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Hilton Garden Inn London Heathrow
To cap off our trip to England we decided to the spend the night before our flight at an airport hotel. Silly me had assumed AA would fly out of Terminal 3, and staying at the Hilton Garden Inn Heathrow that services both terminal 2 and 3 would make sense. But alas, on the day we departed from Terminal 5 and needed to take a quick train over to 5. The only other hotel at London Heathrow that is attached to the airport itself is the Sofitel at Terminal 5 which is currently serving as a quarantine hotel and unbookable.
We were driving to the hotel and found it quite tricky to find the entrance…the best way to explain it, is right as you’re about to drive up the ramp to Terminal 2 departures, exit to the parking garage ( car park ) and then follow the signs to the Hilton Garden Inn. The lobby is upstairs, but we left our car parked out front while we dropped bags off and checked in. We then headed to Sixt to return our vehicle and trained back.
If you arrive at one of the other terminals just make your way to Heathrow Express, get a terminal change ticket ( free ) and hop on the train.
Stay Details:
- When: July 2021
- Where: London Heathrow across from Terminals 2 and 3
- Status: Hilton Diamond – achieved from the Amex Hilton Aspire
- Upgrade: None
- Benefits: Free breakfast which didn’t have
Finding the Hotel
If you’re coming from Terminal 2 you’ll simply head to the parking lot or Car Park as it’s said in England.
Cross it, and enter the hotel. It’s approximately a 5 to 10 minute walk from baggage claim
Check -In
Quick and easy. You can even do it via app and bypass the lobby altogether.
In the morning they were doing breakfast near the snack station…
The Room
Quite nice for a Hilton Garden Inn featuring a King bed and a large flat screen tv.
One thing I don’t understand is when hotels update their properties and decide to not include international plugs. These are found on so many hotels around the world, and you’d think, especially at the airport, you’d have plugs that can accept worldwide devices. This one had a small desk with British plugs…make sure you have your adaptor. Safe was under the bedside table.
Bathroom
Single vanity with a shower that oddly didn’t have a complete door. I get how it can look cool from an aesthetic perspective; however, the bathroom floor was quite wet after a shower…so not that practical.
Gym
Off the lobby, kind of around the corner is a small gym with the basics you’d need to work up a sweat.
Getting to the airport
If you’re flying out of Terminal 2 or 3 you could simply walk across, but if you’re flying from any other terminal, you’ll need to pop down to the train and ride over. In total, from the time we left the hotel til we arrived at 5 was about 15 to 20 minutes. It’s very weird to see the trains THIS empty. Remember you’ll need a ticket to go between terminals…which is free and don’t throw it away, you’ll need it to exit.
Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed or approved by any of these entities.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card went through a major refresh in 2026 adding new bonus categories, travel protections, statement credits, and remains one of the best travel starter cards in the market. It earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based including Hyatt, Southwest, United, IHG, and Marriott. Note that Hyatt is now a 4:3 transfer partner
Welcome Offer
Earn 100,000 bonus points after you spend $5,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
Earn
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Travel℠
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on gas and EV charging
- NEW ACCELERATED EARN CATEGORY: 3x points on vacation homes at top brands
- Cardmembers will earn 3x points on vacation homes at these top brands: Airbnb, Vrbo, Plu Guide, HomeAway, Homestay.com and Vacasa.
- 3x on dining, including eligible delivery services for takeout & dining out
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 2x on all other travel
- 1x on everyday purchases
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- 5x total points on Peloton equipment Earn 5x total points on eligible Peloton equipment and accessory purchases over $150 through December 31, 2027.
Benefits and Credits
- $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠
- NEW: $120 Global Entry, TSA PreCheck or NEXUS fee credit Cardmembers will receive one statement credit of up to $120 every four years as reimbursement for the application fee charged to the card.
- NEW: Complimentary Apple TV subscription for one year
- Points are transferrable to 14 Ultimate Rewards partners
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Auto Rental Collision Damage Waiver is my favorite
- Complimentary DashPass which unlocks $0 delivery fees & lower service fees for a min. of one year when you activate by 12/31/27. Plus, a $10 promo each month on non-restaurant orders
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card is great starter card and offers transferrable Ultimate Rewards, and pairs well with other Chase cards.
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex® and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Chase Ink Business Cash® , Chase Ink Business Unlimited® you can combine the points into the Sapphire Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee remains quite low at $95 a year and if you use the $100 Annual Chase Travel Hotel Credit via Chase Travel℠ you’ll wipe out that annual fee every year. It has great bonus categories and other useful statement credits to enhance your travel.
One thing that is a bummer is Chase lowered the transfer ratio to World of Hyatt from 1:1 to 4:3.
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