England London Holiday Inn Heathrow Ariel

[WillTravel]

We stayed here for one night before proceeding to Paris the next morning.

The corridors have a bit of a nautical look.

The room was small and quite basic, but the bath and shower were good.

This is easy to get to just by taking a city bus from the Central Bus Station at Heathrow Airport, and it's also easy to return to Heathrow the same way. This particular ride is free.

It was easy to go into London and spend an afternoon and evening.

For a $40 bid, this is a great deal. Someone who expects a 4* hotel, though, as Priceline rates this, will likely be disappointed.

[WillTravel]

I forgot to say that when I viewed the bill on the TV, it showed -22 pounds. Presumably this means that the hotel was paid 22 pounds, inclusive of VAT (which is 17.5%, I think). I haven't looked up the exchange, but I believe this means I would likely have succeded for a bid that was a few dollars less than $40.

[lwitchel]

I believe this was just downgraded by Priceline to 3*

[WillTravel]

I just stayed at this hotel two times more, once on Dec. 26 and once on Jan. 9.

On Dec. 26, I got a small room with a double bed. I was traveling by myself, but I think they'd give this room to two people. When I came back at night, I noticed it was very cold. They offered right away to send up a space heater. I asked to be moved to a room with proper heat. They said all the rooms were like that. So I took the space heater and three more blankets. I'm not sure what the problem was. It was quite cold for London - probably below freezing. The room with a double bed is definitely more cramped than the previous room I had with twin beds, and the double bed would be a tight squeeze for two adults who were not slender. So I'd definitely suggest getting the twin room if you have two people. I had a lapse of sense, and got a cappucino in the cafe/bar on the ground floor, which cost 2.80 pounds. Maybe not so bad for London, but it was my most expensive cappucino ever (neither the best nor the worst in terms of quality). Then in the morning, the hair dryer didn't work. They sent someone up to look at it who agreed it didn't work. I asked for a separate hair dryer, but they didn't have one. I was quite ticked off that I would have to go out with wet hair on a cold morning. But I combed it furiously and put a scarf on, and it wasn't so bad. I was rather annoyed with this whole experience. But once again, the location is very convenient for getting to and from Heathrow Airport on public buses for free.

On Jan. 9 (actually I arrived after midnight, so it was Jan. 10 by then), I was a bit worried. It was a lot warmer in London, though. And they were sold out of regular rooms, so they had to give me an executive room. This was a very nice room, and I think it would meet 4* standards (the regular rooms are definitely just 3*, which was the rating I won this hotel at). I had a plush queen bed, the heating worked fine, I had a bathrobe and slippers, several magazines, and it was just very nice. I washed my hair early in the morning and forgot to try the hairdryer, so I'm not sure if it worked. So I've had two good experiences out of three now.

[WillTravel]

I forgot to add that this time the TV screen showed 25 pounds as the total charge (including VAT). So I think I did get this hotel for as cheap a price as I could (which the counteroffer history showed also).

[kilo]

I stayed in this hotel in August 2004 for 2 nights - won on PLUK for