hotel to use when embarking in Southampton

[blue whale]

We have just booked a cruise that sails from Southampton. We will fly into Heathrow on the day before the ship sails. We don't want to stay in London or sight see there, because we have been to London many times.

 

Can someone recommend a moderate-priced hotel near the port or even at the airport that would make life easy for us? Good connections? Even a shuttle of some type?

 

Blue Whale

[EJNutz]

The Holiday Inn on Herbert Walker Avenue is Mid price and is not too bad a hotel. Others close by are Novotel and Premier Inn.

[t60]

Etap is basic, cheap and cheerful, with a quick taxi to the port. Lots of restaurants near by and close to the city centre and shopping area.

 

Sandy in Spain

[Ray66]

Etap is basic,

 

You said it! I've seen the pics. Wouldn't stay there if it were free.

 

Jury's Inn website says:

 

Let us arrange for you to be collected from Southampton Airport on arrival and transferred to the hotel before dropping off your luggage and enjoying Southampton. With an overnight stay for 2 people inclusive of Full English Buffet Breakfast you will leave refreshed and ready for boarding your ship. Taxi transfer included from Jurys Inn to your designated Cruise Terminal.

From £89 per room

 

http://southamptonhotels.jurysinns.com/southampton-hotel-with-cruise-parking

[Missus Makkem]

We have just booked a cruise that sails from Southampton. We will fly into Heathrow on the day before the ship sails. We don't want to stay in London or sight see there, because we have been to London many times.

 

Can someone recommend a moderate-priced hotel near the port or even at the airport that would make life easy for us? Good connections? Even a shuttle of some type?

 

Blue Whale

 

cannot go wrong with the Novotel,

location close to Train station & Port,

large shopping mall at the rear,

 

or cheaper the Premier Inn

[MTElkwhistle]

I liked Novotel but Dad found his room unbearably warm, last October, and he likes a warm room.

We are going back to Holiday Inn Herbert Walker Ave but I have requested to be away from the front of the hotel as we were woken up by clubbers when the pubs and clubs closed in the wee small hours.

If I had known that there was a new Premier inn opening I think I would have booked that.

[jocap]

I liked Novotel but Dad found his room unbearably warm, last October, and he likes a warm room.

We are going back to Holiday Inn Herbert Walker Ave but I have requested to be away from the front of the hotel as we were woken up by clubbers when the pubs and clubs closed in the wee small hours.

If I had known that there was a new Premier inn opening I think I would have booked that.

The clubbers were our problem with the Etap, which looks out onto a late night Macdonalds.....also it was just too basic for us, and hadn't been cleaned very well.....

HI is handy for all the docks, as is the de Vere.

Novotel is walkable from the station.

Jo.

[John Bull]

Heathrow airport is 65 miles from Southampton, about 80 mins by car, towards two hours by coach or by train (train involves a shuttlebus, there's no direct rail link to Southampton). Like any airport, it's a pretty soulless place to overnite.

 

The hotel at Southampton airport (there's only one :rolleyes:) is irrelevant to your needs.

 

In Southampton, most of the hotels are only a £7 cab ride from any cruise terminal, some are easily walkable to City Cruise Terminal, even with luggage.

 

Premier Inn, West Quay is currently best value because it's a new hotel with an intro offer at £29 the room per night. The chain has a good reputation for very acceptable budget accommodation, regular price should be about £50 to £60.

Premier Inns are vaguely on a par with Novotel & Ibis & better than Etap, those three on one site a short distance from Premier Inn West Quay. All very convenient for cruisers, esp sailing from City Cruise Terminal, berth 101.

Holiday Inn is right by that terminal. (nb, not Holiday Inn Express, of which there are two, both on the city outskirts)

All the above hotels are IMHO rather boring cloned chain-hotels, as are Jury's Inn, and the Premier Inn located in New Road. But all are very acceptable for a room and a comfy bed.

Impressive-looking modern De Vere Grand Harbour hotel, opposite the Holiday Inn, has recently been down-graded from 5-star to 4-star.

I think the only 5-star in the city now is the White Star boutique hotel in Oxford St, excellent reputation.

Or try the Dolphin Hotel, an old coaching inn in the High Street, recently acquired by Mercure & refurbished, and getting excellent reviews.

The Southampton Park hotel is a very traditional english 3-star hotel.

All the hotels I've mentioned are handy to the city centre.

 

Ship schedule on

http://www.southamptonvts.co.uk/cruise_ship.asp

and click on the Port Maps header for locations.

 

Useful info about Southampton on http://www.visit-southampton.co.uk/

 

John Bull :)

[yorkshirephil]

We used the De Vere last year, £99 B&B and 15 days parking, they arranged a taxi to take you the short distance to embarkation. When we disembarked rather that get the hotel to send a taxi I walked the 100 yards to the hotel, brought the car to the disembarkation point to load up, simples. The cruise was with RCI, some of the other lines dock further away.The hotel was clean and the buffet breakfast very good. The hotel was in need of some refurbishment. The Holiday inn is even closer to the port gates.

[Pennbank]

http://www.whitestartavern.co.uk/

 

Also if you do not wish to eat at the Tavern opposite is Kuti's Indian and Nearby Kuti's Thai

 

http://www.kutis.co.uk/

[electra2008]

If I were you I would just go to Tripadvisor, I have used that site many times and gone by the reviews of any hotel that takes my fancy. I have never been unhappy with choice, as they say " one man's meat is another's poison".

Also I would check how much a taxi from Heathrow airport would cost you and calculate it re. train fares etc. you might be surprised how reasonable it is + no stress

[John Bull]

Also I would check how much a taxi from Heathrow airport would cost you and calculate it re. train fares etc. you might be surprised how reasonable it is + no stress

 

About £80 to £90 pre-booked, about £1,000,000,000,000 if you just pick up a cab from the rank :D Journey time about 75 mins.

National Express coach (pre-book) about £16 pp, journey time about 1hr 20, & add £7 taxi to pier.

Train is a bit of a nonsense from Heathrow, costs about £35 pp, involves bus then train, about same journey time as coach, again add £7 taxi to pier.

 

JB :)

[Single Cruiser]

You pays your money, you makes your choice!

 

I stayed at the IBIS which is grouped with the lower ETAP and higher brand Novatel. Ideal for Indy of the Seas at the city cruise terminal and walking distance from the train station.

 

If you want to save money an ideal way is:

 

Heathrow to Reading train station (rail air service) from £14 per adult takes an hour every 20mins from airport.

Then Reading to Southampton train station service is every half hour..

 

Just did a random check for a midweek in August and could get £14 to Reading and from £6!! Advance single from Reading to Southampton central.

[blue whale]

Thanks for all your info.

 

One problem is that we will be pulling our luggage, and since the cruise we are taking is a long one, we will have lots of stuff. Often train stations have stairs, which we could not do with bags. Also my husband uses a cane. In airports, we get wheelchair service to facilitate moving through the terminals.

 

I just thought that the cruise company might have a transfer/hotel package.

 

Blue Whale

[EJNutz]

The only hotel in the area that I know offers a transfer package for cruise customers is the Grand Harbour , Deveres Hotel. It is a great hotel but probably the dearest in the area.

[John Bull]

Thanks for all your info.

 

One problem is that we will be pulling our luggage, and since the cruise we are taking is a long one, we will have lots of stuff. Often train stations have stairs, which we could not do with bags. Also my husband uses a cane. In airports, we get wheelchair service to facilitate moving through the terminals.

 

I just thought that the cruise company might have a transfer/hotel package.

 

Blue Whale

 

Which airline/Heathrow terminal?

Which ship/departure date/cruise terminal?

 

I'm 99.9% certain that no cruiseline offers a transfer/Southampton hotel package.

They offer either a simple transfer, airport (Gatwick and Heathrow, sometimes others) to ship,

Or a package of a central London hotel, usually around Victoria, and transfer to ship.

Some also offer just the transfer from central London without the hotel package, passengers simply have to get to the packaged hotel by the scheduled departure time. All transfers are the morning of the sailing.

 

Esp with a lot of luggage, it wouldn't make sense to go into central London for one night & a morning transfer.:eek:

 

If you stayed the night at a (soulless) Heathrow airport you'd have to make your way back to a terminal next morning for cruiseline transfer or Nat Express or rail-connection coach, though there's a hotel (Sofitel?) at terminal 5.

 

Train Heathrow-Southampton wouldn't make a lot of sense with luggage, since the journey starts with a coach to a mainline rail station, where you transfer to a train.

So best to just get the National Express coach direct Heathrow - Southampton.

Or if you're feeling flush, a £80 - £90 pre-booked car Heathrow to your Southampton hotel, or your Heathrow hotel to ship next morning.

 

All the Southampton hotels quoted on this thread are an easy walk to city centre shops, restaurants, etc, and at worst a £7 taxi ride to any cruise terminal. Ditto rail & coach stations.

Several hotels offer a free transfer to the ship. I daren't quote which, cos policies do change.

BTW, EJ, Grand Harbour prices are now not dramatically higher than Hol Inn, since they've (voluntarily, I believe) down-graded to 4-star.

 

I'd recommend you arrange a transfer, by Nat Express coach or private-hire car, to take you to a Southampton hotel direct from your arrival at Heathrow.

Recommendation of hotels will depend on your choice of transfer, your cruise terminal, your budget & your inclinations.

 

JB :)

[Single Cruiser]

One word of warning.. I don't know if National Express have started it yet but other coach companies have followed airlines with one suitcase rule, the next you pay for!

 

 

edit: here is National Express luggage rules..

 

We can carry two medium-sized suitcases - weighing up to 20kg each - plus one small piece of hand luggage per person. We shall have no obligation to carry luggage in excess of the permitted amount or size but additional pieces of hold luggage, or 'outsized' items, will be permitted, subject to space being available, and on payment of a charge for each extra piece. The charges will be £10.00 single journey per item (one journey can be multi-leg) or £15.00 return journey per item. A maximum of three chargeable items can be taken in the hold (maximum 5 overall). You can view our full Luggage Policy here.

[billyelliot]

We stayed at the Dolphin Mercure in May and it was great! They organise a taxi transfer for u,( only 5 mins) which was included in our park and stay. Nicest taxi firm Iv come across! Very prompt service, there and back. There is also a fabulous Indian restaurant across the road from the hotel called the Coriander, which we thoroughly enjoyed.

[blue whale]

To John Bull and others,

 

Do you know of a car-transfer service that we could pre-book at the 90 pound rate? Given the length of the cruise (88 days) and its cost, we might be best to pay up front, especially with luggage.

 

D

[John Bull]

To John Bull and others,

 

Do you know of a car-transfer service that we could pre-book at the 90 pound rate? Given the length of the cruise (88 days) and its cost, we might be best to pay up front, especially with luggage.

 

D

 

 

These are the three most-frequently recommended on this forum:

www.westquaycars.com/

www.smithsforairports.com/

www.advancedairportcars.co.uk/

All three are local, rather than Heathrow-based, and well-used to airport transfers.

 

Bear in mind approx £90 is the one-way rate.

West Quay are currently quoting £85 one-way.

Hopefully they and Smiths will give a small discount for both ways.

The website of Advanced Airport Cars (more used by local folk flying away for their vacations) quotes return rates, currently £145 return for Heathrow, but they also do one-way transfers.

 

We use Advance Airport Cars, & usually pay the return price at the end of the out-bound journey.

 

Whichever transfer co. you use, probably best if you pay according to their usual terms. All are established & reputable

 

The Dolphin was taken over by Mercure & refurb'ed less than a year ago, and is getting some great reviews.

Though I've not stayed there, I'll add my voice to Billyelliot's. The place is a little bit of english history, rather than a chain clone, and in an excellent location for the city & all cruise terminals

 

Hope this helps

 

JB :)

[4nlalaland]

Thanks JB.. for all your great suggestions.. we are back and really appreciate your help in planning our trip. Had a great time.

[John Bull]

Thanks JB.. for all your great suggestions.. we are back and really appreciate your help in planning our trip. Had a great time.

 

Glad you enjoyed your time this side of the pond, very kind of you to post.

Always good to hear from a satisfied customer ;)

 

JB :)

[NSWP]

The Ibis is OK, stayed there post Crown Princess in 2009, adjacent to Novotel and ETAP.

[insidecabin]

There are deals around but the hotels are getting cute and checking the cruise schedules.

 

for the holiday inn check out the links on the first page of this thread, for 1 night the F&F rate sometimes gets a discount at HI herbert Walker next to the terminal(also works for US hotels).

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.php?t=1535105

 

Also if a Priority club member always check the breakpoint deals, they had the Winchester hotel(15m ) on for 5000 point last year, nothing near at the moment.

 

the next closest to the terminal is the Devere looking at my weekly emails from them they don't have 1night specials often but do have 2n+ specials, this seems to be the current summer one. £169 for 2n B&B

 

http://www.devere.co.uk/offers/leisure-offers/tempting-summer-deals.html

[blue whale]

Thanks, everyone,

 

I have copied all your emails and pasted them into my computer program. We have a bit of a time before we go, but I think it helps to know ahead and make plans.

 

Dorothy