Arriving @ Heathrow at 11PM - should we forgo hotel on 1st night?
 

We are a group of 3 sisters in early mid- thirties traveling to London, Paris, Amsterdam in August 2012 arriving to Heathrow on Saturday 8/4/11 at 11PM – not ideal, but we bought the tickets using air miles. One of my sisters wants to forgo a hotel room the first night, and either:

1. Find a pub and have a pint until closing – then, what??
2. Stay in the airport and catch a few z’s
3. Store our luggage (one carryon each) + over the shoulder bags – if this is even possible – can we store our luggage in the train station – and begin touring?? This is during the Olympics, too - if that matters!

So, is she maaaad (as the Brits say), or should we just check in past midnight? (my vote) I’m posting here to humor her and prove my point, but I’m trying to keep an open mind. We’re flying from O’Hare on a 7.5 hour flight! 2/3 have been across the pond before – for some background. Thanks for your advice. If you agree with her, what should we do between midnight and 8am/ish? Thanks!

There are a number of hotels near Heathrow and a shuttle that goes there. I'd Priceline a hotel and get some sleep -- so you're ready to enjoy your trip.

Assuming you're staying in London, it makes no sense to not go to your hotel. Either way the thought of staying up all night is simply that of someone who doesn't remember what it feels like to get off a long haul flight. Sleep!

Agree with Mimar; While we arrived earlier than you, we stayed at a Sheraton that takes five minutes to get to from terminal 5, on the shuttle. Not sure how late the shuttle runs. No shuttle, use a cab. We used American Express Starwood points for a free night [4000]. On the way back to the airport on the shuttle, for a 7:30am flight, it was a longer ride. I think 20-25 minutes.

I agree with the others. Check into one of the nearby hotels and take the underground into London in the morning. If you're coming from North America you should probably be trying to adjust to the time change. We usually travel overnight and arrive in London in the morning quite exhausted.

Pubs will be close to closing then, you will be knackered. Hotel is a must.

Muck

My first thought was yes, your sister is crazy. But the more I though about it.....

I guess there are a few questions that would make a difference. Is budget an issue? If money is no object then I'd certainly opt for a hotel near the airport. But there are several things to consider especially if you are on a budget. The tube doesn't run between about midnight and 5-6am. I think the last one leaves Heathrow around 11:30 pm so you won't make that. I would check into car services or how much a taxi costs at that hour from Heathrow into central London. If you stayed at a hotel near the airport then you will still have the problem of having to store your luggage somewhere till you can check into your central London hotel for the second night. Many hotels let you leave your luggage at 8 or 9am or whenever you get there but not all do. You can store luggage at train stations but it's about £8 a bag I think.

Second question would be how well you can sleep on planes - and even if you usually can sleep, this will be a daytime flight so will be light out and people will be talking, etc so might be harder than on an overnight flight. Also, how well do you sleep on chairs and how well do you do with a few days of just 'naps' behind you. If you are the type that can sleep anywhere it might not be all that crazy an idea to sleep on the flight, then find somewhere in the airport where you can sleep till 5 am when you could take the tube into London, leave your bags at the hotel and spend the next several hours sightseeing (in August it will be light out early, and while sites will be closed there's plenty to see 'outside') till you could check in to your hotel, then take a nap. Naps on the first day are usually a bad idea, but this would be the second so might not be so bad.

All depends on you, your budget, and the amount of time you have.

I've been struggling to work out why your sister wants to do this. Do you usually sleep at airports?

AA 090 is normally scheduled to arrive 2240. The last fast train to Paddington from T3 leaves at 2346. So you could be at the Hilton Paddington at 0001, and could be in bed by 0005. What's odd about that?

If you think you'll be unable to sleep since your body will think it's just 1800, you're wrong. Even though you'll drowse on the flight, it'll be dark when you arrive (just!!), you'll have had a tiring (and oxygen-starved) day, and with the world around you going to bed, you will too. Honest.

I cannot stress too strongly how utterly buggered you'll feel at 8 the following morning if you've spent the night in a plastic chair at T3 arrivals, with cleaners hoovering round you every two hours and (if you're lucky) security staff or (if you're not) policemen with machine guns and dogs waking you up every other two hours and wanting to know why you haven't got a flight ticket. Heathrow at any time is the single most sensitive terrorist target in the Western world: during the Olympics you'll probably need security clearance to blow your nose in the place.

Any reason (except poverty) I can think of for your sister to dream this lunacy up is somewhere between misinformed and clinically deranged.

Incidentally, I wouldn't spend the night an an airport hotel, because you're then likely to be travelling into town when the tubes and train are busy. Go into town when you arrive and go to sleep.

we don't say "maaad", [God knows where you got that from] we say bonkers.

book your hotel NOW in a place easy to get to from Heathrow - the hilton paddington hits the spot, according to flanner so do that. they have a bar so if you're feeling frisky, you can have a drink when you get there.

then crash [as the Yanks say] until morning.

BTW - << We are a group of 3 sisters in early mid- thirties traveling to London, Paris, Amsterdam in August 2012 arriving to Heathrow on Saturday 8/4/11 at 11PM >> - suggests that you arriving on 8th April 2011 if you are in the UK. Wht you mean is that you are arriving at 11pm on 4.8.12 - ie 4th August. [we put the day before the month].

as 4th august is a saturday, the bar at the Hilton is open until 4.30 am so your sis should have a ball.

annhig, et al - thanks for the good advice! Yes, we are on a budget, but this is the first night of our 12 day trip for goodness sake, with free flights, no less! Due to the olympics, all the hotels are sky high and/or sold out. Prior to booking, we (forgot) about the olympics. yikes! Hilton Paddington sounds intriguing, so I'm going to check directly.
And, yes, - she is bonkers! haha.

At thirty, I might have briefly considered the up all night idea, but would have discarded it very quickly! At my age, would not even consider it. think anyone who would is beyond bonkers! Hope you find a place!

Without a hotel that first night, you couldn't settle into a room till about 3:00 check-in time the next day!. No, way!

Lots of people find themselves having to wait several hours in a major airport - only not during the day.

Once in trying to decide what to do with ten hours between arrival at Gatwick around midnight and departure from Luton at 10am, I came across this site:

http://www.sleepinginairports.net/eu...onheathrow.htm


There are also business lounges which are open from around 6am to 11pm. These are not cheap, but the ones in Heathrow would probably be cheaper than a hotel room during Olympics:

https://www.executivelounges.com/en/index.php

When you make a reservaton at the Servisair Lounge, be sure to make it for one day ahead. I once made the mistake of making a reservation based on US time - silly me!

For your consideration; All you have to do if you intend to stay at the airport is sigh up for a STARWOOD American Express CC. No charge the first year and you will get 10,000 points. It only takes 4000 points for a free night at the airport Sheraton. Then you can cancel the CC if you want.

BTW, I linked to the "sleeping in airports" website not to suggest that you sleep over in Heathrow, but to give you some idea of what overnighting in Heathrow would be like. Read the reviews.

If you want to go into the city, you might also check into availability at youth hostels for one night. The Hostelling International hostels are usually safe and clean hostels.

Apparently there's a bus that runs all night from Heathrow into the city. Here's the schedule for the N9 bus (I've never used this bus):

http://www.londonbusroutes.net/times/N009.htm

"AA 090 is normally scheduled to arrive 2240. The last fast train to Paddington from T3 leaves at 2346. So you could be at the Hilton Paddington at 0001, and could be in bed by 0005. What's odd about that?"

Or just book a car service that will take you to a hotel that you want to be at as opposed to one that's convenient. It'll also be cheaper and you won't be panicking getting through immigration and collecting luggage

Way, way back in June 1966 (age 19, first trip abroad and all by myself) I tried to sleep at Heathrow and got rousted by the police (though they were unbelievably nice and did find me a place to stay and a free ride to the hotel).

I can't imagine that you would be allowed to sleep there today with all the security issues.

Fun fact: In those days the pay phones were so different than those in the US that I couldn't figure out how to get the coins in -- apparently you dialed first, then put them in after connection. I was so embarassed about my inability to make a simple phone call that, rather than ask for help, I decided to sleep at the airport and go into the city to catch my train to Paris (where i was to meet my friend) the next day.

SS

I've never tried these, but my son and his wife did during a connection between DC and Sri Lanka:

http://www.yotel.com/en/Hotels/London%20Heathrow

Aparently you book by the hour.

You can book two twins for 8 hours for 179 GBP in advance online I think. It's too early to book for August, so the prices may be higher.

SS

...since the next day is Sunday, rush hour into the city won't be a problem.

SS

Sorry - but this whole plan is just barking mad. At that time in the evening everything in the airport (and the immediate vicinity) is closing up for the night. You won't find anywhere open to store your luggage or have a pint in LHR or nearby - apart from at the airport hotels which you seem to want to avoid. As for sightseeing, well unsurprisingly nothing is going to be open through the night, and walking past various landmarks in the dark strikes me as pointless.

I've travelled all over the world - including a great deal of backpacking in my younger years - but I cannot imagine trying to bed down on a hard bench seat at LHR after an inter-continental flight (assuming security don't actually throw you out the building).