Catching an early morning flight as a family can often feel like the least glamorous part of any holiday. The long drive, the early morning alarms, and the stress of finding parking at the airport all add unnecessary pressure before the holiday has even begun.
On our recent trip to Orlando, we decided to do things differently and booked a stay-and-park package with Holiday Extras at the Radisson Red Heathrow. It turned out to be one of the best travel decisions we’ve made — and here’s why.
We had an early morning Virgin Atlantic flight from Heathrow’s Terminal 3, which meant being at the airport for 5am. Instead of setting off from home at the early hours for a 3 ½ hour drive, we drove down the afternoon before and checked in at the Radisson Red Heathrow, located on Bath Road and one of the closest hotels to Heathrow’s Terminal 3, just over a 5 minute drive away.
For families, this makes a huge difference. Arriving the night before meant we were relaxed, well-rested, and able to start our holiday one day early. No long motorway drive in the middle of the night, no worries about traffic delays, just a smooth, stress free start.
Staying at the Radisson Red London Heathrow
We have stayed at many of the Heathrow hotels over the years, but this was our first time as a family at the Radisson. From the outside, the Radisson Red still hints at its 1960s origins, but inside it feels fresh, trendy, and fun.
The interiors were a real surprise — large quirky artworks on the walls, bold design touches, and a spacious open-plan lobby that flows into a buzzing bar and restaurant. We loved the very British touches too, from the red phone boxes by reception to portraits of cultural icons like Sean Connery.
Because we’d arranged overnight parking via Holiday Extras, parking was bundled in and taken care of. The hotel’s car park is vast, but given the size of the hotel, finding a spot took some time. Tip: drive all the way to the back of the hotel (there are many more spaces there). We ended up in the overflow parking, which was fine — just another reason to arrive early.
Check-in was smooth despite the hotel being busy. We booked two rooms: a twin for the girls and a king room next door for us. As we walked to our rooms, the cool hotel interiors continued with wall-sized murals and even some cinema style seating by the lifts. It felt like staying in a boutique property, not an airport hotel.
Our rooms also surprised us. These were not compact “airport rooms.” They were spacious, with strong design flair. The beds were really comfortable, and I loved the huge mural headboard above it.
There was a Scandinavian-style desk, multiple lighting options, plenty of power sockets with USB ports (always a requirement for charging devices before a flight), and enough storage even for all of our luggage.
The bathroom was another highlight: industrial chic, a giant circular mirror, a walk-in shower with a waterfall head — the kind of design you’d expect in a trendy city hotel, not one near an airport.
We tried not to stay up late (given our 4:30 am alarm), and the beds here didn’t disappoint, like the rooms they are really high quality and comfortable so we all had a good sleep.
Parking at Heathrow
Holiday Extras offers a few different options, depending on your needs, from Park and Ride, Meet and Greet or on-site parking, and the benefit of booking with Holiday Extras is having the opportunity to compare different parking providers all in one place, making it a much more affordable and hassle-free process.
As part of the package, we booked the Holiday Extras’ Maple Parking Meet & Greet service at Heathrow Terminal 3 for the duration of our trip. Official car parking at Heathrow is now so expensive, even their long stay option which requires waiting on and catching a bus. We have used the official meet and greet service previously, but the prices are now out of range for most families especially if you are away for an extended period of time.
Much like the official meet and greet parking, with the meet and greet service through Holiday Extras we drove to terminal 3 the next morning, to level 4 of the short-stay car park. After parking our car in the meet & greet team were waiting. The handover was seamless: we confirmed our flight, handed over keys, and in minutes we caught the lift down to check-in.
On our return, the service was just as smooth. After collecting our luggage, we called the telephone number for the meet and greet team to let them know we were on our way, and by the time we reached the car park our car was waiting for us. After a long-haul flight, that kind of efficiency is priceless.
Why Book a Package Instead of Separately?
Booking our hotel and parking as one package with Holiday Extras worked out cheaper than arranging them individually, so its well worth looking into pricing everything up as a package vs independent bookings. It also meant everything was tied together in one booking, removing the hassle of coordinating multiple confirmations.
Holiday Extras often has discount codes available too — you can save an extra 15% with this one — making it even better value for money.
Final Thoughts
Staying at the Radisson Red Heathrow with Holiday Extras’ stay-and-park package gave us exactly what every family needs before a big holiday: peace of mind. We were able to enjoy a relaxed evening, sleep in comfort, and start our trip without stress. The meet-and-greet parking service in particular felt like a real luxury, but without the price tag associated with the official Heathrow meet and greet parking.
This post was produced in partnership with HolidayExtras, as always all opinions expressed are my own.