Travelodge Feltham

Sleeping in Heathrow

by Airpunk

Heathrow is not as easy to sleep in as for example Stansted. I looked for a nice place to sleep in Terminal 3 but decided that this was not a real option. Benches are almost only available in the first floor, in a corner far to the left close to a pub. Of these, only a couple are without armrests and upholstered. As of 2008, it was not recommendable to sleep in the ground floor (arrival and check-in area) as construction works are taking place. And never try to sleep on the carpet with is not comfy, just dirty! Shops, including cafés, are not open during the night.

Terminal 4 is a little different, you’ll find a couple of scattered benches with a group of them in a waiting zone close to the BA first class check-in. The same as for Terminal 3 with only a couple of the banks being upholstered and without armrests. Here again, be creative and find out the most comfy way to get some sleep by arranging bags, chairs and baggage trolley. There is a 24h Starbucks café in the arrival area, but no other shops – only a couple of vending machines. Although in sleeping qualities far behind Stansted, terminal 4 is a better choice than terminal 3. It is said that there’s also an acceptable sleeping area in the arrival hall of terminal 2. But in Heathrow, the best choice is to spend as less time as possible anyway…

The huge nest of aircraft called Heathrow

by Airpunk

"Where nightmares get airborne…"

In 1943, during WWII, an airfield in the west of Greater London came under control of the ministry of air. The airfield was developed into a base for the Royal Air Force and one year later the construction of a new runway began. The base was not completed before the end of WWII, so the Royal Air Force never made use of it. That was the time when a lunatic architect took control over this airfield. For some reasons that historians have not yet revealed to us, he was in posession of the original plans for King Minos’ labyrinth in Crete. After WWII, he started to make them reality with the construction of a place called “Heathrow” which is Anglo-Saxon and means “The place where nobody’s going to find the way out again”. Was it not for the BAA which placed some signs in there, there would be still some passengers around searching their check.in desk for a flight wich has taken off in 1998.

That’s the semi-true story of this maze with air traffic connection which managed to develop into Europe’s busiest airport. For some reasons I am going to explain you now, it has not managed to develop into my favourite airport. It is an airport of long distances, where you spend a lot of time getting from one point to another. It’s an airport to operate at its maximum limits. And it’s a dead place at night. Do you want to know about my reasons to say that? Well, then have a look at my Heathrow tips.

I have been to many airports in this world, surely not all and not even all larger European ones. I know that Heathrow is an old airport which owes much of its present building structure to its development during the past 60something years. But that does not give me an excuse why I should consider this airport if there’s still an alternative. See, if you have any european flight, you might as well go to Stansted or Luton. The same goes for Gatwick for intercontinental ones. You’ll lose the time you save going to the airport by some of the nasty things within the airport. Although time and distance from central London are only two reasons for the choice of your flight, these factors – contrary to common belief – do not necessarily speak in favour of Heathrow.

Heathrow - Megalith of an airport

by timtregenza

Heathrow is big. It is also, in places, old. This means that the standard of facilities around the airport vary considerably.

When travelling through Heathrow, always allow plenty of time. Although quite efficient in comparison to many airports, the sheer volume of people means that things can go wrong.

The fun begins

by siandmelz

well, we booked into the Ramada Jarvis for the night of 12th November. After the battle with the rush hour traffic, Peter at the wheel of the kindly donated Mini-Killer, we arrived to possibly the grubbiest, muckiest hotel room I've ever seen. So our first travelling experience was yelling at the staff to find us another room.
Anyway, a brief farewell do after finally finding a pub - the RJ is also miles away from the hotel, and to bed. Obviously neither of us could sleep a wink that night, I was up at dawn and champing at the bit to get out of Heathrow.
First bit of bad news was that Quito airport was closed as a nearby volcano had just decided to dump it's load on Ecuador's capital city - but with firemen's strikes looming in England and possibly affecting flights out of Heathrow we couldn't hang around. We had to fly to Miami and see how things turned out. So things begin....
The flight was American Airlines, pretty uneventful, pretty ***ty food - the usual - but being used to business class at the very least I suppose I'm a bit spoiled. One thing I will say for AA - loads of legroom. So 10 mg of Diazepam and I'm off with the fairies, waking up just in time for a decent film and the approach to Miami.

Feb 04 : Flight to Israel

by kevarms

"Feeling good ....."

Finally a good experience at Heathrow airport. Everything just fell in to place and my plane took off with me feeling quite calm and relaxed. From this airport this is a new experience for me !
My flight was at 8.45 am, but since I was flying to Israel the advice is to arrive for check-in 3 hours before departure because of the extra security checks.
I was advised by VTers to try to sleep over-night in the terminal. Thanks guys, but I wanted to arrive in my destination feeling refreshed. So I decided to splash out and stay at the Heathrow Hilton. Not normally my kind of place but the deal included 8 days free parking so I actually saved quite a lot of money.

"Hilton Hotel"

I had quite a pleasant night in the hotel but I was rather tired from working all day and then driving down to the airport.
Nevertheless I amused myself for a few hours searching the room for buttons to press, staring in disbelief at the prices in the mini-bar and experimenting with various night-light configurations.
The rooms are sound-proofed so I had a great nights sleep and woke up feeling good at 4.30 am. After a quick shower and pilfering everything I could I was ready for the 10 minute walk to Terminal 4.

"An empty terminal !!!!"

Well not quite empty but it seems every other time I've been to Heathrow it's been like a Turkish bazaar. There was hardly anybody there at all and I was astonished when I arrived at the check-in counter. There was no queue at all ! I was expecting the usual grilling I get when I fly to Israel but was just asked the usual questions asked when going anywhere else in the the world. I actually felt like I must still be asleep and dreaming all this. But I guess since I wasn't flying with an Israeli airline (BA) security is less of an issue.
So I passed through the departures gate at around 6 am and found the bar was open and, oh yes, I do believe I was in the mood for celebrating.