Maximise your Avios, air miles and hotel points

Review: the Courtyard Luton Airport hotel, part of Marriott Bonvoy

Links on Head for Points may support the site by paying a commission.  See here for all partner links.

This is our review of the Courtyard by Marriott hotel at London Luton Airport.

This is our first review of a hotel at Luton Airport. I chose the Courtyard on this trip, partly because – with the brand about to open at both Heathrow and London City in the next few weeks – I wanted to get feel for what it offered.

Courtyard by Marriott London Luton Airport

With the opening of a new people-mover between the train station and terminal as well as a new ‘Luton Express’ rail service in 2022, you may find Luton Airport more attractive than you do at present.

We paid for own room and the hotel did not know we were reviewing it. You can see the Courtyard Luton Airport hotel website here.

Getting to the Courtyard Luton Airport hotel

There are five hotels at Luton Airport: the Courtyard, a Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express, an ibis and ibis Budget. Additional hotels are slightly further and include a Premier Inn.

The Courtyard is the newest of the lot and consequently sits furthest from the airport terminal. It opened in 2018.

Getting to the terminal requires a half-mile 13 minute walk that takes you along the main airport access road and underneath the taxiway that connects the terminal with the runway.

Alternatively, take the 100 or A local bus service that operates regularly from the Holiday Inn bus stop just up the road. This will whisk you to the terminal in a matter of minutes.

The Courtyard Luton Airport

First impressions of the hotel are good: it looks smart from the outside as you can see above.

On the inside, a fairly basic but well executed hat theme livens it up:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport lobby

Whilst not particularly large, the hotel makes good use of space on the ground floor with several meeting rooms and a small open-plan business centre:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport business centre

A seating area with airport departures:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport lobby seating

A number of check-in desks:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport reception

The ‘Market Place’:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport market place

…. and a small restaurant / bar:

The hotel also has a gym but this was closed during my stay.

Check in

Check-in was quick and easy. As a Marriott Bonvoy Platinum Elite I was asked whether I wanted bonus points or $10 credit as my welcome amenity. I chose the credit which I immediately spent in the Market Place.

How close is the hotel to the runway?

Very. Take a look at this screenshot from Google Maps and you can see that it is maybe 250m from the end of the runway:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport runway

Despite this, the Courtyard doesn’t have any runway views. The runway is built on raised ground and is above the hotel no matter what floor you are on.

Here is the view from my room, with the runway up the hill:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport view

I’ll be honest – take-offs are not completely silent. They are clearly audible, although not particularly loud. Luckily, although Luton Airport has a licence to operate 24 hours a day, night flights are few and far between.

Rooms at the Courtyard Luton Airport hotel

I was put in a standard king room on the 6th floor:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport king room

The rooms are a decent size and come with a good amount of storage space including a luggage rack and wardrobe:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport luggage rack

You also get a desk and chair:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport desk

As well as an odd side table with perching seat – I’m not exactly sure what this adds!

You get your usual range of amenities including (empty) mini fridge, kettle with instant coffees/teas, ironing board, hairdryer, safe etc:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport king room 2

The bathroom

The bathroom features a frosted glass door and window, which adds a nice glow to the room when the light is on. The shower is basic but functional with just one non-rainfall shower head:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport bathroom

I particularly liked the cubby hole under the sink, which seemed like a good use of space:

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport toilet

More annoying was the flush on the toilet, which was obscured when you raised the toilet lid.

Toiletries are by Nirvae Botanicals and I was pleased to find a soap dish too (my personal pet peeve):

Courtyard Marriott Luton Airport toiletries

How was the Courtyard Luton Airport hotel?

This was my first stay in a Courtyard hotel but it won’t be the last, not least because the chain is increasingly popping up at airports.

Rob reviewed the new Courtyard at Inverness Airport earlier this year and a Courtyard is due to open at both London City and Heathrow in the coming weeks.

Courtyard seems to be a decent option if you are looking for a good value but clean and well run hotel. The fact that many in the UK are new builds only makes them more attractive.

The Courtyard Luton Airport is a Category 3 hotel which means you are looking at between 15,000 and 20,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night, depending on the season.

Cash prices are just under £100 for a night in June, so you are getting acceptable value for your Bonvoy points at our valuation of 0.5p per point.

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

The Courtyard Luton Airport website is here if you would like to book or find out more.


How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards

How to earn Marriott Bonvoy points and status from UK credit cards (January 2024)

There are various ways of earning Marriott Bonvoy points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses.

The official Marriott Bonvoy American Express card comes with 20,000 points for signing up, 2 points for every £1 you spend and 15 elite night credits per year.

You can apply here.

Marriott Bonvoy American Express

20,000 points sign-up bonus and 15 elite night credits each year Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points by converting American Express Membership Rewards points at the rate of 2:3.

Do you know that holders of The Platinum Card from American Express receive FREE Marriott Bonvoy Gold status for as long as they hold the card?  It also comes with Hilton Honors Gold, Radisson Rewards Premium and MeliaRewards Gold status.  We reviewed American Express Platinum in detail here and you can apply here.

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

You can also earn Marriott Bonvoy points indirectly:

and for small business owners:

The conversion rate from American Express to Marriott Bonvoy points is 2:3.

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which can be used to earn Marriott Bonvoy points

(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.)

Comments (39)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • JohnT says:

    Would have considered this but Hampton by the station looked more convenient for the bus. However as Easyjet cancelled my flights can’t go.

    • Michael Jennings says:

      I prefer staying at the Courtyard or one of the other four hotels near it because the terminal is walkable if necessary – although probably not a fun walk with a lot of luggage. That means one fewer possible point of failure if getting to the terminal in a hurry. I’ve never actually stayed at the Courtyard, though. One of the two IHG properties has usually been cheaper when I’ve needed a Luton hotel (and were also useful for Accelerate targets in the past).

    • Steve says:

      Hampton will be ideal once the DART is up and running

      • rk says:

        Agreed, watch the pricing increase due to convenience factor once it opens.

    • Nick Burch says:

      Food at the Courtyard is miles better than at the Hampton.

      Both have bus stops pretty much outside. You can easily walk from the station to the Hampton – just leave by the exit on the other side. Most likely you won’t then walk to the airport though… Courtyard is borderline too far to walk from the station, but is borderline walkable from the airport with bags.

  • Chris H says:

    We stayed here for an overnight stay before an early flight and thought it was excellent. We were through security and eating breakfast 15 minutes after getting in the lift at the hotel. Certainly makes the Luton experience a lot more bearable.

  • Michael Jennings says:

    Marriott also seem to be opening quite a lot of Moxy hotels at airports, too. There are new Moxy hotels at both Poznan and Katowice airports in Poland. Both airports needed a proper airport hotel, so this is good, but I am not sure how they choose between Moxy and Courtyard, as I would have thought they are around the same price point. Why you would want to use your “Millennials” brand for an airport hotel, though, I have no idea. Surely airport hotels are just something functional you want to get in and out of fast.

    • ChrisW says:

      Because Moxy is a cheap, no-frills hotel brand. If you only need a comfy bed between flights, it’s perfect. I think Moxy is actually quite a good fit for an airport hotel.

      • Rhys says:

        …except it is frills. It’s budget but it’s trendy budget!

        • APPL says:

          It’s the lack of both desk and chair in the room in Moxy, which makes it no-go for me if there is possibility I might need to do some work.

        • TGLoyalty says:

          Depends some are very trendy like NYC and perhaps Lisbon but others like the European city / airport ones seem to be cookie cutter cheap builds.

    • John says:

      POZ is shut and I heard it was rubbish. It won’t be opening for a long while as it’s now a quarantine hotel for the government.

  • John says:

    With Thameslink running overnight if I ever wanted to fly out of Luton I would just take the train at 3am, unless I really needed a mattress run.

  • L Allen says:

    Good to know about the bed. One of my pet hates is that they claim king size but it’s actually a wedging together of two smaller beds. Not nice to navigate a ridge in the middle of the bed if travelling with my partner…

    I completely understand the practicalities of this arrangement, as it makes for quick an easy conversion to a twin room. It doesn’t mean I have to like it 🙂

  • Pablo says:

    Do they provide hotel slippers? I’m staying there this Friday and need some stocking fillers.

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

The UK's biggest frequent flyer website uses cookies, which you can block via your browser settings. Continuing implies your consent to this policy. Our privacy policy is here.