London Hotel-- Heathrow or mid city??

[Giantfan13]

I have asked a ton of questions already and I really appreciate all the great advice. We have narrowed down many of our choices to just a few.

Now I can used some advice to settle a few details. We have decided to do our London vacation post cruise. But we are flying into London two days early. Now my question. Our flight arrives in Heathrow at 8:30 PM, and I would assume we won't get out of the airport until about 10PM. Would it be better to just get an inexpensive hotel for the night right by Heathrow. I see the Travelodge there has a one night room for 19 pounds. If we do that, how do we get to the hotel from the airport??.

Now, if we stay at say, the Travelodge, and we want to spend the next night in London, do we have to get a taxi back to Heathrow in order to get the Express bus to London, or even Dot2Dot. Is there any transportation from the hotel row, into London. The tube is basically out of the question as we will have luggage, and we jsut won't be able to get it around on the tube.

 

Or, would it be more beneficial to just go to Dover the next day and stay the night there before our cruise. From what I ahve read, there really isn't that much to do in Dover, and I would prefer to spend as much time in London as possible.

 

One last question. If we stay in London, and want to take the National Express bus from London to Dover, we should try and stay around Victoria?? so it would be easier in the AM to get to the bus??. Is that reasoning sound??

 

Again, thanks so much for all the help I've gotten. You all are amazing.

[LHT28]

I came across this Hotel Hoppa ..have not used it but may work for you

http://www.heathrowairport.com/portal/page/Heathrow%5EGeneral%5ETo+and+from+Heathrow%5EHotel+transfers/b2382ed4f4599110VgnVCM10000036821c0a____/448c6a4c7f1b0010VgnVCM200000357e120a____/

[NiceGuy47]

The Hoppa is a bus service that serves practically all of the hotels close to Heathrow. It's a single deck bus that transfers passengers to the airport and to the hotels and has replaced most of the hotels' shuttle busses. The service isn't free and costs around £4 per person per single journey.

 

I would imagine that you will need to return to the airport to get the bus to take you into Central London as so far as I'm aware, there are very few stops en-route.

 

Yes, I suppose it would make sense to stay close to Victoria as you have an early morning departure but Central London is a relatively small place and nowhere would be far in a cab, especially at that hour of the morning.

 

Dover, forget it!

 

Have a great trip.

[jeanj]

We booked our hotel with www.yeego.com . We will be staying at London Elizabeth Hotel. It is at Hyde Park. At yeego it is $128 and on their webpage it is $214 At their web page it tells you how to get to the hotel from all London airports. http://www.londonelizabethhotel.co.uk/

 

To get from London to Dover, take the train from Victoria Station to Dover Priory Station. You can buy your ticket at Victoria. Be sure to get a open off-peak return (that's travel after 9:30AM, with the return date up to one month later) for 29 pounds. 60 pence (about $57.00). That's much cheaper than the $80 the cruise line wants each way.

[Globaliser]

But we are flying into London two days early. Now my question. Our flight arrives in Heathrow at 8:30 PM, and I would assume we won't get out of the airport until about 10PM. Would it be better to just get an inexpensive hotel for the night right by Heathrow. I see the Travelodge there has a one night room for 19 pounds. If we do that, how do we get to the hotel from the airport?

You would either need to take the Hotel Hoppa, or persuade a grumpy taxi driver to take you on this short trip. The Hoppa probably takes the prize for being the world's most frustrating airport <=> airport hotel transfer experience, but conventional hotel shuttles are not allowed to operate at Heathrow (with one exception, the Hilton <=> T5 shuttle).

 

But personally, I wouldn't do this if you have two pre-cruise nights. 10 pm in London is going to be only "late afternoon" by your body clock, so there's no reason why you shouldn't hoof it into town and settle in somewhere decent for a couple of nights, rather than put up with a mediocre room near the airport.

 

A note about "grumpy taxi drivers": They will often have been sitting in the taxi feeder park for 2-3 hours waiting to pick up a fare from the airport. The reason is that they want the lucrative jobs going into town. They are frustrated if they then only get a short job. But the grumpiness is for show; if they have a short job and can get back to the terminal within 45 minutes (or, possibly, 60 minutes now - I can't get a straight answer from anyone) they don't have to go back into the feeder park and can go straight to the terminal.

Now, if we stay at say, the Travelodge, and we want to spend the next night in London, do we have to get a taxi back to Heathrow in order to get the Express bus to London, or even Dot2Dot. Is there any transportation from the hotel row, into London. The tube is basically out of the question as we will have luggage, and we jsut won't be able to get it around on the tube.

 

Or, would it be more beneficial to just go to Dover the next day and stay the night there before our cruise. From what I ahve read, there really isn't that much to do in Dover, and I would prefer to spend as much time in London as possible.

Yes, basically you would have to go back to the airport. Yes, it'll be the Hotel Hoppa again.

 

You could in theory get public transport from the hotel to central London without going via the airport, but that will be by a series of normal commuter buses and even less compatible with your luggage.

 

I agree that there's little point in going to Dover to spend a night. There is no reason why you can't get from London to Dover on the same day as boarding the ship. And about the only thing there is to do in Dover is to see the castle. Would that be enough of a draw for you?

One last question. If we stay in London, and want to take the National Express bus from London to Dover, we should try and stay around Victoria? so it would be easier in the AM to get to the bus? Is that reasoning sound?

Yes, it is. But two things: First, remember that the coach station is not in the same place as the railway station; make sure that your hotel is close to the correct station. And second, if you're not right by the station and within walking distance of it, then frankly it matters little whether you're nearby or further away - if it's going to be a cab ride, it's going to be a cab ride and it makes little difference whether it's ½ a mile or 1½ miles.

 

Personally, though, I'd be taking the train from Victoria.

[maadimom]

I'm not saying not to stay in London, cause it's a great place. I will tell you that there is something to do in Dover. Dover Castle is a great place to spend some time. We thoroughly enjoyed our day there. There is a great tour of the underground tunnels used during the war. They run special events all the time so maybe one on the day you'd be there. There are also boat tours of the White Cliffs, and several museums. Anyway just another alternative for your consideration.

 

Google Dover Castle for their website.

[Giantfan13]

Again, thanks for all the helpfull advice. I didn't think about the so called 'body clock', and 10:00 London time we would really be about 4PM NY time. (body clock time). That does present another view of things.

 

Is that time I mentioned about right, getting out of Heathrow, about 10PM, if our flight is arriving about 8:30PM?? How late do the Dot2Dot shuttles run, and if we wanted to do the Heathrow Express, how late does that run??.

[tom_uk]

How late do the Dot2Dot shuttles run, and if we wanted to do the Heathrow Express, how late does that run??.

 

Dot2Dot say they run 24/7 - here's their website.

 

Heathrow Express run up to around 11:30 or so - again, here's their website.

 

I've never used either of them. However, there are some pluses and minuses. For example, Heathrow Express will be much quicker between the airport & Paddington station, but then you'll have switch to a cab which is a hassle. Whereas dot2dot might well be slower but will be door-to-door.

[Globaliser]

Is that time I mentioned about right, getting out of Heathrow, about 10PM, if our flight is arriving about 8:30PM?? How late do the Dot2Dot shuttles run, and if we wanted to do the Heathrow Express, how late does that run??.

With an 8.30 pm arrival, you'll have no problems getting into town using any of the conventional methods. Make sure you calculate the total cost of travel to your actual destination using Heathrow Express, if it's a serious consideration. You may find that, overall, at that time of the evening it's better value just to take a taxi from the airport to your hotel, given that traffic will be pretty light in most places by the time you're on the move towards central London.

[Giantfan13]

thanks once again for your excellent advice. Bravo