We recently spent the night at Holiday Inn M4, J4 following a family day out at Legoland Windsor. We had never stayed at a Holiday Inn before so were not quite sure what to expect especially as the hotel was located close to Heathrow.
After a long day out we made our way to the Hotel following directions we had been given. Now I’m used to driving in quite a rural area but don’t mind driving on the motorways however I was quite nervous about taking a wrong turn. However I shouldn’t have worried the hotel was visible from the M4 and although we were on the wrong side initially, using the route planner on my phone guided us right up to the hotel without any problems.
We arrived at about 8.30pm on a Friday night, we easily found somewhere to park the car close to the hotel entrance. The boys were very excited when they saw how big the hotel was. I have to say its a very impressive looking building but also quite modern. As we unloaded the car and made our way to the entrance we realised the building was actually bigger than we initially thought and the boys excitement grew!
As we made our way through the revolving door we were quite overwhelmed by the large modern foyer. It was strikingly impressive. There were a lot of people sat enjoying the atmosphere and we could see a bar to the right of the foyer where people were enjoying their evening. We headed over to the reception area to check in. We were greeted by a member of staff who was very welcoming and polite. I gave our name to the lady who quickly found our reservation. She then turned to a cupboard and produced three goody bags for the boys who were thrilled and thanked her. We were asked if we had stayed with them before and I explained we hadn’t, so she explained the lay out of the hotel and all the amenities. We were then directed to the lifts and told how to find our rooms. I asked what time the restaurant served meals until and also about room service as we hadn’t eaten since lunch time. Thanking the member of staff we made our way to the lift and our room for the night.
The boys excitement continued to grow as we got into the lift and we to remind them that there were other people staying at the hotel who may possible be already asleep. We easily located our room and let ourselves in. As we opened the door we could not get over the size of the room,the boys simply said “Wow”. We were staying in a family room which had two double beds and a travel cot. The boys ran in and quickly decided which bed they wanted for the night. As we looked around the sheer of the room hit us, there was a dressing area next to the bedroom where there was a wardrobe, a stocked fridge and tea/coffee making facilities.
Then was the large bathroom which had a bath and shower, toilet and sink. There were lots of toiletries (enough for six people) at the sink and bath.
The boys squealed with delight to find chunky kit Kat bars next to the beds. On one bed there were three large bath towels set out and on the other two large dressing gowns. In the bathroom were three more large bath towels. In the bedroom there was a large tv, a table and easy chair. We all freshened up and had a chat about what to do for dinner. We decided after a very long day we wanted to relax so decided to order some room service. We located the room service menu and rang down with our order. While we waited the boys decided to look through their goody bags.
The goody bags were pirate themed and contained a juice drink, crayons and various activity sheets. The boys set about making the pirate hats and were quite enthralled with them. The boys seemed quite at home in the room and dad of 3 and myself had a well needed cup of tea and coffee while we waited for room service to arrive. About five minutes after we had rung our order through to room service, they rang back to double check our meal as we had ordered a side order of chips and they wanted to ensure we had not made a mistake. It was nice to know they were paying attention to orders placed. Fifteen minutes later we had a knock on the door and our dinner was delivered. The member of staff delivering our meal was very polite and when he saw the children, he greeted them and then asked if they had warm milk for bed. He explained if we required warm milk for the children just to ring for room service and they would organise this for us as part of the complimentary service provided for children. We thanked him and he explained we were to leave the finished tray and dishes outside the room and it would be collected later. We couldn’t wait to tuck in and settled down quite quickly once we’d finished the meal.
As we had approached the hotel on the M4 we had all noted the aircraft landing and taking off from nearby Heathrow Airport. However once inside our room we did not notice them at all. Luckily dad of 3 and myself had both set alarms for the following morning and when they went off we were both surprised at how effective the curtains were. Dad of 3 went over and opened the curtains and fell back onto the bed (comic fashion) at the shock of how bright it was outside. We actually had to wake the boys up to and believe me that is certainly a rare occurrence! Once dressed we were eager to go and have breakfast so set off in search of the restaurant.
We were quickly show to a table and a highchair brought over for Erin to use. We were served tea and coffee and were told how to use the buffet style breakfast. Dad of 3 took Trystan and Rowan up to get breakfast while I waited with Luc and Erin at the table and enjoyed my cup of tea. They quickly returned with their food and I took Luc up to get our breakfast. There was a hot buffet with full English breakfast, a cereal bar, toast, pancakes (the boys favourite) and fresh juices available. The counters were being continuously restocked so that you never had to wait for anything. The best bit being you could go up as many times as you wanted! We all thoroughly enjoyed our filling breakfast. The waiting staff were attentive and replenished our teas and coffees several time while engaging with the children. It certainly set us up for our long journey home.
We made our way back up to the room and packed up ready to leave. As much we wanted stay longer our long journey home dictated it was time to leave. We double checked the room to ensure we had all our belongings and headed back to reception to check out. Once at reception we were greeted by members of staff who as before were extremely polite and helpful. We settled our bill for our room service and thanked them for an extremely enjoyable stay and made our way out of the hotel. When we had arrived the night before it had been dark so in the light of day we took in the hotel and its surroundings as we headed for the car.
Our first time with Holiday Inn M4, J4 was very enjoyable and exceeded our expectations. We will certainly be staying with Holiday Inn again. A huge thank you to all at Holiday Inn M4, J4 for helping us get a much needed good nights sleep.
Holiday Inn have very kindly offering my readers a discount deal if you book 21 days in advance, so what are you waiting for www.hilondonheathrowm4j4hotel.co.uk/mumofthree
Holiday Inn have special packages if you want to visit local attractions near to the hotels and are well worth checking out too.
Disclaimer: We were provided with overnight accommodation and breakfast for the purpose of this review