We're old. We're slow. We'll probably have more luggage than would be ideal.
If we were leaving from T4, we'd stay at the Hilton. If we were leaving from T5, we'd stay at the Sofitel.
But our early morning flight leaves from T3, so we're looking for suggestions. Comfort and convenience are more important than price.

Any of the off-airport hotels along the Bath Road/A4 (there are many) are equally convenient to T-3. Either the Hotel Hoppa or a short cab ride.

Another way of phrasing janisj's answer is "Any of the off-airport hotels along the Bath Road/A4...are equally INconvenient to T-3"

The HotelHoppa's timetables aren't ideal (every 20-40 minutes, depending on the hotel), and taxi fares, though trivial in your total bill for the whole trip, are gobsmacking when translated into pounds per mile.

There's no real alternative (hotels aren't allowed to run their own free shuttles, and there's no room for hotels in the central T1-2-3 cluster), apart from going into town - though that's not as spectacularly less convenient as you might imagine. Getting the Heathrow Express to the Paddington Hilton or Metropole may actually work out cheaper and faster than being locked in the charmless wastes of the Bath Road.

For the bus timetable, which include a list of nearby hotels:http://www.heathrowairport.com/stati...-terminals.pdf

You could just stay at either the Hilton (or Yotel - great beds) or the Sofitel and take the train between terminals. My vote is for the Sofitel as it is newer (rooms are actually kind of nice) and more convenient to the train. The train is more convenient than the Hoppa, IME. Might not be faster, but more convenient.

If you are starting in London (as opposed to an overnight connection) and just want to be near the airport for convenience, I'd kind of agree with flanner and just say stay at Paddington.

Good advice above, I'd stay at the Sofitel and use the train.

not tried the Sofitel, but we spent a night at the Hilton after our trip [that threw them a bit, most people stay the night before] and it was fine.

I'd go on the best deal you can get from either of them.

I just had an overnight at Heathrow with my arm in a sling. I checked my suitcase at Heathrow (there are left luggage offices in every terminal) and took only what I absolutely needed on the Heathrow Connect (cheaper and a bit slower than the Express) to Paddingon. My hotel was just a few minutes walk, but there as stated above there is a Hilton RIGHT at the station and a number of hotels very close by.

I don't know how early you are talking though. If you have to be back at 4 am I am not sure I'd want to deal with that.

Thanks for your suggestions. We may very well book the Hilton, which we liked when flying from T4. We'll check out of our London Apartment on Monday, check into the hotel, perhaps explore Windsor for a few hours and get a decent night's sleep. We'll ask the Hilton to arrange for a cab to get us to T-3 in time for check in for our 9 am Tuesday flight.

We've reached the point where comfort and service trump economy. We know our limitations and we just don't deal as well with blips and hassles as we once did, especially if they require us to move quickly.

It makes travel more expensive, but we're not quite ready to quit yet.

Virginia, how I agree with you about comfort and service, so long as we're not talking silly money. We wouldn't normally have thought about the Hilton but they had a really good rate for car parking, so somehow it all came together nicely.

I was unexpectedly impressed with it.