Heathrow hotel?

We are getting ready to book our flights and looking at return flight at 8 am the morning after we dear our cruise. Since we will need k to be at Heathrow before 5 am we thought we should just stay at a hotel at the airport to make it easier in the morning. Will anyone please give us some suggestions what to book. Thanks so much

Bev

There are a great many hotels in the area around Heathrow. Pretty well all the chains are represented, so if you have points or any kind of discount, that's where I would start.

 

Prices tend to reflect the distance from the airport, so The Sofitel, right in Terminal 5 is probably the dearest and the Heathrow Marriott is more expensive than the Heathrow Windsor Marriott.

 

Any search for 'Heathrow Hotels' will give you a wide choice.

 

The 'Hoppa' bus starts at about 04:30 so you could use that to get to the airport. or book a taxi the night before.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Bob++

Go to some of the trip hotel sites and check for hotels.

You can search by amenities including airport shuttles.

 

I use Priceline.com or hotels.com to get the info I need.

Then I check the hotel reservation system directly.

Check , your cruise line might have post cruise hotel packages.

How long does it take to get from Heathrow to Southampton?

We are getting ready to book our flights and looking at return flight at 8 am the morning after we dear our cruise. Since we will need k to be at Heathrow before 5 am we thought we should just stay at a hotel at the airport to make it easier in the morning. Will anyone please give us some suggestions what to book. Thanks so much

Bev

 

We always book the Sheraton Skyline and take a club room with parking. Access to the Club Lounge for evening drinks (beer/wine/spirits) and tastey nibbles, plus a great Breakfast all included in the Club price.

I used MapQuest and it said between 2 and 3 hours.

We are getting ready to book our flights and looking at return flight at 8 am the morning after we dear our cruise. Since we will need k to be at Heathrow before 5 am we thought we should just stay at a hotel at the airport to make it easier in the morning. Will anyone please give us some suggestions what to book. Thanks so much

Bev

 

The answer depends somewhat on which terminal you'll be leaving from. For instance, we once stayed at the Jurys Inn, which was quite nice, but it's really only convenient for Terminal 4. Likewise, there are hotels that are close to Terminal 5 but far from the rest. For Terminals 1-3 something on Bath Road would be fine.

 

Of course, a very valid option is to stay near Paddington station in Central London - either at the Hilton attached to the station or something nearby (I believe there's a Mercure right beside, and lots more within a 5-10 minute walk). With the Heathrow Express taking 15 minutes, it's not much longer if any to travel from there to LHR than one of the airport hotels.

We are getting ready to book our flights and looking at return flight at 8 am the morning after we dear our cruise. Since we will need k to be at Heathrow before 5 am we thought we should just stay at a hotel at the airport to make it easier in the morning. Will anyone please give us some suggestions what to book. Thanks so much

Bev

 

If you are departing from Terminal 4, the Hilton is connected to that terminal with a covered walkway. There were 4 of us with all of our luggage and we arranged with a bellman the night before to meet us with the luggage cart the next morning and he pushed it all the way to our check-in point. Of course there was a charge, but as I said - 4 people, all of our luggage and two golf bags. We thought it was well worth it, plus the rooms are great as well as the restaurant.

Cole

Since we will need to be at Heathrow before 5 am ...

No, you don't. In fact, if you turn up at 5 am, you might even find that check-in hasn't yet opened. There's certainly no need to be there that early, even though travelling to make an 8 am flight is going to be painful however you do it. I'd fight tooth and nail to avoid an 8 am flight unless there were special reasons.

The 'Hoppa' bus starts at about 04:30 so you could use that to get to the airport.

The Hoppa is perfect, if you overlook that it's slow, expensive, poor value, uncomfortable, infrequent and unreliable.

 

Not for nothing is it probably the world's most hated hotel transfer service.

How long does it take to get from Heathrow to Southampton?

 

Depends on your mode of travel

bus, train or private driver & any traffic problems

plan on 1.5 hrs or more

 

Check National express bus site

Edited February 13, 2015 by LHT28

great lots of answers! have never flown in or out of Heathrow so how do you know ahead which terminal you will use? also how long before flight should we be checking in, it will be on a Tuesday if that makes any difference. thank you!

Bev

great lots of answers! have never flown in or out of Heathrow so how do you know ahead which terminal you will use? also how long before flight should we be checking in, it will be on a Tuesday if that makes any difference. thank you!

Bev

 

Use this website to determine which terminal - you just need to enter your destination and airline.. http://www.heathrowairport.com/flight-information/which-terminal

 

Also, check in times vary per airline but for international travel is usually a minimum of 2 hours up to 3 hours.

 

I have stayed at the Renaissance on Bath Road and the Premier Inn, both lovely. Have a reservation later in the year for the Sofitel attached to Terminal 5 so can't comment on that yet.

Edited February 13, 2015 by Cruisingthesuitelife

We stayed at a lovely in in Staines - The Swan - it was a delightful (a bit creaky) old inn right on the banks of the Thames. We just took a short ride and not very expensive taxi to Heathrow in the morning. Our cruise friends stayed at airport hotels but we thought The Swan was a much better option - it has a pub with decent food and a lovely terrace riverside where you can watch the swans and sculls gliding by on the Thames. You can even watch the big jets passing by overhead (not loud tho) - it was amazing to me that this lovely slice of the English countryside was about 10 minutes from Heathrow!

The two easiest hotels for London Heathrow are:

 

Terminal 4:

 

Heathrow Hilton Terminal 4.

 

Walk in to terminal along an elevated tube which crosses all the roads and keeps you dry if it is raining. You can push baggage trolleys along this facility. It starts just outside exit door of hotel.

 

Terminal 5

 

Sofitel Terminal 5

 

Walk from hotel to the airport Terminal 5. Again staying undercover in the dry all the way in.

 

Each of these hotels is actually in the airport and no public transport needed. You said convenient. Terminal 5 is British Airways Terminal 4 is many Transatlantic operators but not all so suggest you confirm departure terminal.

 

Regards John

Edited February 13, 2015 by john watson

I always look on http://www.opodo.com for flights. They tell you all the details flight number and airports stopovers and times this includes all the terminals at each stopover and if a terminal change is due between flights. I also look on http://www.seatguru.com to identify whether any of the seats within by class are good/average or bad. In this way you avoid the problems associated with some seats. Then book with whoever in the knowledge you have found out as much as you can beforehand.

 

Regards John

have never flown in or out of Heathrow so how do you know ahead which terminal you will use?

Terminal 5 is British Airways Terminal 4 is many Transatlantic operators ...

Your air travel documents should tell you the current planned terminal.

 

If they don't, the surest way of finding out the current planned terminal is to tell us your flight number, destination and date of travel. While the Heathrow Airport link given above will give you information, it is not 100% guaranteed to be correct.

 

Neither is john watson's summary quite right. T5 is not exclusively BA, although the exception probably doesn't matter to you. There are trans-Atlantic flights from T2, T3 and T4; and I think that T1 still hosts one airline that flies people across the Atlantic even though the first stop will be Reyjkavik. But the flights that are still operating at T1 will all have moved to other terminals by the end of June 2015. And some airlines operate from two or more different terminals, depending on destination.

 

So you really need to check.

also how long before flight should we be checking in ...

If you get to the airport a couple of hours before departure, that should be absolutely fine. The key thing for stress reduction is to remember that, contrary to common belief, the minimum check-in time is not as long as two (or even three) hours.

I also look on http://www.seatguru.com to identify whether any of the seats within by class are good/average or bad.

A caution about seatguru. In the case of some airlines, the information is so out-of-date that it's positively dangerous to rely on it.

Terminal 5 does do 99.9% of British Airways flights, there are a few other operators in there. Iberia for example. The point I was making is that if you booked British Airways it will be Terminal 5 99.9% of time.

 

Terminal 4 has most transatlantics from American operators but as we all know travel documents are the definite answer. Then of course there could be an unexpected change rendering the travel documentation incorrect.

 

One should always find out the terminal from an official source as soon as possible.

 

Seatguru only reduces chances of a bad seat again planes can change due to breakdown etc.

 

Finally an interesting hotel on the Bath Road for Terminals 1,2 and 3 is The Renaissance London Heathrow Hotel. It is Marriott chain. Book a CLUB ROOM and ask for RUNWAY VIEW or quieter Bath Road view if you prefer. You will see how close to runway it is on their web site photos. Shuttle bus stops outside, must get tickets before boarding, these are available from machine in hotel lobby.

 

Regards John

Terminal 5 does do 99.9% of British Airways flights, there are a few other operators in there. Iberia for example. The point I was making is that if you booked British Airways it will be Terminal 5 99.9% of time.

 

Terminal 4 has most transatlantics from American operators but as we all know travel documents are the definite answer. Then of course there could be an unexpected change rendering the travel documentation incorrect.

If you had said that 99.9% of flights at T5 are BA flights, that would be closer to being correct. But there are plenty of people who have booked with American Airlines and have tickets with AA flight numbers on, but which are on flights departing from T5 because the flight's actually operated by BA.

 

It is not true that 99.9% of BA flights are at T5. At present, BA operates from T1, T3 and T5. The T3 operation is a substantial one. I can't remember whether there are any long-haul flights from T3 at the moment, but there certainly will be again by November.

 

Similarly, it is not true that most trans-Atlantics from US airlines operate at T4. The big airlines are split as follows: United is in T2, American is in T3 (with many flights carrying BA flight numbers), and Delta is in T4.

 

And as for seatguru, while it may reduce the chances, for some airlines there are now far better online resources. If you're flying on BA, for example, you should avoid seatguru like the plague. In many instances, it is simply so wrong.

Use this website to determine which terminal - you just need to enter your destination and airline.. http://www.heathrowairport.com/flight-information/which-terminal

 

Also, check in times vary per airline but for international travel is usually a minimum of 2 hours up to 3 hours.

 

I have stayed at the Renaissance on Bath Road and the Premier Inn, both lovely. Have a reservation later in the year for the Sofitel attached to Terminal 5 so can't comment on that yet.

 

I just want to comment here that it is important to confirm with your airline on which terminal you use and not depend on the flight information link in the quote above. I say this because we are flying Icelandair, which , according to this flight info says Terminal 1, as did our original airline confirmation. We were just sent an updated itinerary from Icelandair and that itinerary is now changed to Terminal 2.

 

I was told by the private car service that we have booked for our transfers from Heathrow to Harwich, that this often happens and thus the car service monitors the flights closely to watch for terminal and flight time changes.

 

We have booked the Arora Hotel on Bath, which had good pricing and meal packages.

Edited February 13, 2015 by pmjnh

There are trans-Atlantic flights from T2, T3 and T4; and I think that T1 still hosts one airline that flies people across the Atlantic even though the first stop will be Reyjkavik. But the flights that are still operating at T1 will all have moved to other terminals by the end of June 2015. And some airlines operate from two or more different terminals, depending on destination.

 

Oh...this must be why Icelander changed our terminal from T1 to T2? Are they renovating T1?

Edited February 13, 2015 by pmjnh

As I said in my first post - there are many hotels to choose from. As with most things you get what you pay for. The Sofitel is handy for T5 but very pricy. The big chain 4 star hotels along and near Bath Road are all pretty much equal in what they offer.

 

If the OP wants something a little different, a hotel on the river will be cheaper but the taxi in the morning will be a little more expensive. And yes - for an 8am flight, 6am is quite early enough - you can check in from the hotel the evening before so all you have to do is drop your checked luggage and head off for breakfast.

 

I wasn't aware that the Hoppa was so reviled. I have used it and it was OK, but with two9 people and cruise luggage, I would use a taxi for convenience.

There are trans-Atlantic flights from T2, T3 and T4; and I think that T1 still hosts one airline that flies people across the Atlantic even though the first stop will be Reyjkavik. But the flights that are still operating at T1 will all have moved to other terminals by the end of June 2015. And some airlines operate from two or more different terminals, depending on destination.

 

Oh...this must be why Icelander changed our terminal from T1 to T2? Are they renovating T1?

 

You could say that...they're closing it...according to this link. There's been lots of re-building going on:)

http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/company-news-and-information/improving-heathrow

Edited February 14, 2015 by turnip eater

There are trans-Atlantic flights from T2, T3 and T4; and I think that T1 still hosts one airline that flies people across the Atlantic even though the first stop will be Reyjkavik. But the flights that are still operating at T1 will all have moved to other terminals by the end of June 2015. And some airlines operate from two or more different terminals, depending on destination.

 

Oh...this must be why Icelander changed our terminal from T1 to T2? Are they renovating T1?

 

You could say that...they're closing it...according to this link. There's been lots of re-building going on:)

http://www.heathrowairport.com/about-us/company-news-and-information/improving-heathrow

 

Well, that explains it!

So I have reserved 2 rooms at the Arora on Bath but I just realized they charge for wi-fi. I think it is ridiculous to pay extra for wi-fi. I might have to with to Marriott where wi-fi is free. I did see on the Arora hotel website that Arora manages the Marriott Renaissance . I will have to find out if the Arora then accepts Marriott rewards as I would be eligible for free wi-fi through my rewards program. Does anyone know before i inquire about this?