Best Western London Heathrow Ariel Hotel — Hotel in London

This is lengthy and detailed: Food, dinner:

Presentation was aesthetic 👌🏻 Chips were filling and crisp to perfection, mushy peas definitely taste home made. A citrus, Lemon, followed the dish to squeeze over the fish.

Oh my god... the fish was just amazing, crisp on the outside, the fish tastes fresh, I honestly recommend this dish like one thousand.

The white condiment, the dip, can't actually remember, but garlicky and honestly delicious.

The portion size is perfect for one person, even those who don't eat a lot.

Dessert: The brownie was warm and practically melted in my mouth, like fell apart, kinda chocolate cake firm but above still goes. The sauce tastes like Cocoa powder, dark, but great combination with the brownie. Either vanilla ice cream is just better than the ones I buy in Norway, or this is homemade. The texture is soft but not like water like as what you'd get in the grocery store. Very firm yet silky, if that makes any sense😅

I'm sure I look ridiculous taking one bite and just close my eyes then go to write😆

The mixture of the ice cream, sauce and brownie is just 😚👌🏻

Breakfast: the different types of food is great to see. The hashbrowns are honestly perfect, mushrooms taste fresh like, bacon also perfect😂, beans and scrambled eggs are great; end result is that it's a great quality food.

The room:

The bed is the perfect combination of firm but soft, I just know I'll sleep well in it. (I did, it was great)

There's a door behind a table that's possible to lock, but it won't budge, not a door handle in sight... but it's very uncomfortable. The chain to keep the front door closed also isn't very safety proofed, have to rely on the fact the normal "card to get in" key will hold anyone from entering.

The bathroom is in terrible state, honestly I'm surprised the other room looks well enough taken care of.

The bathtub is a mess, it flakes off, it's not cleaned properly, probably because it flakes. The drain is rusted and you can see hair further down, the drain is also completely flakes around.

It looks like there's been an "attempt" to fix it by painting or putting something over a "hole", and whatever it was got splashed into the tub. Maybe caulk? There was a hair stuck to the wall of the tub, and no it wasn't mine, I always check snd take pictures before I've done anything in the rooms.

The shower curtain doesn't seem to been cleaned at all, loose hair stuck on it, splashes of something.

Honestly it looks like someone who was not qualified to upgrade or fix "mistakes", or the "wear and tear" of the years, there's so much rust around things that shouldn't have had rust around them, and painting over them is not a solution at all...

There's paint spots on the floor, assuming from when someone painted the ceiling, which either is just dirty or there's a future water issue going to happen. Biggest guess on the last since there's similar spots above the tub as well.

The toilet seat is slightly broken, yes you can sit on it, but it slides a bit. It was not thoroughly cleaned either.

I'll be bold and take a bath anyways to see if the water is terrible as well... Water pressure is great, in the bath anyways, you can feel the flakey problem, but not as much as I thought. Like most london hotels the water fills up half the tub thanks to the overflow pipe, so that's normal😅

The shower head doesn't go all the way back and my personal preference, it does make it difficult to actually wash your entire body, but like other reviews said that this hotel is sort of a "stay a day for airport" kind of hotel.

The shower curtain doesn't go fully to the other wall, so water splashes onto the sink and remember to move the tissue box.

Very nice staff and easy to talk to and check in...

DO NOT GIVE THEM YOUR MONEY.

Horrible service. I arrived very early and the front desk offered to see if they could check me in (which I appreciate). I indicated I had Best Western travel vouchers I wished to redeem for the room. Jose told me my room was prepaid and I could not use them (my room was NOT prepaid). He then told me the vouchers could not be used because I did not book directly with the hotel - which I had and was able to prove. So he then told me the Best Western vouchers weren't redeemable at this hotel. I showed him the print that clearly stated these were redeemable at all Best Western properties worldwide. His next response was that I had to call the international number on my voucher and speak with "them" - which I said he needed to do because he clearly did not know how to redeem the vouchers. Finally, he went to speak with his manager whose suggestion was that I pay for the hotel and they'd give me an upgrade and a drink at the bar. I said that was not adequate resolution as I wished to pay for the room with my prepaid travel cards. We agreed that I should leave the voucher with them and go spend the day in London while they worked through the issue. When I returned in the evening the front desk representative, Jerda, told me that they had indeed validated that they should redeem the vouchers but they were having a computer issue and could not that evening. She told me I would need to provide my credit card for the evening but that the reservations team would contact me in the days to follow to redeem the vouchers and that my card would not be charged.

I was more than skeptical.

Of course, my card was charged and I have now been trying to resolve this for two months. Customer service informs me they have been in contact with the property and that they will call me. The property has never tried to contact me. This morning was the best, as the property told the customer service representative that my voucher expired on 1 June 2024. THE VOUCHERS NEVER EXPIRE and even say so right on them. So, now they are outright lying. Attaching a copy of the hotel voucher policy here so you all know this isn't a customer error. I will now be working this through my bank due to their fraudulent practices and lack of motivation to resolve this. Shame on the staff of the Ariel Heathrow.

The hotel itself is adequate, easy to get to with the city bus. Room was functional, if a little awkward. No matter what, I'll be at the lovely Moxy property down the street in the future, where I was greeted warmly and without fuss and had much lovelier accommodations and superior staff.

UPDATE: 25 Sept 2024

On 6 Sept the hotel finally contacted me to redeem my travel vouchers. After completing the transaction they did NOT reverse the charge on my credit card. After repeated attempts to contact the hotel via phone (left messages with the front desk) and via email (all unanswered), Best Western corporate finally stepped in to reimburse me for the double charge. Please note, the hotel did not even return any communications with Best Western customer services! Completely ghosted both me, their Italian customer service office, and the US customer service office. Best Western is now routing them through their quality assurance branch. Oh, and I never received a receipt - for ANYTHING. I ask you, is it unreasonable to expect the hotel to be able to produce a receipt? I think not. Disgraceful.

There are far superior hotels within similar price and distance that aren't...

Having worked in the hospitality industry for over fifteen years, I tend to approach hotel stays with understanding and reasonable expectations. I am not easily frustrated by minor oversights or the natural wear and tear that properties accumulate over time. In fact, it was clear to me that the housekeeping and maintenance teams at this hotel are doing their best with the limited time and resources available to them. For example, although I did notice a customer’s receipt still on the floor behind the room armchair, clearly overlooked for some time, I do not hold this against the team, as they appear to be doing what they can.

What made this stay unpleasant, however, was the consistent lack of customer service and basic empathy from the Reception team and F&B one. In my room, I was unable to connect to the WiFi. When I raised this with the lady at reception, she flatly insisted that there was WiFi throughout the building. She made no effort to investigate the issue, nor she showed interest in resolving it. As a result, I was forced to work for an entire day and after a long journey from the bar and lobby area. During this time, I noticed that tables were not cleaned at any point throughout the day—several of them were visibly sticky, which was unpleasant.

Furthermore, when I ordered food, at a time when the bar was almost empty save for an elderly couple, I waited over an hour for a burger to be served. Upon enquiring, I was asked to provide more information because the late shift had just begun. I found myself wondering whether handovers are even practised here. This is a fundamental element of hotel operations, and it is somewhat embarrassing to have to point this out.

While the property seems to be a sad franchise version of Best Western, I question whether any effort is made to uphold brand standards or ensure team alignment with basic expectations. As someone who has both managed hotels and travelled extensively, I am increasingly disheartened by the inconsistency I experience when staying at hotels across the United Kingdom.

One positive note: Daniel, a member of staff, did attempt to engage meaningfully. Though the room was far from ideal, he acknowledged the fatigue of a long intercontinental journey and kindly granted an early check-in. Were it not for his professionalism and small gesture of care, I would have rated this stay even lower.

In summary, the greatest failure here is not the building, the facilities, or even the delays, but rather the absence of genuine hospitality. This, above all, is what makes a hotel experience either memorable or...