Advice on London hotels for pre cruise 2 night stay?

[trrn2016]

Hi,

 We will be staying 2 nights pre cruise in London. Looking at Hampton by Hilton Waterloo and Staybridge Suites Vauxhall. Looking for any advice and suggestions. Thanks!!

[gnome12]

10 minutes ago, trrn2016 said:

Hi,

 We will be staying 2 nights pre cruise in London. Looking at Hampton by Hilton Waterloo and Staybridge Suites Vauxhall. Looking for any advice and suggestions. Thanks!!

What airport are you arriving at? Where are you cruising from, and how do you plan to get there?

 

These answers might affect suggestions. (2 nights is going to be essentially a day and a bit of exploration due to jet lag, so convenience for transportation might be the most important.)

[trrn2016]

4 minutes ago, gnome12 said:

What airport are you arriving at? Where are you cruising from, and how do you plan to get there?

 

These answers might affect suggestions. (2 nights is going to be essentially a day and a bit of exploration due to jet lag, so convenience for transportation might be the most important.)

We are flying into Heathrow and cruising out of Southampton. Currently planning on taking Uber from Heathrow to hotel. Also planning on taking tour from hotel to Stonehenge and then to Southampton. Interested in hotel near sights. Any help appreciated.

[newport dave]

2 hours ago, trrn2016 said:

We are flying into Heathrow and cruising out of Southampton. Currently planning on taking Uber from Heathrow to hotel. Also planning on taking tour from hotel to Stonehenge and then to Southampton. Interested in hotel near sights. Any help appreciated.

Uber will be roughly £40-50, but could be vastly more depending on how busy it is.

[geoherb]

The Hampton by Hilton is in a better location. You'd be about a mile from Big Ben and from Trafalgar Square. It's over a mile and half from the Staybridge to Trafalgar Square.

[Turtles06]

We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton Waterloo for three nights last fall.  We walked to Parliament (Big Ben)/Westminster Abbey the first morning (and plenty of walking around that day).  Also walked to the London Eye from the hotel, which is even closer. 

 

The hotel is close to the Waterloo tube station, which will be a fine jumping off point for wherever you want to go by tube.  The Waterloo rail station is in the same place.   Had a wonderful dinner one night in an excellent Indian restaurant called The Thames across from the Waterloo tube station. It was quite popular; reserve in advance if you are interested. 

 

The hotel was fine, much nicer than Hampton Inns in the U.S. and with a much better breakfast.  And there's a bar in the lobby. (Also different from the U.S.!)

 

We used Blackberry Cars for our transfer from Heathrow to the hotel.   One suggestion re your tour to Stonehenge on your way to Southampton: if you have time, I highly recommend that you visit Salisbury and its magnificent Cathedral as well.

Edited August 30, 2019 by Turtles06

[djh1959]

I second the suggestion of Blackberry Cars.  We have used them a few times on London trips and they are good value and very reliable.  A cab or Uber could end up horrendously expensive if you get stuck in traffic.

[Bob++]

Perhaps some more explanation about the various taxi options between LHR and London would be useful:

 

The ubiquitous 'black' cab (not always black btw) is the only taxi that you can hail on the street. There is a taxi rank at Heathrow, where they line up up to collect passengers. They have a meter (regulated by law) and you pay both for mileage and time and the current fare between LHR and Central London is £48 - £90. The low end would be a destination in the Western part of town, with virtually no delays.

https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/taxis-and-minicabs/taxi-fares

 

Uber, Bolt, Lyft and Hailo are all taxi companies that get around the rule about not picking up any customers that are not pre-booked by using an app for the booking. Again, they are on a meter (although that is their own and not regulated) and the cost would be £30 to £40.

https://www.uber.com/global/en/airports/lhr/#price-estimate

 

Blackberry and many others too numerous to list are private hire operators (aka minicabs). They will meet your flight (you give them the details) and help with the luggage. The price is quoted in advance and is fixed, so the variable due to congestion is at their risk. The cost is usually around £40 to £50, but you have the advantage of knowing the charge in advance

https://www.blackberrycars.com/minicab-to-heathrow/heathrow-wc-london/

 

As for tips - these can be anywhere between zero and 10% depending on how helpful the driver is. Taxi drivers here do not depend on tips to make a living so do not feel bad about not tipping if they don't earn it. 

Edited August 31, 2019 by Bob++