Well folks,
I took up your advice and booked a night at the Renaissance on Friday 26th...arrived at about 10pm, to find 'Miss Intercontinental 2008' in full swing...quite an eye-opener! My good wife thought we had arrived at an awards night for 'adult' entertainment!
Anyway, our room had a great view of the northern runway, a quick dinner was excellent, and the bed was comfy! I woke at 6.15, decided I couldn't sleep in, and got up to pull open the curtains for some wide-body spotting...to find that I could barely see the perimeter fence! Thick, thick fog! By the time we were enjoying breakfast (very good too) at about 9.30am, I could just make out the terrminal buildings...and of course, by that time I had realised that traffic was landing on 09L, not 27R, so most was turning off before passing my window!
My sweet wife has promised to take me back for Christmas / birthday etc., but I need to know what the norm is for early morning landings...my recollection was that 27L or 27R was the usual early on...can anyone confirm?