Lets Tallinn that again! Holiday Inn Ariel, London Heathrow

Let’s Tallinn that again! Holiday Inn Ariel, London Heathrow

In this 200 Tier Point Adventure:

• 155 Tier points to go (because my mathematical skills are as bad as my grammatical skills)
• To the Heathrow area
• The Holiday Inn Ariel, London Heathrow
• To Heathrow, Revisiting the Cathay Pacific Lounge
• AY3126 London Heathrow to Helsinki in Business Class
• Can you transit Helsinki airport in 20 minutes flat?
• AY107 Helsinki to Tallinn
• Another walk around Tallinn… and an iPhone 7
• The Hotel Ülemiste
• Back to Tallinn Airport, Tallinn Airport Lounge
• AY118 Tallinn to Helsinki (ATR72-500)
  
• A quick visit to the Finnair Non-Schengen Lounges
• AY831 Helsinki to Heathrow in Business Class with an A350
• A Train adventure home
• Silver: Done.

Holiday Inn Ariel

You honestly can’t miss the Holiday Inn Ariel and its unique design

I headed into the classic building and checked in.

Reception area

Rack Rates. OUCH. (my rate = £43).

Bar

As I was on a pre-paid rate, no credit card imprint was taken.

Door keys were issued for a single room that night, and I headed up to the 3rd floor.

Lifts

Shhhhhh!!

The corridor

So let’s have a look at a single room – and when they say a single room – they mean a single room.

Umm… Small!

The single bed

Forward view

The outside view… is a view of other hotel rooms. No planes for me.

Yeah…. no… I think this view can be filed under the word “meh”.

The hidden closet – at least there’s a proper iron there.

All the information leaflets – note they’re wall mounted, saving space.

That burn mark has nothing to do with me…

Tea and coffee sets. Note a proper kettle is there.

That being said, it’s compact enough to relax in if you’re going to be using the place as a crash pad.

A welcome amenity of a bottle of water was waiting for me.

No other amenity (including the infamous KitKat was waiting). But to be honest,  I couldn’t care. I needed a crash pad for the night.

I connected to the local Wi-Fi to do a test. It’s a lot better than it has been in the past.

I’ve seen worse for nothing.

I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. The bed whilst basic, did the job as I managed to get a good 5 hours sleep… when my body clock kicked in.

My body clock doesn’t obey me. At all.

It gave me a chance to check out the bathroom and have a wash before the morning kicked off in earnest.

The bathroom itself is a typical one for this hotel – small, but effective. There were all the usual smellies and bathroom amenities in it.

Smellies

Toilet and a proper bath

I tried getting some more sleep but resigned to staying awake. Instead, I got ready.

In this case, it was time to break out the fleecy leggings.

Now. Men of the world – stop laughing. Becky at The Girl and Globe has pointed out the need for layers in the past, and I’ve pointed out the need for them in cold conditions. And fleecy leggings are warm.  Especially when you have -1c to -3c to deal with.

Also, we spend a lot of our times keeping our torso warm. Don’t forget about the arms and the legs. Because there’s nothing fun about cold legs.

That all done, 5 am was approaching. It was time to leave.

Overall: For £43 for a nights single bed in comfort and warm, and not sleeping on a bench at Heathrow, I’ll take it any day of the week. Combined with it being less than National Express and the train combined – I’m not arguing.

Next: Off to Heathrow Airport and the Cathay Pacific Lounge

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