Review of Best Western London Heathrow Ariel Hotel 4*

I can’t recommend anything about this hotel as it was closed by the government before our arrival! We mistakenly arrived at the other Holiday Inn on Bath Road, only to be told that our hotel was closed and our reservation had been changed to a different location. My problem with this is that no-one had told us! We had booked the hotel on this road to be close to our car hire return but would have needed a taxi to get to the new location. I asked for a number to call the new hotel to double-check that they were, indeed, expecting us. However, I couldn’t get through due to the “high volume of calls” — surprise, surprise! The receptionist then tried to contact central reservations to check for us. Initially, she was fobbed off by someone who couldn’t look for our reservation, but she persisted until they confirmed our reservation. By this time we were tired and keen to return our hire car. I checked through my junk folder in my emails and finally discovered an email, not from the Holiday Inn, but from someone named Carmen, to tell us our reservation had been changed! I’m not in the habit of opening emails from people called Carmen! This is a totally unsatisfactory way to contact customers. Holiday Inn has my telephone number as I have a rewards card with them. Well, not for much longer. I’ll be returning that card and will be very unlikely to stay in another Holiday Inn ever. Being unable to telephone the hotel, I’ve also been unable to inform them that I won’t be turning up tonight. I have found another hotel closer to the car hire return and will be staying there instead. I’d better not be charged by Holiday Inn for not showing up. I’m really disgusted at this treatment and will definitely not be recommending the Holiday Inn to anyone else.