Hampton by Hilton London Luton Airport Hotel

Compared to the hotel at Stansted Airport this is a big drop in quality and standard. Non-interested staff upon check-in, hotel and rooms were clean. Air-con wouldn't go below 19c I was provided with a fan upson asking. A random fridge on the floor in the room, bed was very noisy when sitting on it or turning over. Shower tray flimsy, thought I was going to go through it. No curtains for the window just a blind, which when the sun came up, lit up the bedroom from around 0530am. Standard breakfast offering with attentive staff, clearing tables. If using the airport, there is a train/tram called the dart at the back of the hotel runs about every 15 minutes I think, about £5 each way.

This hotel is right next to Luton Airport Parkway train station and DART for Luton Airport, which makes it a prime location to stay the night before an early flight. The first red flag, was on arrival, I was asked to put down a £20 holding deposit, even though the room had already been paid for. I didn’t see any mention of this when booking. I protested and said I wouldn’t pay, so they said I would be unable to check in. Surprisingly, I went to the toilet, came back, and a different receptionist told me it’s fine and it was optional. So, not sure what happened there but immediately put me off. The hotel decor is good but slightly dated. The restaurant area is nice. Breakfast and evening meal is alright; and 24/7 food and drink is available, at a fairly reasonable price for being next to a London airport. The rooms are tired and need updating. Window blinds are hard to open, and the grinding of the gears set off a “too loud” noise alert on my Apple Watch. Sorry to the rest of the hotel who I may have woken up early in the morning. No water is provided in rooms and the showers have very poor water pressure. Air con wasn’t working and when I requested a fan, it never came, so I gave up. Overall, it does the job, has alright location and clean rooms, but the experience with check-in and poor room quality let me down.

Whoever is in charge of food and beverage here needs to go straight back to catering college, or better still should stay in a £30 B & B where you get breakfast freshly cooked to order to see how easy it is to serve an enjoyable morning meal. The overall standard of the food, considering the name "Hilton" is over the door really lets the brand down. The 'dinner' menu reads like a list of reconstituted TV dinners. The cooked section of the buffet breakfast is abysmal. Why put a gallon of baked beans and 50 rashers of bacon under heat lamps when there are very few guests in the hotel? The 'fried eggs' take top prize for worst hotel food offered by an international chain. They are cooked in moulds, presumably in an oven, and so quickly take on a texture similar to that of a lorry tyre after going cold on the tray at the serving pass. I hate to think how much food ends up in the bin during and after service..... On a less critical note I had one of the best nights' sleep I have ever had in a hotel. The mattress was super comfy (if I knew the make I would probably buy one) and the sound insulation is great considering you can see into the windows of the planes landing and taking off a few hundred yards away. I only faintly heard one large suitcase being rolled along the corridor outside the room. The bathroom was clean and the towels soft. The soaps and lotions were OK. The staff are professionally friendly and eager to help. I will be staying here again upon my return to Luton Airport. I sincerely hope I will not be refused a poached egg. If the management choose to respond then unfortunately they are only able to make excuses or promises of 'better in the future' however as we all know these are the stock answers to such a review.