Review of stay at LHR Yotel 4th October 2012 (with pics!)

I decided to stay overnight at the LHR Yotel when I booked my flight to IAD. I'd stayed there when I flew to IAD in May 2010 due to the ash cloud problem that existed at the time and had enjoyed it. As it happens the first flight from NCL to LHR leaves at 8am, landing at 9.15 leaving it very tight to connect - and of course no time at all to enjoy the Clubhouse.

The Yotel rooms are booked for set periods of time (minimum four hours) so the room was booked from 21.30 to 07.30. There is no food included in the price but there is a galley from which you can order snacks & cold drinks and free tea and coffee is available.

Once I'd exited the Marks in T5, I headed straight over to the Hex lift. This is NOT the official connection listed on the airport website which only gives information on the bus service. However, travel between the terminals is free on the Hex. Down the lifts and straight onto a train that was already at the platform. At T3, I headed straight over to the platform for T4 and just about got that train!

Once in T4, I headed up to arrivals and tried to find the lift to the Mezzanine level. Finally after a few minutes of faffing around, I headed up to departures and found the lift from there (its the lifts near to check in zone E). The lift goes to a specific area of the mezzanine - the other parts of it are used for offices.

I passed the pub just next to the entrance and past the computers that are supposedly used for check in but they were out of order - as they were in May 2010! Checked in at the galley and was advised that there was going to be a fire alarm test tonight. Got my swipe card and headed to cabin 4.

Another reminder was on the bed about the fire alarm test and I could swear it said, 11.30 pm as the time...But they kindly provided some ear plugs...



The cabins are ... compact to say the least. The picture below shows the length of it from the door to the end wall.



The bathroom is also very compact.


Other end of the bathroom - toilet is situated below the towel shelves.


Doesn't come equipped with a hair dryer as standard but you can borrow one from the galley / reception area.

I settled down on the very nice cabin bed - they can either be on the floor like this one or up top - I had that style last time. Enjoyed this one better. TV is in the wall opposite the head of the bed.



Got warm and cosy and settled down to drink my wine and eat my prawn crackers from Marks and while the time away until after the fire drill had been performed... (free wifi btw but my phone reception was pretty poor inside the cabin)



11.30 came and went and so I thought I was 'safe' to go to sleep. Set my phone alarm for just before six, curled up and sank into a deep sleep...

*wah wah wah* I nearly hit the roof of the bed area, was out of bed, reaching for my phone.. thinking wow I slept all night. Wasn't my phone alarm. It was the long awaited fire drill. 1.30am... It went off a couple of times more which was enough to let my rapidly beating heart to slow down and by the time the final blaring of the pa etc died down, I was back on my way to nodland. Except I was jerked out of it again by another round of alarm testing! And then was kept awake by the guest going to reception wondering about the fire alarm and was it for real and then arguing with the receptionist when she told him it was a test and he was told about it... Eventually got back to sleep but roused myself soon after 5.30. Headed into the shower, did a bit of surfing after getting dressed and packed again. Was on my way to T3 for just after 7am, only one stop on the Hex this time.

Compact is a good way to describe it, but hey it does what it says on the tin and that's what counts.

As tinuks says, fit for purpose and all that was needed for a couple of hours rest y)

Having a fire alarm test in the middle of the night though :0 n( n( n( That is beyond strange - I wonder why 1:30am

Thanks for reading and commenting Tinuks and Joey

Aye, its compact but it works for me - no hassle of getting out of the airport late at night, and no hassle getting back in the am. And given that I would be in the clubhouse first thing, no point in paying for a breakfast I wouldn't have.

As for the fire alarm, just as we were waiting to board at NCL the same day, they had a test there too, I wonder whether Thursday is the *day* for fire alarm tests. I assume that they were either late or they had waited for flight operations to stop before testing it. The Yotel, afaik, is the only overnight accommodation in the actual terminal building...

Wow! That looks pretty cool Thanks for taking the time to review Mandy.

No probs Steve!

I'd reviewed it back in 2010 but hadn't taken any photographs then - I was too stressed about the ash cloud that time!



MH

We used the Yotel at LGW when coming back from Mexico and before our connecting flight to GLA. It was absolutely ideal, I don't sleep on planes so coming off the flight I was like a bag of washing and our connection wasn't for another 6 hours. Loved having somewhere to crash and rest. Where you don't need a specific overnight stay but somewhere to rest, sleep, eat, refresh, I would definitely recommend it, certainly beats hanging about uncomfortable lounges for several hours.

Thanks for the TR, it looks far more comfortable than I had imagined and as you say very convenient, especially if you have breakfast in the CH.

Did they knock some money off for the fire alarm? I have to say, if I'd paid to get some rest and didn't get it, then I'd be quite annoyed.

Thanks for the comments, people

Fiona, I was lucky with my connections home this time but would use it during the day too if I had to stay at LHR for a long period of time.

Jacki, only thing against it is that the basic cabin that I used didn't have a lot of luggage space - although the bedspace is big enough to put handbagage on and not encroach on your sleeping space. You can get bigger rooms though.

Miss G - I didn't and they would probably argue that using the ear plugs would be sufficient to dull the noise. I didn't actually use them though - I dislike having things in my ears...But the fire alarm made the stay kind of memorable!

Oooh, how sweet ! Perfect if you just want somewhere to pop your head for a few hours. Thank you for posting this - will definitely consider this now ! Thanks for the pics - easier to explain than trying to post dimensions huh !!

Great TR!

Yotel looks brilliant, and I love the idea of stocking up on M&S goodies!