Heathrow hotel choice?

[bookbabe]

Okay, so we have a BA flight into Heathrow, staying two nights before a connection to Oslo for our cruise this September.  We are looking for a hotel with direct airport access (no bus) plus relatively easy access to trains to visit London sights (have one full day as an extended layover).

 

We’d originally booked the Sofitel at T5, which seemed to tick all our boxes, but it looks like our flights arrive and depart from T3.  Our option there looks to be the Hilton Garden Inn T2/T3…I think.

 

Is the Hilton our best option?  Thoughts on best nice/higher end hotels with easy access to the airport and trains?

 

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by bookbabe

[Globaliser]

Are you flying from Toronto to Heathrow? If so, then I'm pretty sure that you arrive at T5. The flight from Heathrow to Oslo does depart from T3.

 

What time is your flight from Heathrow to Oslo? Unless it's at silly o'clock in the morning, I think that your best option is actually a hotel in town. Transferring from Heathrow to central London and back again just to go sightseeing will drive you up the wall, and staying at the airport means that you'll risk depriving yourself of evening entertainment.

 

If you do have a silly o'clock flight from Heathrow, then in addition to the HGI (which is really at T2) there is also the Aerotel at T3. Walking distances from both hotels to check-in is probably about the same (because of where the Aerotel is), but I think it should be an easier walk from the Aerotel. AFAIK, these are the only two hotels in the Central Terminal Area, where T3 is located.

[bookbabe]

12 minutes ago, Globaliser said:

Are you flying from Toronto to Heathrow? If so, then I'm pretty sure that you arrive at T5. The flight from Heathrow to Oslo does depart from T3.

 

What time is your flight from Heathrow to Oslo? Unless it's at silly o'clock in the morning, I think that your best option is actually a hotel in town. Transferring from Heathrow to central London and back again just to go sightseeing will drive you up the wall, and staying at the airport means that you'll risk depriving yourself of evening entertainment.

 

If you do have a silly o'clock flight from Heathrow, then in addition to the HGI (which is really at T2) there is also the Aerotel at T3. Walking distances from both hotels to check-in is probably about the same (because of where the Aerotel is), but I think it should be an easier walk from the Aerotel. AFAIK, these are the only two hotels in the Central Terminal Area, where T3 is located.

Grand Cayman to LHR, not Toronto.  They sometimes use T5, but it’s T3 on our arrival date.

 

And yes, depart stupid early, thus one of the reasons why we are looking at direct access airport hotels.  Especially with the time change, we prefer not to mess around with extra travel on arrival/departure day.  I’ll check out the Aerotel, thanks.

Edited May 26, 2023 by bookbabe

[bookbabe]

Aerotel won’t book stays over 24 hours.  Any thoughts on the Hilton?

[Zach1213]

Hilton Garden Inn is solid. I still prefer the Sofitel, even though I am a Hilton loyalist (and even though a lot of Sofitel rooms don't have exterior views, which drives me nuts), but when I do stay at the Hilton Garden Inn it's a nice stay. 

 

I still would vote on staying in the city. I am no stranger to very early LHR flights and, unless I am purely on a layover (i.e. 12 hours or less, such as from a daytime ORD-LHR flight connecting to the next morning's Europe bank of flights), I'll go to the city and put up with the pain of an early trip back to Heathrow so that I can enjoy my day/night more. Obviously to each their own but I personally feel like the pain of going back and forth for sightseeing is worse than one early train/bus/car back to Heathrow in the morning. 

[Globaliser]

49 minutes ago, bookbabe said:

Aerotel won’t book stays over 24 hours.

 

It appears to be available for multiple nights if you book through third party sites, and Aerotel's own website says to contact them for stays that are longer than 24 hours.

 

If you can't book the Aerotel, then it's Hobson's choice for your criteria: the HGI is the only other hotel in the CTA. Anything else will require a transfer. Even transferring from either T5 or T4 for an 0715-ish flight would incur a large proportion of the pain that you'd suffer from staying in central London. You'd have to allow 30-45 minutes for the transfer, and in the morning you wouldn't have to allow that much more to transfer from a central London hotel.

[Twickenham]

I think the hotel that best answers your needs is the Hilton London Paddington. It's in Central London, so convenient for sights, but directly connected to Paddington station, where you can hop on the Heathrow Express and be at LHR in 15 minutes.

[Zach1213]

50 minutes ago, Twickenham said:

I think the hotel that best answers your needs is the Hilton London Paddington. It's in Central London, so convenient for sights, but directly connected to Paddington station, where you can hop on the Heathrow Express and be at LHR in 15 minutes.

 

I would agree that anything around Paddington may be easiest and best. There are approximately 1,539,106 hotels within even a short walking distance of Paddington, though many are those fairly mediocre "side street" hotels you find throughout London. The Hilton may very well be the best option there. 

[bookbabe]

How reliable is the Heathrow Express?  Is there a chance of delays during the morning rush hour?

 

I like the idea of staying somewhere other than the airport, but unless the airport hotels are really sketchy we’ll probably save that until we are actually “visiting” London rather than just squeezing in a short look around.  Basically, we’ve got one day of sightseeing sandwiched in-between two travel days on our way to the cruise.  So we’ll be doing two trains from the airport area to the main tourist area either way, we just figured it was safer to do those on the non-travel day so that if there are delays or we get lost, we’re not stressing about missing flights or being annoyed because we’re overtired from a long travel day and jet lag.

 

Am I overthinking it?  Is transit that much better in London than in Toronto, and we aren’t going to get stuck on a train/bus/subway for an hour due to “unexpected delays” like seems to happen here so often?

[gumshoe958]

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

How reliable is the Heathrow Express?  Is there a chance of delays during the morning rush hour?

 

I like the idea of staying somewhere other than the airport, but unless the airport hotels are really sketchy we’ll probably save that until we are actually “visiting” London rather than just squeezing in a short look around.  Basically, we’ve got one day of sightseeing sandwiched in-between two travel days on our way to the cruise.  So we’ll be doing two trains from the airport area to the main tourist area either way, we just figured it was safer to do those on the non-travel day so that if there are delays or we get lost, we’re not stressing about missing flights or being annoyed because we’re overtired from a long travel day and jet lag.

 

Am I overthinking it?  Is transit that much better in London than in Toronto, and we aren’t going to get stuck on a train/bus/subway for an hour due to “unexpected delays” like seems to happen here so often?

We Londoners love to grumble about our public transport but in truth it’s fairly reliable. Except when there’s a strike. Or a signal failure. Or it’s too foggy/windy/wet/snowy/hot/cold. 
 

For a 7.30am-ish flight you’ll want to be checking in by 5.30 or 6. The first Heathrow Express leaves Paddington at 5.10 and arrives at 5.26. It’s then a 5-10 minute walk to T3. There’s also the Elizabeth line, which runs on exactly the same route but takes a bit longer as it stops more. That starts up at 4.36am and runs every few minutes.

 

If you get to Paddington and find the trains are kaput for any reason, you can always jump in a cab or book an Uber.

 

Edited May 26, 2023 by gumshoe958

[Twickenham]

3 hours ago, bookbabe said:

Am I overthinking it?  Is transit that much better in London than in Toronto, and we aren’t going to get stuck on a train/bus/subway for an hour due to “unexpected delays” like seems to happen here so often?

 

Yes, to both questions. And as gumshoe958 pointed out there are enough alternatives that you get stuck. And transport to/from an airport hotel to LHR certainly won't be significantly faster. And as the HEX isn't a commuter train, you won't be affected by rush hour (and you would be travelling the opposite direction to commuters anyways).

Edited May 26, 2023 by Twickenham

[bookbabe]

I’m convinced.  Booked the Hilton Paddington for two nights.  Looks like a great hotel from the videos and reviews.

[markeb]

1 hour ago, bookbabe said:

I’m convinced.  Booked the Hilton Paddington for two nights.  Looks like a great hotel from the videos and reviews.

 

Assuming you have an iPhone (and the app is in the Canadian app store...), download the Heathrow Express App. You can book discounted HEX tickets (fixed date, no refunds or exchanges) 90 days before travel for as little as £5.50. Check all the booking rules But that can actually be the cheapest way into London! You can also book online, but if you get the tickets in your app, everything is paperless.

 

Paddington also gives you the option of the new Elizabeth Line (30 minutes instead of 15 minutes). So you have a lot of options to and from Heathrow from the Paddington area.

[pink845]

Bookbabe, I see you decided on Hilton Paddington.  I guess when making any comparison to Toronto transit no one understands unless they live it and ride it. Countless delays mess with our minds to make us worry unnessarily about other advanced cities' transit systems (like London) and networks. I get it completely. Due to our bad luck in Toronto, we subscribe to the motto of ÀLWAYS staying at an airport hotel when we have an early flight or ship transfer the next morning. Then we can enjoy the short time we have for us 3 days in London prior. One night in London to see city at night is all we need. Been to shows etc... countless other times prior, so no worry about enjoying nightlife.  The three  full days we are in London prior, we will be up early and take tube into city. We are back in London for a full week in late sept but even on that trip my last night will be in an airport hotel close to my terminal 2. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, pink845 said:

Bookbabe, I see you decided on Hilton Paddington.  I guess when making any comparison to Toronto transit no one understands unless they live it and ride it. Countless delays mess with our minds to make us worry unnessarily about other advanced cities' transit systems (like London) and networks. I get it completely. Due to our bad luck in Toronto, we subscribe to the motto of ÀLWAYS staying at an airport hotel when we have an early flight or ship transfer the next morning. Then we can enjoy the short time we have for us 3 days in London prior. One night in London to see city at night is all we need. Been to shows etc... countless other times prior, so no worry about enjoying nightlife.  The three  full days we are in London prior, we will be up early and take tube into city. We are back in London for a full week in late sept but even on that trip my last night will be in an airport hotel close to my terminal 2. 

We just got our flights earlier this week from NCL, and flying United which I believe uses terminal 2. Could you share what hotels are there. DW does not want us to have to schlep our luggage into London. We also figure for transfers it is easier to be by an airport terminal.

[gumshoe958]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We just got our flights earlier this week from NCL, and flying United which I believe uses terminal 2. Could you share what hotels are there. DW does not want us to have to schlep our luggage into London. We also figure for transfers it is easier to be by an airport terminal.

There is only one hotel actually at Terminal 2, the Hilton Garden Inn. That’s a short walk from the terminal and the tube/rail stations.

All the other airport hotels (there are dozens) are off airport and involve a cab or bus ride. Also note that Heathrow does not allow hotels to operate their own shuttles, so you have to either use a city bus or the ‘Hoppa’ shuttle which is not free, often crowded and serves several hotels on each route.

[Twickenham]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

We also figure for transfers it is easier to be by an airport terminal.

 

It isn't. I cannot emphasize how easy the Heathrow Express option is. When we last used it (albeit from Terminal 5) we were able to wheel our luggage cart to within 10 feet of the train, and there were carts (requiring a £1 coin to unlock) waiting on the platform. And if you stay at the Hilton, there's direct access to the hotel from the station, so in theory you could wheel your cart right into the lobby. Compared to this, transport to one of the LHR hotels not connected to a terminal seems daftly complicated.

[ontheweb]

6 hours ago, Twickenham said:

 

It isn't. I cannot emphasize how easy the Heathrow Express option is. When we last used it (albeit from Terminal 5) we were able to wheel our luggage cart to within 10 feet of the train, and there were carts (requiring a £1 coin to unlock) waiting on the platform. And if you stay at the Hilton, there's direct access to the hotel from the station, so in theory you could wheel your cart right into the lobby. Compared to this, transport to one of the LHR hotels not connected to a terminal seems daftly complicated.

As I wrote previously, DW has said that she does not want us to have to schlep the luggage to London.

 

Also, if we were to do that we would have to check if we would have to go back to the airport to get our transfers. We have the NCL BOGO flights with a one day deviation so we can spend a day in London. Our TA has said he would have to check, but he believes that if you do the BOGO, they will only do the transfer from the airport.

Edited May 29, 2023 by ontheweb

[Globaliser]

Just now, ontheweb said:

As I wrote previously, DW has said that she does not want us to have to schlep the luggage to London.

 

For your specific requirements, you have no choice: it's the Hilton Garden Inn or nothing. Every other option - whether at the airport, near the airport, or in town - involves schlepping your luggage. And it's more difficult to schlep your luggage to some airport hotels than it is to schlep your luggage to some hotels in town.

[ontheweb]

9 hours ago, Globaliser said:

 

For your specific requirements, you have no choice: it's the Hilton Garden Inn or nothing. Every other option - whether at the airport, near the airport, or in town - involves schlepping your luggage. And it's more difficult to schlep your luggage to some airport hotels than it is to schlep your luggage to some hotels in town.

Yes, I came to the same conclusion.

 

And this morning, I booked the hotel. The rate seemed reasonable, and then at checkout taxes were added, and the final price was over 1/3 higher. Oh well, what can you do.

 

DW later said "Did you check hotels.com or expedia?". And I then checked both and Hotels.com final price was way lower, and the taxes were lower also. So, I booked with them and cancelled with the hotel (hopefully the credit will show up in 3-5 business days as it says) and saved not quite $110.

[pink845]

Hilton Garden Inn Terminal 2 is connected to Terminal 2 via covered walkway and to Terminal 3 with underpass per their website.  Transfers with Princess I believe from  Central Bus station at Terminal 2.  I need to confirm that myself. Hard to get information out of Princess but check with Ncl with respect to your exact pick up location and time for your transfer to ship. I know the last time I did a transfer with Princess in Los Angeles I had to go through several people there to get the exact location of where we should wait for the bus transfer. I wish details were more clear. But you should ask for specific details and time from ncl in your case. Also should you want to zip downtown to London, Hilton Garden website states it would be 15 min on Heathrow Express.  After  long flight, there is nothing better than getting to the hotel. Depositing bags for safekeeping and be on one's way. When we were younger, we could deal with lugging bags here there and everywhere but now we try to choose hotel close enough to the Terminal where we arrive.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, pink845 said:

Hilton Garden Inn Terminal 2 is connected to Terminal 2 via covered walkway and to Terminal 3 with underpass per their website.  Transfers with Princess I believe from  Central Bus station at Terminal 2.  I need to confirm that myself. Hard to get information out of Princess but check with Ncl with respect to your exact pick up location and time for your transfer to ship. I know the last time I did a transfer with Princess in Los Angeles I had to go through several people there to get the exact location of where we should wait for the bus transfer. I wish details were more clear. But you should ask for specific details and time from ncl in your case. Also should you want to zip downtown to London, Hilton Garden website states it would be 15 min on Heathrow Express.  After  long flight, there is nothing better than getting to the hotel. Depositing bags for safekeeping and be on one's way. When we were younger, we could deal with lugging bags here there and everywhere but now we try to choose hotel close enough to the Terminal where we arrive.

Thanks, great information provided.