some signs of age (definitely not in terms of wear but more in the design dating - the hotel was opened in 2008 and hasn’t had any redesign since) it’s always a great stay here, not least because of the perfect location. Our suite was in building 6 (so at the end, nearest the runway) on the second floor but there was absolutely zero noise - clearly the hotel was built with excellent sound-proofing and multiple-layered windows (watch out for the internal glass if you’re getting right up close for the best runway views). If you’re a real AV Geek then this suite option is just incredible, though I imagine higher floors would have an even more spectacular viewing point.

In the suite, there was an entrance hall from which there were three doors - one to a small guest WC, one straight ahead into a lounge and dining area and the other into the bedroom and en-suite bathroom. There was also another connecting door between the living area and the bedroom. The space was fantastic, basically it’s the size of a luxury room but with the added benefit of another ‘bedroom’ space for the living space and an additional cloakroom. There was loads of seating, two large TV’s, two desk areas and a fantastic bathroom (the only thing that would have made this perfect would have been twin sinks). The beds at the Sofitel are incredibly comfortable - super large and with luxury bedding. With the complete lack of noise we always have a great night’s sleep here.

Food & Drink

With only being there for a short time, we only had the opportunity for one meal which was in the Vivre restaurant - again with Covid restrictions there was only one restaurant and one bar choice. The bar incidentally, we were told on reception when we asked about the Club Millesime alternatives, would be where complimentary drinks and snacks were served, if we gave them our room number. We actually just went straight into dinner however, and this time didn’t actually partake of any ‘Club’ benefits - we were also leaving early the next morning for a BA flight and opted to take breakfast in the BA lounge instead. A light breakfast, normally being served in the Club lounge, was also available on a complimentary basis in the restaurant.

The food in the restaurant was good, there was a decent choice and it was excellently presented and high quality, but the service really did let it down. The hotel had only shortly reopened after the Covid-lockdown so presumably staffing levels were to blame, so I imagine this would be a short-term blip only and certainly wasn’t representative of what we have experienced in the past. It was so hard to get the attention of the waiting staff, and our waiter continually complained about the lack of staff to help and the number of tables he had to service.

Although the outside of the building looks like it could be newly built, as I mentioned in the suite some of the common areas are really beginning to date and the restaurant is testament to this. It was perfectly maintained and very clean throughout (shining in fact) but it would benefit significantly from some general updating - with the impact on the hotel and travel industry I imagine it will be really hard for hotels to be able to make significant investments at the moment until things start to return to normal levels.

Facilities & Service

There is normally a great choice of things to do here - from prior (non-Covid impacted visits) there is a choice of restaurants and bars, the swimming pool, gym and spa, with an on-site hairdresser and barber and it’s great that the entire hotel is non-smoking.

On this trip however, one we didn’t really have the spare time and there were a lot of closures (rightly so) to take account of all the Covid restrictions. Can’t wait for things to resume to normal, as if you have some spare time before a flight it can be a really relaxing start to a holiday by having breakfast followed by an Espa treatment, then taking the very short walk through the tunnel to get into the departures area.

ThePrivateTraveller’s top tips (any areas for improvement?):

  • Minor, but the wardrobe doors were literally hanging off - they must have come off their runners, which we noticed immediately on arrival. Despite flagging to reception a couple of times (as the whole wardrobe couldn’t be accessed as was) no one came to fix it - perhaps because of Covid restrictions no one could come into the room during our stay, but if it was because of this it was never explained.

  • The restaurant - as above, there was clearly an issue with restricted staffing, but perfectly understandable considering the timing of reopening and Covid implications.

ThePrivateTraveller’s absolute highlights:

  • Location - for anyone who likes airplanes and airports, like me, this is just a dream. So convenient to walk to and from the terminal direct, but to have such luxurious surroundings right next to the runway and flightpath is incredible.

  • Always love the Espa toiletries and the health club and spa, when available, is a great asset.

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