Our recent visit to London brought a bit of a predicament. Megan had to play football for her team on Saturday morning and we had to be back in work on Monday morning. This left us with the only option of a late flight to Stansted on Saturday night getting in around 11pm, and an early 7am flight home on Monday.
We decided this would be too late/early to be travelling across London, so decided to look at staying at one of the Stansted airport hotels.
Deciding on the Hotel.
Our first option was the Hampton by Hilton which is right beside the airport. We have stayed in it before, and it does the job especially with the free breakfast on offer, but this time it was out of our price range. Looking at the cheaper hotels just outside of the airport, we started to panic as prices of the likes of the Premier Inn and Holiday Inn were not as we expected. Plus factoring in £3 each for a shuttle bus every time we wanted to go to/from the hotel was an added expensive and time consuming.
The last option on the list was the Radisson Blu. I wasn’t expecting much as I always believed it to be the most expensive. However, I was wrong it was cheaper than the Hampton by Hilton and by time you add on shuttles it wasn’t much dearer than Premier Inn.
Decision made ‘The Lewis Family’ were to stay at the 4* Radisson Blu hotel booked via booking.com.
Where is it?
Google maps tells me it is a 10 minute walk from the airport. That looks like if you follow the shelter the entire way, if you cut across the obvious carpark it is max 5 minutes. (*Disclaimer , walk through the carpark at your own risk.)It is about the same distance from rail and bus connections, which makes it the perfect spot for going into London or even Cambridge which is not far away.
Cost
We paid £211.82 for a 2 night stay in a standard room for 2 adults and 1 child. That isn’t bad considering it’s location, the Hampton by Hilton was £250 for the same time.
The hotel
We didn’t get to experience everything. However, I don’t think that is a bad thing as if you are using it as a base for an early morning flight, you aren’t going to be using everything either, you probably just need the basics as well.
Lobby
The lobby is huge, probably the biggest one I have seen in a hotel. It contained a well manned reception, a bar with plenty of seats and areas to chill out.
There is also a huge wine tower, which you cannot miss when you enter the hotel. Sadly, there was no wine angels during our visit, which was a pity.
The lobby and reception area were spotless.
Rooms
Our room was an internal room on the 4th floor, you can pay extra for runway views. However, as we were using the room for no more than somewhere to sleep and wash, we could have had a view of a wall for all we needed.
The room was spotless and spacious, with a large comfortable double bed and a camp bed. I got stuck with the camp bed, to be honest if the person is older than 10 they aren’t in for a comfortable nights sleep. I really struggled at 5ft 10 I’m not exactly tall, but my legs dangled over the bottom and I kept falling out there was that little room.
Food options
We didn’t eat in the hotel, but I seen there was a well stocked breakfast at an additional cost. The hotel also has restaurants and the airport has Burger King etc if you want something quick, or delivery is an option.
Gym/Pool
We didn’t see this as it was closed every time we passed by. Not sure who would use it as I’m sure most people use the hotel for late arrivals or early departures. However, it is there if you fancy a dip during opening hours.
Overall Experience
Apart from the rubbish camp bed, I have absolutely no issues with the ‘Radisson Blu- Stansted’. The hotel done everything we needed, as I said there are plenty of facilities we didn’t get to use or see and I guess that would be the same for most people. If it is cheaper than the ‘Hampton by Hilton’ again I would have no issues using it.
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The Lewis Family.
