The Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel is widely regarded as one of the best hotels for spotting. Indeed, it may now be one of the best places for spotting overall as other areas like the Queens building and the visitors centre close. The hotel is situated on the Northern perimeter road and is linked with all the terminals with a complimentary shuttle bus. Ask for a room
on the third floor overlooking the airport. From here you will have great views of runway 27R / 09L and many of the taxiways. Distant views of runway 27L / 09R can be seen from the rooms, although either ACARS or an SBS-1 unit would be useful to assist in reading any movements that use this runway. With patience, you can expect to read virtually everything during the day.
Location *** Couldn't be much better than this being so close to 27R / 09L.
Spotting *** With the correct rooms you will not be disappointed.
Photos ** Good photos are possible from the rooms depending on the runway in use. The glass in the rooms does not pose a problem.
On a sunny day you are into sun therefore the hotel is no good
in the winter for photos. In the summer good shots can be had
early morning and from 1800 in the evening.
Value **
Rooms generally between £50-£100
This hotel can be booked through the following sites :AGODA
Above : Typical shot from the room of the Heathrow Renaissance Hotel.
Credit : Christel JS/Airliners.net
The
Thistle Hotel is now regarded as the place
to go when Heathrow are on Easterly ops. Although no rooms have
views the hotel has an excellent outdoor terrace with tables and
chairs. It appears that the staff are happy for guests to use
the terrace providing that they purchase the occasional
drink/snack. Car parking is available for a fee for non
residents who are also welcome into the cafe/terrace area. A
Mcdonalds and small garage/shop can be found around a 2 minute
walk from the hotel
Location *** On the northern
perimeter adjacent to the runway 09L threshold.
Spotting *** Ask for a room
overlooking the airport. This will give views views of RW09L,
you can also read off Runway 09R line ups with a good telescope
as well as aircraft in view on Terminal 5. The outdoor terrace offers great views and is a relaxing
place to sit and observe arrivals when on Easterly ops. When on
westerly runways outbound's can be read off from 27R and seen in
the distance on 27L (SBS required). The hotel also overlooks
terminal 5 where aircraft can be seen taxing for parking.
Photos ***
The location is into sun, however great landing shots can be had
early morning/late evening as the sun moves around (see below).
A 15 minute walk takes you around to the grass banking area
around the terminal 5 area where great landing shots can be had.
Value **
Rooms generally between £50-£100This hotel can be booked through the following sites :AGODA
Above typical arrival shot from
the terrace of The Thistle Hotel. Credit Glenn Wheeler
The Holiday Inn London Heathrow Ariel is located just 1/4 mile North of the threshold of runway 27R. The hotel offers a shuttle bus to the terminals for a one-way fee of £3.00. As usual ask for a room overlooking the airport to avoid disappointment. Reports suggest that the following room numbers offer great views 270, 274, 276, 278, 280 and 284. From here expect to see landing and departing traffic on 27R,
aircraft on the taxiways and distant views of the other runway 27L.
Note that the hotel is circular, and only the rooms described
above give the best views, other rooms may give very limited
views of part of the airfield but are far from ideal.
Location *** Fantastic location close to the threshold of 27R.
Spotting *** From one of the rooms quoted above you will not have any problems reading the majority of the movements
if the airport is on westerly ops. Easterly ops would give
distant views of departures from 09R (SBS required) howvere only
a limited number of arrivals on 09L would be seen depending on
which terminal they park on after arrival. Note all the rooms
described only have double beds, the rooms with twin beds face
away from the airport and are of no use for spotting.
Photos **
From the hotel you would be facing into sun and good quality
shots would be limited. You are around a 15 minute walk away
from the cargo sheds which are a great photo spot for 27R
arrivals
Value **
Rooms generally between £50-£100This hotel can be booked through the following sites :
AGODA
Suitable rooms give views like this from
the Holiday Inn Ariel.
Credit Mark Curran
The Ibis
Hotel is located on the same street as the
Holiday Inn above but slightly further East.
Location ** Well away from the
central terminal complex however ideally placed to see the
action on the northern runway, especially when on westerly ops.
The hotel is only a 10 minute walk away from the photo spot at
the Cargo Sheds for 27R arrivals.
Spotting *** Ask for a room on
the 4th or 5th floor ending in 01 to 07 (eg 501 etc) and you
will see all movements on 27R. If operations are Eastrly you
would see about 50% of the arrivals as they vacate 09L and have
distant views of traffic climbing out from 09R (SBS required)
Photos *** No actual reports
from the hotel as you would be shooting into sun, however the
hotel is only a 10 minute walk away from the photo spot at the
Cargo Sheds for 27R arrivals.
Value *** Great value with a twin room at a weekend costing just £40.
This hotel can be booked through the following sites :
AGODA
The
Premier Inn is located
on the same road but further East of the IBIS. Because of it's
location on the approach it is very difficult to observe any
traffic moving on the airfield and is only of use for arriving
traffic when Heathrow are on Westerly ops. Arrivals on 27R
arrive more or less over the hotel, arrivals on 27L can be seen
and identied on SBS.
Location ** Well away from the
central terminal complex however ideally placed to see the
arriving action, when Heathrow are on Westerly Ops.
Spotting ** On a limited number of
rooms overlook the approach to the westerly runways. When
checking in ask for a room overlooking the approach or
maintenance area, they get plenty of spotters here and should
know what you are talking about!. Caution, there are two levels
of double glazing to the windows. On a previous visit a lace
curtain was located in between layers, the room side window was
locked which rendered the view almost non existant!
Photos **
Photos of arrivals onto 27R can be taken from the hotels rear
car park although you are into sun most of the day. The cargo
sheds are around a 10-15 minute walk away from this hotel
Value **
Rooms generally between £50-£100This hotel can be booked through the following sites :AGODA
The
Travelodge Heathrow Central is located
on the same road but further East of the Premier Travel Inn
above. Because of it's
location on the approach it is impossible to observe any
traffic moving on the airfield and is only of use for arriving
traffic when Heathrow are on Westerly ops. Arrivals on 27R
arrive more or less over the hotel, arrivals on 27L can be seen
and identied on SBS.
Location ** Well away from the
central terminal complex however ideally placed to see the
arriving action, when Heathrow are on Westerly Ops (on around a
2 mile final to 27R)
Spotting ** On a limited number of
rooms overlook the approach to the westerly runways. When
checking in ask for a room overlooking the approach.
Photos * No reports.
Value *** Great value with a twin room at a weekend costing just £40.
This hotel can be booked through the following sites :
Hotels.com
The
Jury's Inn is located
behind the British Airways maintenance facility at Heathrow. One
side of the hotel looks out to the 27R approach, the other side
looks out to the 27L approach. The hotel is also midway between
the 2 photo locations used when Heathrow are on Westerly Ops
(around 2/3 of the time). A 15 minute walk will take you to the
Cargo Sheds for 27R or Cairns lane for 27L arrivals
Location *** Well away from
the central terminal complex however ideally placed to see the
action, especially when Heathrow are on Westerly Ops.
Spotting *** Ask for as high
floor as possible. Room 737 has been reported as giving a great
view of 27R along with the far end of runway 27L where distant
movements can be seen.
Photos *** No actual reports
although a short walk in each direction will take you to the
popular phot spots when arrivals are on westerly ops.
Value **
Rooms generally between £50-£100This hotel can be booked through the following sites :
AGODA
or
Hotels.com
The
Travelodge Terminal 5 is a relatively new
hotel build on an industrial estate between the parallel runways
on around a 3/4 mile final. The hotel is only really of use when
ops ore Easterly (around 1/3 of the time). When on westerlies,
outbound's can be seen from the hotel, however many are high and
SBS would be required. For the more energetic this is the
closest hotel to the King George Reservoir photo spots (around
30 minute walk) were great banking shots can be had of heavies
departing 27L.Location **
In between the approach to the Easterly runways. Due to its
remote location a car is required, otherwise the bus from the
airport is £4 each way.
Spotting ** Assuming that the
airport is on Easterly ops ask for a room in the Annex as this
will give excellent views of traffic landing 09L (the main
landing runway on Easterly Ops). A family room should also give
views of the 09R holding bays for outbound traffic. High level
rooms on level 3 or above are required, otherwise other
buildings obstruct the views. When Heathrow are on westerly ops
the departures off 27R are quite hard and high to identify, the
majority of traffic off 27L would also be out of view.
Photos ***
When on Easterly ops great approach shots should be possible
from the area around the hotel with the sun behind you for most
of the day. All is not lost if the airport is on westerly ops as
great banking shots can be taken of the heavys from the location
at King George Reservoir (shown on the map below). This location
is around a 30 minute walk from the hotel.
Value ** From
£40-80 a night
This hotel can be booked
here
The
St Giles Hotel Bedfont
is only of use for those
photographers who are looking to get banking shots of heavy
departures when on the climb out from the Easterly runwaysLocation *
Located around 2 miles south east of Heathrow in Feltham
Spotting ** If Heathrow are on
westerly ops ask for a north facing high level room and you will
get distant views of the approaches (SBS required to identify
many movements)
Photos **
Some great shots can be had of heavy southbound departures from
Heathrow from the park in Feltham only a 5 minute walk from the
hotel. This area is for serious photographers only as only about
a quarter of departures fly over here but magnificent shots can
be had as the aircraft bank south on departure (at least a 400m
lens is required)Value *** Great value with a twin room at a weekend costing just £40.
Value *** Great value with a twin room at a weekend costing just £50.
This hotel can be booked through the following sites :
AGODA
An extensive list of hotels to be found in
the Heathrow area can be found through the dedicated Heathrow
Airport Hotels link on
AGODA
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on the icons to find the locations of the above hotels, and also
great viewing and photo spots at Heathrow.
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