annhig

A friend and I are having to spend a night in a Stansted hotel between flights, and I have discovered, probably too late, that there is no such thing as a hotel shuttle at Stansted. The best price I can find for a taxi from and to the airport to a nearby hotel and back is £37.70 each way with Uber. Outrageous for a journey of less than 5 minutes.

Anyone know of a hotel that offers a bus to or from the airport or has any better ideas than a Uber? Apart from walking of course.

Thanks in advance.

janisj

Wouldn’t just a run of the mill taxi be cheaper than that??

hetismij2

https://www.stanstedairport.com/flig...e-salis-hotel/

says it has a shuttle service.

so does the Holiday Inn Express

uktravelover

You can sometimes get a good room rate at the Radisson Blu which is on airport. Just 5 minutes walk to departures.

annhig

Thanks all for your input - unfortunately there don't seem to be any easy/ cost efficient answers.

<<Wouldn’t just a run of the mill taxi be cheaper than that??>>

You'd think so JJ, but the quotes from taxi firms that I found on line were far higher!

<<https://www.stanstedairport.com/flig...e-salis-hotel/ says it has a shuttle service. so does the Holiday Inn Express>>

Yes, that's what they say, Hets, but when you look at the nitty gritty the DeSalis shuttle from the Airport stops at 6pm, and our flight arrives at 6.40pm, and the shuttle to the Airport costs £18 for the first person and another £3 for the second. I have sent them a message asking if the shuttle would operate to get us to the airport for 7.40am the next day. It does have the advantage of having reasonably cheap rooms.

As for the Holiday Inn, the rooms are twice as much and the website says this about its shuttle bus:

Shuttle Information

Local Shuttle

• Airport shuttle bus available 24 hours £4.00 per adult children under 16 are free

Airport Shuttle

London Stansted Airport (STN)
Shuttle not available
London Luton Airport (LTN)
Shuttle not available
London Heathrow Airport (LHR)
Shuttle not available

I suppose I'll have to phone them to get any sense out of them.

<<You can sometimes get a good room rate at the Radisson Blu which is on airport. Just 5 minutes walk to departures.>>

​​​​​​​Sadly Uktravelover they want £156 a room at the moment which is a bit pricy, even if it does mean you can walk to the airport. But I will keep an eye on their prices. Thanks for the tip.

There is clearly a crying need for someone to start a 24 hour airport - hotel shuttle service!

uktravelover

Annhig .. sorry to hear about the room rate although not surprising. Have you looked at the local buses run by Aviva UK Bus and go to Sawbridgeworth and Bishop Stortford? You might be able to stay in a pub with rooms or a small hotel.

uktravelover

A potentially useful website to find a pub with accommodation ishttps://choosewhere.com/bishops-stortford-inns-and-pub-accommodation

hetismij2

Sorry Ann, I should have looked into it further. I am shocked they charge for a shuttle and stop so soon. So used to the shuttles from hotels around Schiphol.

Interesting site uktravelover!
Edit: I see it is powered by Booking.com though. Grrr

uktravelover

hetismij - I didn’t spot the booking.com connection. They seem to partner with 4 consolidators but it’s useful to have a website to clearly see pubs with accommodation.Booking.com - Booking.com

Superbreak - Superbreak

Late Rooms - Laterooms

Eviivo - Eviivo

annhig

uktravelover, thanks for the link. i had a look at https://choosewhere.com/bishops-stortford-inns-and-pub-accommodation and somewhat to my surprise there is no mention of access to the airport. Plus they are probably further away than we want to be but it looks like a useful site to remember for another time.

Hets - of course Schipol is a different kettle of fish when it comes to size and type of clientele but I am shocked that there is no airport shuttle at Stansted.

Thanks again all for your help!

janisj

The Radisson is probably the best idea. Expensive? - yes, a bit. But with the lack of shuttle services, and the cost of ubers/taxis, IMO being on site and not having to worry about how to get to the hotel and back to the airport is worth both ££ and peace of mind.

annhig

JJ - I might personally agree with you, however I know that my teacher who will be accompanying me would not be happy with that. We could I suppose share a room but whilst I might suggest it with a fellow class member I'm not sure about sharing with a teacher, albeit I like her a lot and she is more of a friend now. I think that what I'll do is to put the various alternatives to her and see what her reaction is!

uktravelover

Also take a look at the Premium Inn website. https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/home.html I forgot that they do not advertise on consolidators. They are a mile away and on the website it says “A private shuttle bus runs between the hotel and the airport (bay 19 at the airport) at a cost of £4 per adult (free for children). Times are every 30 minutes 24/7”.

I think Bishop Stortford is around 20 minutes by bus, but you can check the Arriva timetables. The bus and coach station is about 2 minutes walk from the terminal.

janisj

Here is the actual link to the Premier Inn. https://www.premierinn.com/gb/en/hot...id=GLBC_STAAIR

annhig

thanks again, uktravelover, I hadn't thought of the Premier Inn. I too saw that they offer a shuttle service to and from the airport, but I also saw this which makes no mention of it:

How do I get from Stansted Airport to your Premier Inn London Stansted Airport hotel?The quickest route is a 10-minute drive or taxi ride. You can also take the 509 or 510 buses with a journey time of around 30 minutes.
I think that a phone call will be required. They also offer 3 levels of flexibility of booking but so far I have failed to find out what the exact terms of each level are. Why do they have to make things so difficult?

janisj

annhig: Under Parking the hotel's site says "A private shuttle bus runs between the hotel and the airport (bay 19 at the airport) at a cost of £4 per adult (free for children). Times are every 30 minutes 24/7."

bilboburgler

Premier good, the last time I did this cycled it and found a hidden door to access the concourse (I know that is no use, but just for fun)

uktravelover

Premier Inns have 3 levels of booking based on cancellation lead times. Ie. Not refundable, refund up-to 28 days before, fully flexible cancel before 1pm on the day of arrival. Some of their hotels have two levels of rooms and offer early check in.

annhig

<<annhig: Under Parking the hotel's site says "A private shuttle bus runs between the hotel and the airport (bay 19 at the airport) at a cost of £4 per adult (free for children). Times are every 30 minutes 24/7.">>

Yep , as I said JJ, it does say that. but it also says this:

<<How do I get from Stansted Airport to your Premier Inn London Stansted Airport hotel?The quickest route is a 10-minute drive or taxi ride. You can also take the 509 or 510 buses with a journey time of around 30 minutes.

Which is a tad contradictory, and why I need to phone them.

Thanks for the info re the levels of booking, uktravelover. That was another thing I was going to ask them as I've never stayed at a Premier Inn before. If I get a positive on the shuttle then it's definitely the leader of the pack unless I can get a very good price at the Radisson.

Thanks Bilbo, I don't think that I'll need that info at least on this trip but you never know!

uktravelover

Premier Inn hotels are good value for money. Their rooms are a good size and they have comfortable beds. Tea/coffee making facilities in the room with extra supplies usually available in reception. Meals are typically in a restaurant next door. Food is fairly basic but ok for the price. No lifts (elevators), so if you don’t want to carry your luggage upstairs ask for a room on the ground floor.