We have a two night stay in London following our transatlantic flight. We plan on staying in central London the first night, but would like to stay near Heathrow the 2nd night prior to an early flight.

I have been able to find all sorts of info on how to get from Heathrow to the airport hotels by transit, but not from central London to them. Is it straigh forward, or a pain, where you have to go through the airport?

If it is a huge hassle, I think we'll just spend both nights in the centre and take a very early train.

Try looking at Hatton Cross tube stop near Heathrow from which TFL buses run by all the hotel strip. Hilton Hotel is actually attached to terminal 4 by a walkway.

Are the TFL busses the regular transit busses? Not the Hoppa?

Transport for London buses i think but in any case they are public buses that TravelCards, Oysters are good on. (London has other bus companies besides TfL and for the tourist purposes i think they are all the same regardless of operator. anyway they run frequently along the hotel strip - i took one recently. I'm not positive about Hatton Cross but think that was the tube station the buses stopped at near the hotel strip. You could of course go to Heathrow terminals 1,2 ,3 bus stop and catch the bus from there. Some hotels also have free shuttles to their hotels from the airport.

I'd suggest you stay in Central London for both nights. For just 2 nights, it seems a waste of time and energy to move from 1 hotel to another.

For an early flight out of LHR, just book a car service. JustAirports is one which many Fodorites recommend and I had a good experience with also.

Thanks for all the help.

I had a look at an underground map, Hatton Cross is the last station before Heathrow, so it is likely the one to use.

Unfortunately our budget in London is tight. I am attracted to the Heathrow hotel for both convienient access for the flight as well as the less expensive hotel options. I could afford the 2nd night in London, but then not the car service! I figured we would leave our bags at our hotel until the end of our evening, and then pick them up before heading out to the airport. The central London/car service option is the ideal one, but not in the cards for this trip!