Transportation from Heathrow to hotel in London

[shellgirl61]

I will be arriving in London at Heathrow this fall for my Mediterranean cruise. I am staying at the Holiday Inn Forum in Kensington. My question is what is the best way to get from the airport to my hotel. This will be my first solo cruise and my first time in Europe since 1981, when I was in the Air Force Reserve. Thank you for any suggestions and advice you have.

[Twickenham]

Well, it all depends on how you define "best". The HI Forum is actually a block from Gloucester Road underground station, which is served by the Picadilly line, the line that goes to Heathrow. As long as you can handle your luggage, it would be an easy trip from airport to hotel via the tube , and definitely your cheapest option.

 

You can always look at the various private car services recommended here. The most expensive would be a taxi from the rank, but certainly easy.

[CruiserBruce]

I agree with the Tube idea. We did it a couple of years ago, and will do it again on our next trip.

[cft8]

Be aware that Gloucester Road Tube station does not have an elevator from the platform to the street. You need to be able to carry your luggage up about 25 steps. When I took a large group to London last year, and stayed at a hotel close to that station, I recommended to our members get off one stop early, at Earl’s Court, and take a short taxi ride to the hotel. (Earl’s Court does have an elevator from the train platform to the street.)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[shellgirl61]

Thank you, cft8. That is good to know. I will have to think about tackling stairs with my luggage. 

[cft8]

You’re welcome - as Americans we tend to not think much about whether someplace like a train station will have an elevator or not. When you are looking at a tube map, you will see stations marked with a wheelchair symbol. Those are the ones that have elevators all the way to the train platform. Others, including Gloucester Rd only have elevators part way.

 

I vaguely remembered this from my study abroad days. I had planned for is to take a taxi from Victoria train station to the hotel (we arrived at Gatwick and took the Gatwick Express). My main reason for this was not wanting to manage luggage on the tube at rush hour and so I did not review the access information for the Tube. My husband convinced me we would be fine. I was tired and didn’t feel like arguing. Not only did we have to haul our suitcases down the stairs to the part of Victoria where we needed to get the tube to Gloucester Rd, we were then met with the stairs to go up once we got there. My husband lived to tell the tale (barely), but next time he will probably listen to my plan! And I will never forget to check the tube map thoroughly!

 

Fortunately we had arrived several days ahead of the group to spend some time on our own and so I was able to give the others a heads up!

 

 

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[dani negreanu]

If you want to "pamper" yourself, I can highly recommend a private transfer from the airport to the hotel in London with Simply airports. I've found their rate and service very "value for money", and used them several times.

 

https://www.simplyairports.co.uk/

 

[phabric]

I have used www.justairports.com a car service from LHR to my London hotel and London hotel to LHR.  Use your hotel’s postal code to get a quote.  It is nice to be met after a long flight.

[shellgirl61]

Thanks for the suggestions. I will check them out. The thought of a private ride from the airport to the hotel, after traveling all night sounds very appealing. 

[Turtles06]

2 hours ago, dani negreanu said:

If you want to "pamper" yourself, I can highly recommend a private transfer from the airport to the hotel in London with Simply airports. I've found their rate and service very "value for money", and used them several times.

 

https://www.simplyairports.co.uk/

 

 

Glad you had good luck with them.  But we had them booked well in advance for a transfer from our central London hotel to Heathrow and they never showed up, despite a written confirmation of the date and time (not to mention my confirming call after we arrived in London).  When they failed to show and I called them from our hotel, first they told me they couldn't find the booking, then they told me it was for a different time.  Thankfully, the concierge in our hotel was able to get us a car quickly, and we'd built in enough time to make our flight.

 

OP: I highly recommend Blackberrycars -- we used them this fall for a private transfer from Heathrow to our hotel in central London (and later that week to go from London to Southampton.)   

 

 

[jrmende63]

2 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Glad you had good luck with them.  But we had them booked well in advance for a transfer from our central London hotel to Heathrow and they never showed up, despite a written confirmation of the date and time (not to mention my confirming call after we arrived in London).  When they failed to show and I called them from our hotel, first they told me they couldn't find the booking, then they told me it was for a different time.  Thankfully, the concierge in our hotel was able to get us a car quickly, and we'd built in enough time to make our flight.

 

OP: I highly recommend Blackberrycars -- we used them this fall for a private transfer from Heathrow to our hotel in central London (and later that week to go from London to Southampton.)   

 

 

Turtles06,

Just a quick question on the Postal Code for the Blackberry site. So our hotel's postal code begins Sw1...Is that the info I would put in to have  Blackberrycars come to pick us up?

[Turtles06]

1 hour ago, jrmende63 said:

Turtles06,

Just a quick question on the Postal Code for the Blackberry site. So our hotel's postal code begins Sw1...Is that the info I would put in to have  Blackberrycars come to pick us up?

 

Are you asking just in terms of getting a quote from them?  In my case, I gave them the whole post code to get their quote.  Once it came to the actual booking, I gave them the name and address of the hotel (including the post code).   Apologies if this doesn't answer your question, perhaps I'm not understanding it.

Edited March 19, 2019 by Turtles06

[phabric]

1 hour ago, jrmende63 said:

Turtles06,

Just a quick question on the Postal Code for the Blackberry site. So our hotel's postal code begins Sw1...Is that the info I would put in to have  Blackberrycars come to pick us up?

 

Yes, SW1 is your hotel postal code.

[gnome12]

On 3/17/2019 at 10:42 PM, shellgirl61 said:

Thank you, cft8. That is good to know. I will have to think about tackling stairs with my luggage. 

Here is a link to the Step Free Tube Guide

http://content.tfl.gov.uk/step-free-tube-guide-map.pdf

[Globaliser]

10 hours ago, phabric said:

Yes, SW1 is your hotel postal code.

 

SW1 is one of the London postal districts, covering a large area. It may be good enough for a minicab company to give you a quote, but it is not the hotel's postcode.

 

Or, more accurately, it is only part of the hotel's postcode. These are much more specific. For example, the Rubens Hotel is liked by many here, and is in SW1. Its postcode is SW1W 0PS, and that postcode is in practice unique to the Rubens. Many other hotels, particularly hotels of any size or significance, will similarly have unique postcodes.

[jrmende63]

On 3/18/2019 at 8:23 PM, Turtles06 said:

 

Are you asking just in terms of getting a quote from them?  In my case, I gave them the whole post code to get their quote.  Once it came to the actual booking, I gave them the name and address of the hotel (including the post code).   Apologies if this doesn't answer your question, perhaps I'm not understanding it.

Yes that is what I was asking. Thank you so much!

 

Edited March 21, 2019 by jrmende63

[jrmende63]

On 3/18/2019 at 8:31 PM, phabric said:

 

Yes, SW1 is your hotel postal code.

Thank you so much! I have so much to learn before we get to Europe.

 

[Turtles06]

On 3/18/2019 at 8:31 PM, phabric said:

 

Yes, SW1 is your hotel postal code.

 

3 hours ago, jrmende63 said:

Thank you so much! I have so much to learn before we get to Europe.

 

 

It’s not the post code, it’s only the first part of it.  Please see Globaliser’s comment 15 above. 

[jrmende63]

On 3/21/2019 at 5:38 AM, Turtles06 said:

 

 

It’s not the post code, it’s only the first part of it.  Please see Globaliser’s comment 15 above. 

I understand. Thank you for the clarification.

 

[Cruisin Brenda]

I  booked Blackberry this past Sunday for our trip in April and it is 44 pounds total  for the trip in a Saloon car (which looks like a mid size sedan) for my husband, me, 2 pieces of checked luggage and 2 pieces of carry on luggage from Heathrow to our hotel in Bloomsbury. The chat feature on the website made it easy, and after an overnight flight we are happy to pay a bit extra to avoid toting all that luggage on trains to taxis to hotel.