I recently stayed at the Premier Inn Terminal 5 at London Heathrow and was able to check out the opportunities for spotting from its rooms.
There are many Heathrow spotting hotels to choose from, and each have their own merits.
The Premier Inn T5 would never be the top choice when you have places like the Renaissance and Holiday Inn Ariel to choose from. But sometimes price and availability are the determining factors, so it’s important to be able to weigh up your options.
The Premier Inn Heathrow T5 is, as the name suggests, close to Terminal 5, on Bath Road alongside the northerly runway at the airport.
The hotel has four floors and is a square shape, with a central courtyard overlooked by many of the rooms. It’s important to ask for a room facing the airport on the top two floors to have any chance of seeing aircraft.
On my visit the trees outside the room were in full leaf, making views of the airport itself very limited. However, with departures on runway 27R, all aircraft were passing by the room at a height that was possible to photograph.
Arrivals on 27L could not be seen apart from a brief glimpse of the tail in most cases.
If arrivals were on 09L, the views would be good but probably too low for photography. Similarly 09R would be visible but too far away to be much use.
The pictures here show the views possible of aircraft at Terminal 5, and departing on runway 27R from a room on the third floor.
In terms of amenities, the rooms are standard for all Premier Inns, but comfortable and have in-room TVs and hot drink facilities.
Downstairs there’s a decent sized bar and restaurant, and room service is offered. If you don’t want to eat at the hotel, there is a McDonalds next door, and a Shell petrol station.
You can book a room at the Premier Inn Terminal 5 Heathrow spotting hotel at this link.
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