Cotswold Eagle

I hadn't heard of this new (2023) hotel, but looks good. For other locals struggling to place it, it's seems to be a refurbishment of the large commercial building that is the link from Vauxhall Bridge Road to Wilton Place, right by the side entrances to Victoria Station. There used to be a very useful Argos store on the ground floor, which I expect is no more 😀 Good location if you want to be in that part of town. It will only take that long if you get lost 😉 `About 10 minutes, I'd reckon.

JB is broadly right, but note that Advance tickets can only be changed BEFORE the departure of the first booked service, after which they have no value. (Useful for changes of plan, not for missing the booked service.) The rules are quite opaque and depend on how the ticket was purchased, too, so I'd say not worth factoring into this scenario. Incidentally, there is no such thing as an Advance Return - you buy two Advance single tickets, but the booking engines make that quite simple these days and show the options when a search is made for a return. To add more complexity, to JB’s delight, SWR do now have a semi-flexible return, which is like an Advance on the outward (i.e. valid only on a booked service), but can be used on any return service, so you could leave London whenever you liked that day. This would have been good if you were sure which train to London you wanted (more useful for those already in Southampton, rather than arriving!) It’s slightly cheaper than a Super Off Peak Return, but ties you to a particular time to London, and they have to be purchased the day before at latest. So if I were you, I’d just rock up at the station at your convenience, and buy Super Off Peak Returns, which will be valid on any outward and return trains that Sunday.

Some confusion here. Thalys, which was never Dutch (the rail company in the Netherlands is NS), no longer exists - former Thalys services are operated by Eurostar, as mentioned above and on previous threads, the so-called Eurostar Red trains. I’m intrigued why tickets bought through SNCF caused an issue. They certainly sell Eurostar tickets (and indeed are the majority shareholder of the Eurostar group). But, yes, tickets for Amsterdam-Paris can be bought on the Eurostar website.

Crikey, this is a question we haven’t had for a while! A lot (all?) of the multi-currency ATMs in central London were owned by Raphael’s Bank, which rather quietly concluded its slide into liquidation in 2020. I don’t know of them being replaced, but I haven’t really looked at any ATMs since then anyway. I expect there will still be some at the airports run by the forex firms (TravelEx at LHR, Change Group at LGW?) But as you say it will be an expensive route, as they will charge (and take the margin) for a double exchange - USD to GBP, then GBP to EUR.

That's simply not true, I'm afraid. The largest operator of rail services is a public body (the so-called operator of last resort) and the network itself is in public ownership via an arm's length body. It's hard to see how any Train Operating Company, however owned, can operate trains over a closure on the network, which is not in their control, Even if it was, railways frequently require repair, safety work and upgrading. So, yes, not running trains at all is often their only option, but in accordance with their franchise and regulatory requirements they will lay on alternative transport, as in this case. Wow.

Not on the class 444 units used on Waterloo - Southampton (as per the video Globaliser posted). They are ideal for long distance commuting, but SWR use them heavily on holiday routes, and lack of luggage space is a well known issue. Anyone who commutes on these services will be well used to this issue!

Rule 2 of Cruise Critic: NEVER use the Drain! To be fair, it is a lot better after the refurbishment 20-ish (?) years ago. Although I haven't used it post-COVID, I would not recommend it to a tourist at 0830 heading to the City...

It's a good shout generally, but the London Eye pier doesn't start operating until after the OP needs to be at the Tower.

I absolutely agree with your choice of Tube line, but Westminster is significantly closer to the Park Plaza than Embankment, so I'd head there straight over the bridge.

First rule of Cruise Critic: NEVER change at Green Park (particularly with luggage) 😀

Have you sat in one? Both dimensions make a significant difference, particularly on a long haul, in my experience. I’m not sure why you are comparing a premium product to a business one, to be honest!

Specifically on the seat, that’s not quite right. Norse’s Premiun seat is slightly wider and has significantly better pitch (leg room) than is standard on legacy carriers, including BA.

As stated above, that is true of Premier Inns, but not of Premier Inn HUBs.

About 150 miles.

That’s the system showing you the most convenient transfer, assuming on time services. If you search just for Reading to Paddington trains you will see how many there are. Just jump on the first fast one when you get to the platform. .

11 or 10, as it happens, but they are both either side of the same island platform (and therefore down the same lift or escalator 😀) Trains may leave in a different order to arriving, but not worth stressing about, unless you are very late for a meeting in town (ahem). But do ignore any trains to Paddington posted from higher numbered platforms - these will be stoppers and take an extra 20-30 minutes, depending on how many extra places they stop at!

There are lifts at both ends of the upstream Golden Jubilee Bridge (ie the Westminster side) but I agree it’s not an ideal route with luggage!

Mapperton is a rather splendid Jacobean Manor House, garden and estate in private hands (the Earl of Sandwich) in Dorset, which is open to visit during the summer. It would appear that the Viscount Hinchingbrooke, who is the Earl's son, married an American lady who appeared on the show you mention and various other so-called reality shows in the States, none of which I have heard of previously! The Viscount and Viscountess manage the estate. [And this now ranks as the most English answer I have written on CC!] OP - I fear a private tour (or a car there and back) will be your only option, but I am not familiar with operators in that part of the country, I'm afraid.

I am surprised it's an edge case of a TOC not offering tickets available from the operating TOC (and others). It's not offered even if checking for a group of adults. I can hear Mr Bull exploding from here.... Commendably, I think, SWR does market Group Save specifically to families, even though as you say the discount is always off the adult fare. The actual condition applied is that at least one adult travels. For the OP's purposes, it's a walk up fare, like the Off Peaks, so could be bought on the day.

Which booking engine is that? As well as having a rather confusing interface, it’s not showing you the actual cheapest tickets for your journey, which is a Group Save, costing total £42.10 for Off Peak returns.

Yup, that's the only place they'll be able to get jobs out of the airport. It's sequenced too, so pretty much like a cab rank - I think I have read they can turn one job down before going to the back of the queue. https://www.uber.com/global/en/r/airports/lhr/driver-information/

That's not been true for some years. Uber and otters private hire drivers waiting for a fare must wait in the Authorised Vehicle Area (AVA) off the North Peri Road, similar to the black cab staging area. The app is geo-fenced to that location, so they should not be able to pick up airport fares from the villages,

Or, indeed, with three days to play with, literally anywhere else in the U.K. or the rest of Western Europe!

Yes, I’m afraid you’ll mostly find espresso-based drinks, either barista made or from a machine. I think filter coffee is still on the menu at Starbucks, but they may well have “run out” (not bothered). There is not the demand or profit margin to keep a fresh pot running. The ubiquitous Pret A Manger, mostly known for its sandwiches and other food, does have filter coffee on their menu. But again most food stores will sell basically a long americano with or without milk as ‘white’ or ‘black’ coffee.

The RailAir service will appear on rail planners if you put Heathrow Bus or a specific Terminal (avoiding the 'rail' versions...) as the destination, which I accept is not very helpful if you don't know that, which most visitors won't 🤣