Heathrow Hotel

Spending one night post cruise and thinking of staying near airport as we have an early morning flight. Looking for a hotel that is convenient to terminal 3 and easy access into London. Any suggestions? Thanks

What are you planning to do on disembarkation day - by "easy access to London", I'm guessing you may be planning to go to a hotel and then spend some time in London? Also which cruise terminal and how early is your flight?

These factors do make a difference, because the trite answer to your question is that there isn't really one :) There are on-airport hotels at terminals 4 & 5; hotels in the vicinity of the airport that are reached by scheduled bus services (and would generally need a return to the airport for getting in to London); or staying in London itself - e.g Paddington is 15 minutes away from T3 by express train.

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Spending one night post cruise and thinking of staying near airport as we have an early morning flight. Looking for a hotel that is convenient to terminal 3 and easy access into London. Any suggestions? Thanks

In your circumstance, I would definitely stay in Paddington, either at the Hilton or one of the hotels nearby. The Heathrow Express make the area just as convenient for LHR than any airport hotel, and you have the advantage of being in Central London, rather than stuck out at LHR.

The hotels most convenient to T's 1/2/3 are strung out along Bath Road - sorry, have never stayed at any of them.

Airport hotels are pretty soul-less like in most cities, but they fulfil a need. Most aren't expensive, but they do gouge their captive customers on food & drink prices.

You need transport between hotel & terminal - most use the hotel hoppa, which calls at many of the hotels - here's a list, but most of the other hotels are close by one or other of those hotels.

http://www.heathrow.com/file_source/Heathrow/Static/PDF/Transport_and_directions/hotel-hoppa-all-terminals.pdf

From dropping your bags at one of those hotels you would then have to head to the T 1/2/3 complex for the tube or Heathrow Express into London, same again when you get back, and same again in the morning.

So a Heathrow hotel isn't as convenient as it may sound.

So consider instead the Eagle's suggestion of a hotel near central London's Paddington station. As quick to reach from the ports as Heathrow, and next morning the fast & frequent Heathrow Express train from Paddington takes only fifteen minutes to Heathrow & drops you at the T1/2/3 complex - it can actually be quicker than using the Hotel Hoppa from those Bath Road hotels.

There's a wide range of accommodations in Paddington, from luxury corporate hotels to simple B&B's.

Is your port Southampton?

There's no sensible train service to Heathrow, so the only realistic travel options to Heathrow are a private transfer (about £90), or the scheduled bus service of http://www.nationalexpress.com/home.aspx (about £18 pp) or the ship's bus transfer - both of which go to the airport terminals, not the hotels. So getting to a Heathrow hotel & then heading to London would eat into your disembarkation day.

From Southampton to central London can be by private transfer (about £130) or National Express bus (about £8 to Victoria coach station, then taxi or tube to Paddington), or by the frequent & fast train service.

Simplest is the direct train service to London Waterloo but that's not convenient for Heathrow - better to take a train from Southampton to Paddington via a simple change of train at Reading.

For instance a train from Southampton central at 8.15am will get you to Paddington at 9.38am, fare £41.20. So you can drop your bags at your hotel & be out exploring London before 10.30 :)

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/

If you choose to use the Heathrow Express between Heathrow & Paddington, book soonest. Months ahead the fare is only about £5 but as the date approaches it goes up, and the walk-up fare is over £20.

https://www.heathrowexpress.com/

If you choose to stay at a Heathrow hotel & are too late to get a decent price for the Heathrow Express, the tube to central London runs every 5 to 10 minutes, takes about 40 minutes, & costs only about £12 return.

JB :)

We have stayed many times at the Premier Inn on Bath Rd. You should be able to take a Hoppa shuttle for about six pounds each. The hotel is very reasonably priced, clean, and has a Costa coffee shop in the building. They offer a package deal that gets you dinner and breakfast for about 22 pounds each person. The hotel is clean, has a nice big tub, double glazed windows so it's quiet. The tube into London is at the airport and takes about 45 minutes to central.

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Looking for a hotel that is convenient to terminal 3 and easy access into London.

We have stayed many times at the Premier Inn on Bath Rd. You should be able to take a Hoppa shuttle for about six pounds each.

This is not just for the Premier Inn. The same goes for any of the hotels in the vicinity of Heathrow that require use of the Hoppa or some alternative road transport. The only exceptions are the on-airport hotels, namely the Hilton and the Yotel at T4 and the Sofitel at T5.

If you want a hotel that is both convenient for T3 and has easy access to London, then I second the recommendation for the Hilton at Paddington station.

As far as the Hoppa is concerned, if you ignore that it's expensive, poor value, infrequent, inconvenient, slow and unreliable, it's perfect. Not for nothing is it perhaps the world's most hated and reviled hotel transfer service.

 

This is not just for the Premier Inn. The same goes for any of the hotels in the vicinity of Heathrow that require use of the Hoppa or some alternative road transport. The only exceptions are the on-airport hotels, namely the Hilton and the Yotel at T4 and the Sofitel at T5.

 

If you want a hotel that is both convenient for T3 and has easy access to London, then I second the recommendation for the Hilton at Paddington station.

OUCH! Thanks for backing up my recommendation Globaliser! LOL I am from Canada and I can tell you that Hoppa is not known here for being 'the world's most hated and reviled hotel transfer service'! I guess I assume that a lot of people are looking for value when they make a request, and for that reason I stand by my suggestion of the Premier Inn. We have never paid more than 49 pounds for a night there. That is extremely good value in my view, for a very clean, spacious (by English standards) room. Especially when compared to 175 pounds for the Victorian Elegance of the Hilton at Paddington.

Wherever you stay fitznorton, I hope you enjoy beautiful London.

I guess I assume that a lot of people are looking for value when they make a request, and for that reason I stand by my suggestion of the Premier Inn. We have never paid more than 49 pounds for a night there. That is extremely good value in my view, for a very clean, spacious (by English standards) room.

OUCH! Thanks for backing up my recommendation Globaliser! LOL I am from Canada and I can tell you that Hoppa is not known here for being 'the world's most hated and reviled hotel transfer service'! I guess I assume that a lot of people are looking for value when they make a request, and for that reason I stand by my suggestion of the Premier Inn. We have never paid more than 49 pounds for a night there. That is extremely good value in my view, for a very clean, spacious (by English standards) room. Especially when compared to 175 pounds for the Victorian Elegance of the Hilton at Paddington.

Wherever you stay fitznorton, I hope you enjoy beautiful London.

Thank you Chris for sharing your hotel and Hoppa experience here with OP fitznorton on our British Port of Call board. Certainly having many options to consider will help them formulate a plan that suits their needs the best.

All travelers are NOT alike, some more flexible than others and of course many have not ever been to London/Heathrow/Southampton before. It is incumbent upon us all to be kind, thoughtful and considerate - as you were - with our ideas, thoughts and suggestions.

Making travel plans is (or ought to be) fun but at times can feel rather overwhelming. These boards are here to help alleviate some of the angst by bringing folks together in community to make cruising/traveling easier/more fun. Thanks Chris - sorry for the OUCH - but please do keep on contributing your travel experiences, we value them :)

Thank you everyone for the advice on where to stay. Paddington sounds like the right destination for us to spend the day in London.

We arrive in Southampton on the Caribbean Princess at 5 AM. I was thinking we could take a taxi to National Express bus service in Southampton to London Victoria Coach Station. What time is the earliest I could book tickets? How long is the taxi from the port to the bus station? (We will carry our luggage off the ship).

Highly recommend the Sofitel T5 Heathrow. High quality rooms. There is a free train from T5 to T3 for your connecting flight. Jean.

We arrive in Southampton on the Caribbean Princess at 5 AM. I was thinking we could take a taxi to National Express bus service in Southampton to London Victoria Coach Station. What time is the earliest I could book tickets? How long is the taxi from the port to the bus station? (We will carry our luggage off the ship).

Tickets are normally available from 12 weeks out. Taxi ride should be about 10mins max.

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Thank you everyone for the advice on where to stay. Paddington sounds like the right destination for us to spend the day in London.

I've stayed near Paddington - had about a 3 minute walk to the station/tube and even closer to food, also the HoHo bus stop very close (I was staying in Sussex Gardens vicinity) and so it's a convenient area. Quick to major attractions, parks etc. think you'll be pleased staying there. Enjoy your visit :)

We arrive in Southampton on the Caribbean Princess at 5 AM. I was thinking we could take a taxi to National Express bus service in Southampton to London Victoria Coach Station. What time is the earliest I could book tickets? How long is the taxi from the port to the bus station? (We will carry our luggage off the ship).

Princess have two berths, neither is more than 10 mins max from the coach station. A line of taxis at the pier, with early disembarkation there probably won't even be a line to join. No more than £8

JB :)