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Review: the new Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel, part of Marriott Bonvoy

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This is our review of the new Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel, which is part of Marriott Bonvoy.

After multiple covid-related delays, the new-build Courtyard hotel at Heathrow is finally open.  Regular readers will know Courtyard has been opening aggressively at UK airports over the last few years, and we are currently trying to catch up on our reviews.

We have recently covered the excellent new Courtyard London City Airport, reviewed here, the fairly new Courtyard Luton Airport, reviewed here, and Courtyard Inverness Airport, which I reviewed here. There is a review of Courtyard Gatwick coming up later this month which should get us up to date.

I decided to give the new Heathrow hotel a visit. HfP paid for its own stay.

The hotel website is here.

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

Getting to Courtyard London Heathrow Airport

If it helps you get your bearings, Courtyard London Heathrow is situated directly next to the Best Western Ariel hotel, formerly a Holiday Inn. The Ariel is easy to recognise because it is circular.

The Courtyard is a new build hotel which fills a spot between the Ariel and, oddly, a bowling alley.

To get there, the easiest option is a bus from the Central Bus Station at Heathrow Terminal 2/3. This bus map (PDF) doesn’t show the Courtyard but does show the Ariel. There is a stop literally outside the hotel and you want a 105 or 111 bus.

If you are coming by Piccadilly Line to Heathrow, it is quicker to jump off at Hounslow West station, cross the road and get any bus heading to the airport.

You can also, of course, pay £6 each way for the Hotel Hoppa bus service, but this is currently running just once per hour on most routes.

Inside Courtyard London Heathrow Airport

Courtyard hotels follow a very similar template, although I was surprised by the large amount of public space on the ground floor.

The Heathrow hotel feels a lot bigger than the one at City Airport. Oddly, this isn’t the case – there are only 30% more rooms (180 vs 240).

With occupancy exceptionally low on my visit, the hotel felt a bit cavernous. That said, when guest numbers start to pick up, I think the huge amount of space and seating will be appreciated. There is a particularly pleasant area opposite check-in which looks like an airport lounge:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

This is just one of the areas where the hotel has spent money unnecessarily in order to create a pleasant environment. The other is the impressive top floor Sky Bar, which hadn’t opened when I stayed but should be open by now. Here is what I could see through the locked door:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

The staff told me that there is an outdoor terrace as part of the Sky Bar.

Rooms at Courtyard London Heathrow Airport

Oddly, I want to start off by mentioning the view from the lift lobby. When you arrive in the hotel, you can’t see the airport because of the buildings on the other side of Bath Road. It is therefore a surprise to come out of the lift and be faced with a glass wall with this view:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

My room was at the back of the hotel, overlooking fields:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

I think I got this because my Bonvoy profile requests a quiet room. I don’t know how good the sound proofing is in the rooms overlooking the runways, but you could certainly hear the aircraft through the glass in the lift lobby.

My room looked familiar

Here was a surprise. My room was the same as the one I had at Courtyard London City.

When I say ‘the same’, I don’t mean ‘the same size’, ‘the same shape’, ‘the same colour’. I mean it was EXACTLY the same. Even the desk chair was identical.

The rooms were, clearly, prefabricated elsewhere and dropped onto the site fully furnished. It was a little weird although clearly you wouldn’t notice unless you had stayed in both hotels in a short period.

The positive news is that I liked my room at London City and I still liked it when I found it copied at Courtyard Heathrow:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

and

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

and

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

The bathroom is a little small but looks good. Toiletries were branded ‘Geneva Guild’ which was a difference to London City.

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

You also get the usual tea and coffee tray, safe etc. There were no elite amenities in the room (I have Titanium status with Marriott Bonvoy) but I did get a voucher at check-in for a free drink.

Food and drink

There is no formal evening restaurant, at least at the moment. I presume the main breakfast room will open at some point in the evenings since the eating area in the attractive bar can’t handle 240 rooms-worth of guests – it couldn’t really handle more than 15:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

The menu was very similar to the one I ate from at Courtyard City. There is a mix of sandwiches (£6.50), wraps (£9), salads (£10ish), burgers (£15ish), pizzas (£15ish) and other mains. Given the price of the rooms this is fairly toppy – a couple could easily spend more on a modest snack than the cost of their accommodation.

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

I took a curry and used my free drink voucher for a bottle of beer. It was good quality food although for £15 the portion size could arguably be larger.

If you want a quick snack in your room instead, there is the usual Courtyard shop by reception:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

The Sky Bar is meant to serve Asian food once open.

Breakfast is served in a large area behind the bar. This photo only shows around half of the seating:

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

The buffet was difficult to photograph – it is exactly what you’d expect from a mid-range hotel like this (coffee, juice, hot English breakfast items, fruit, pastries etc):

Review Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel

Got Marriott Bonvoy Platinum or Titanium status? The food and beverage credit at Courtyard is technically $10 per night, and that’s what you get if you use it against a restaurant meal. I got my breakfast bill wiped entirely, however.

Conclusion

For reasons I can’t really put my finger on, I didn’t get the same vibe from Courtyard London Heathrow that I got from the City Airport hotel.

Perhaps it was because I was in an identical room so the novelty had gone. Perhaps it was because the hotel was bigger or the staff not quite as friendly. Perhaps it was because Heathrow hotels attract a different crowd to City Airport.

I don’t want to do it down though. It is a brand new hotel, with all of the benefits that brings, and the rooftop bar (assuming it is now open) should be a lovely spot to have a drink on a sunny Summer evening.

The pricing is lower than Bonvoy’s Marriott and Renaissance hotels a few minutes away and the Courtyard is almost certainly nicer than both. The meals I had were perfectly fine.

With no Bonvoy hotels located at any of the Heathrow terminals, Courtyard London Heathrow is your best value choice if you want Bonvoy points and elite night credit and don’t fancy the longer trip down to the Moxy. I would happily stay again.

Rooms are currently as low as £58 per night, and never get above £70 if you book a couple of weeks in advance. The further in advance you book, the more expensive it gets, although it seems to settle at around £74. You won’t pay more than £100 at the moment even if you book at the last minute.

For a redemption, you are looking at 20,000 to 30,000 points per night in Category 4. Based on our target value of 0.5p per Marriott Bonvoy point, a redemption is poor value and you should pay cash.

The Courtyard London Heathrow Airport hotel website is here if you want to learn more or book.

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


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 (32)

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

  • DestinationTrainsPlanes says:

    This is the view from the terrace at the LHR Courtyard. It provides a stunning overview of airfield movements when the 27’s are in use.

    I’d highly recommend staying here for views of aircraft movements if that is part of what you are looking for from a Heathrow hotel..

    https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=bNiWobNY2os

    Hope this helps.

    • George K says:

      Recently completed a stay there myself and I was lucky enough to get a runway-facing room. I had a couple of video meetings done in the room and I found myself looking at the window every time a plane came in on 27R. It must have seemed weird to the others on the call seeing me rotate my head every minute…

  • Tracy says:

    Staying here 26th March, thanks for the review. I paid £66 fully flex booking about 6 weeks ago. I have been checking and the price is creeping up, £81 now for fully flex..

  • Paasan69 says:

    Anyone staying here, check your statement afterwards. I’ve stayed here 6-7 times and not once have they got the points correct, always in my disfavour. The last time was ridiculous, received 112+84 points for a £142 excl VAT stay. I have informed the front desk several times but they don’t seem to care (or understand how they should calculate points). Have 2 more upcoming stays. If they still can’t get right I will drop them. Shame as I really like the hotel.

    • Rob says:

      I didn’t get my points at all – had to retroclaim. To give Marriott credit, I had them within an hour of submitting the online form.

  • Mohammed says:

    The hotel only opened on 1st of Feb 2022 and only just opened the rooftop Sky Bar, with stunning panoramic views of London Skyline and the airport. Indoors capacity for up to 50 and 100 including the terrace, ideal for private parties,

  • E says:

    The hotel was open before 1st February 2021. It was a quarantine hotel. It then opened for a short while (a month or so in November 2021 I think it was) and then became a quarantine hotel again, before re-opening on the 1st Feb.

  • Andrew says:

    I stayed here last week. Parking was £15 for the night and I got the last space at 9am. The bed was abysmal, lumpy and knackered. Furniture was already showing plenty of tiredness and there was a huge stain on the carpet. Not great. Bonvoy Gold, standard room.

  • Patrick says:

    I used to work in that area a few years ago, if my memory serves me right you can also catch the 285 or 423 from Hatton Cross, and stop at Hatton Road North.
    CAtering-wise, there’s a great pub/restaurant a few minutes’ walk called the Pheasant. The food used to be delicious with huge servings. Avoid going there for lunch on Fridays, it’s jam-pached with people working in World Business Centre buildings on Newall Rd

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

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