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There is only the Express, not a full Holiday Inn
First, the thing that confuses people. The Holiday Inn at Stansted airport is the Holiday Inn Express, IHG's value brand, and there is no separate full-service Holiday Inn here. So if you have searched for a "Holiday Inn Stansted", this 3-star budget hotel is what you will find, and any full Holiday Inn you have seen is elsewhere in the region, not at the airport.
That is not a mark against it, it is just the right expectation. The Express does what it says: a clean, no-frills room and a free breakfast at a low price, with a shuttle to the terminal. If you want more, a pool, a spa and a four-star feel, that is the Radisson Blu by the terminal at a higher rate. The Express plays in the budget bracket, up against the Premier Inn. The Stansted hotels hub lays out which hotels walk to the terminal and which, like this one, run a shuttle.
Where it is, and the shuttle
The Holiday Inn Express sits off-airport, about 1 mile out on Thremhall Avenue, opposite the Mid Stay car park near the BP petrol station and McDonald's, just off the M11 at junction 8. It is one of the closer budget hotels by road, but it is not walkable, so you reach the terminal by its shuttle bus.
The shuttle is a roughly 5-minute ride, running about every 30 minutes and picking up at bus bay 28. The catch is the same as at the other shuttle hotels: it is not free. It costs about £4 per adult each way, with under-17s free, so for one person that is £8 return on top of the room, and for a couple about £16, which narrows the gap to a walk-to hotel. Guests also report gaps in the small hours, with some saying the bus does not run much before 04:00, so for a very early flight check the first departure or budget for a taxi. If avoiding a shuttle matters more than the room price, the walk-to Hampton by Hilton is the alternative.
Breakfast from 04:00, and the rooms
Breakfast is the Express's strong suit for Stansted, where so many flights leave early. It is included, and a continental selection is out from 04:00, with the full cooked breakfast served between about 06:00 and 10:00. So even on a dawn departure you can eat something before the shuttle, which beats the Premier Inn and its 06:30 start. Reviews are mixed on the cooked breakfast at the early-morning rush, so set expectations, but having anything at all at 04:00 is the win here.
The rooms are standard Holiday Inn Express: clean and functional, with free wifi, fine for a short pre-flight night rather than a destination in themselves. It is an older building, opened in 2005, so it does not have the new-build sheen of the Hampton by Hilton, and that shows in some reviews. For a bed, a shower and an early breakfast before a flight, it does the job. The early-morning timing on the other side of security is on the departures page.
What it costs, and parking
Rooms start from around £80 a night and move with the date, which keeps it among the cheaper airport hotels, in the same bracket as the Premier Inn and below the walk-to options. For the lowest price, book ahead.
Parking needs a little planning. Parking at the hotel is about £14 a night, but it is not guaranteed, your car may be moved to an alternative secure car park, and it is one space per room. If you are leaving the car for the whole trip rather than just overnight, the park-stay-fly bundle, quoted from around £76 for the room plus a week's airport parking, is usually the better buy than paying the hotel nightly. The hotels with parking page compares the deals, and the park, stay and fly page explains how the bundle works.
Is it worth it?
For a budget pre-flight night, especially an early one, the Holiday Inn Express is a solid pick, and the 04:00 breakfast is its edge. Its closest rival is the Premier Inn: both are budget shuttle hotels about a mile out, both charge roughly £4 per adult each way, both run a similar 30-minute shuttle. The Express wins on breakfast timing, the Premier Inn is the newer building, so on most nights the deciding factor is simply the price on your dates and how early your flight is.
Look elsewhere if a shuttle is the dealbreaker. For two or more people, once you add the per-adult fares both ways, a walk-to hotel like the Hampton by Hilton can cost little more and saves the bus entirely, and the Radisson Blu is the closer, comfier option if budget is not the priority. Solo and watching the pennies, the Express and the Premier Inn are the two to price against each other. The hotels hub sets every option side by side.