born2teachsc

I will be in London for 2 nights flying in and out of Heathrow. My flight out of Heathrow is around 2pm on a Tuesday. I was trying to find hotels with easy access to Heathrow and Central London within a budget of $275USD. Are any of these 6 worth staying in? They looked accessible to the tube stations and were on average 30 min away from Heathrow.

1) London Premier Notting Hill

2) BW Shaftesbury Paddington Court

3) Hyde Park Premier London Paddington

4) Metropolis London Hyde Park

5) London Premier Kensington

6) Hotel Henry VIII

janisj

I would not stay in ANY of those - they are only convenient to LHR via trains and are quite far from most places you'd want to visit. That 30 mins is deceiving -- the train is fast but then you have a slog via foot/ taxi or tube to the hotels.

Pick a place along the Piccadilly tube line (Gloucester Rd, South Kensington, Leicester Square, Russell Square, etc). All are w/ an easy tube ride from LHR for much less £££ and are all more central/closer to sites/attractions.

Your budget is fine @ $275/£165 to stay in any of these better areas . . .

bvlenci

When we have a short time in London, we usually stay near Victoria station. You can get either the tube or a coach there from Heathrow. If you get the tube, you have to change to the District line. It's very easy to do this at Hammersmith, where you just have to cross the platform. The coach is National Express to Victoria Coach Station.

There are lots of hotels in the area. We've stayed several times on Belgrave Rd., in one of several budget hotels we know.

janisj

Yes - besides along the Piccadilly Line, Victoria would be perfectly fine. Just not those places in Paddington/Bayswater you listed.

born2teachsc

Is there a nice Premier Inn near the Piccadilly/Victoria location you mentioned? I get emails all the time from them.
I also saw on the same Shaftesbury website there was. BW Premier London Piccadilly that was in my budget for $275 total for both nights.
What about those?

born2teachsc

I really want something that has a direct shot to Heathrow. We were going to go into Central London but are fine with having to take multiple lines there, but with our flight being at 2pm, I don't want to risk it with lunch hour traffic.

jamikins

What lunch hour traffic?? In the tubes? Nothing to worry about plus you will need to leave earlier than lunchtime to get to the airport for a 2pm flight.

Anything on the Piccadilly line is a straight shot and Ike stated above the change on the district line is simple...literally on the same platform, just opposite sides of the platform.

jamikins

Here is the premier inn at Victoria

http://www.premierinn.com/en/hotel/L...ondon-victoria

janisj

The Best Western Premier London Piccadilly is midway between the Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square tube stations so very central and close to a TON of sites. Piccadilly Circus can be a confusing tube station because of all the exits. Use the Shaftsbury Ave exit (I think that's exit 4) and it is only about a two block walk to the hotel

janisj

Mid day traffic is the same as any other time - but irrelevant on the tube. W/ a 2 PM flight you wouldn't be in any 'lunch hour traffic' -- even IF there was such a thing.

You need to be at LHR by about 11:00 or 11:30A so no matter where you stay you'll be leaving central London by 10:30-ish at the latest.

born2teachsc

Sorry..I didn't know there wasn't a lunch traffic. We have those frequently here and it's just certain times of the day that we don't travel on because of the congestion.

BW Premier London would be perfect if it wasn't completely out of my budget. I can only afford £178 total for both nights. Ugh! Why am I making this so hard?

janisj

>>BW Premier London would be perfect if it wasn't completely out of my budget. <<

Ok -- I'm confused. The only reason I described the location of the BW and how to get there is because you posted >>BW Premier London Piccadilly that was in my budget for $275 total for both nights. <<

>>Sorry..I didn't know there wasn't a lunch traffic. We have those frequently here and it's just certain times of the day that we don't travel on because of the congestion.<<

You won't be on the surface (w/ the vehicle traffic). There is no difference - underground the tube trains come and go at about the same frequency at 7AM, or at 10AM or at 1PM or at 3PM or at 7PM etc.

And on the surface/streets - traffic is about the same (very congested) all the time between maybe 8AM and 10:30PM. Have you ever traveled to a major city like New York or Paris or San Francisco. "lunch hour traffic' is essentially the same as any other time - LOTS.

But as I said - you won't be traveling over the lunch hour anyway. You'll be at Heathrow going through security at that time of day.

Check that Premier Inn jamikins linked.

born2teachsc

Thank you all so much. I did think the BW was in my price range but didn't see it was in pounds and not dollars. I bit the bullet and used priceline just to try and see what bidding would give me and I won 2 nights at the Best Western Burns Hotel in Kensington for $275 total. I know that isn't any of the options anyone gave me and a huge gamble on my part.
Just glad to be done. Thanks again!

janisj

That was a bit rash - but you did luck out a bit. The hotel is not in Kensington - - - its in Barkston Gardens which is directly across the way from Earls Court tube station. You can take the underground directly from LHR.