Heathrow for two nights - hotel suggestion?
 

Best Heathrow place to stay near Tube station that's not much more than £150? We'll probably be landing at Terminal 3 if that matters, and staying two nights.

More details: we added a two-day layover in UK to an upcoming trip so we can avoid back-to-back red eyes. So when we arrive at Heathrow at 6 a.m. we'll go straight to hotel, sleep a few hours, then head to Hampton Court Palace (which we missed on our last visit), and then Richmond in the evening. Any additional advice on getting there is appreciated, as it looks like a taxi or ride-share is the best option.

With 2 nights do you really want to stay at LHR? If you were arriving in the evening and leaving the next morning -- sure, that makes sense. But arriving in the morning and staying two nights seem a terrible waste. Unless it is just to get cheap accommodations -- then LHR is good. $150/£115 is doable for the more basic properties.

Check out the Holliday Inn Express Terminal 4 which has a covered walkway into the terminal/tube station. Otherwise it will most likely have to be somewhere near Hatton Cross tube station. Other hotels attached to terminals will be over your budget and the cheaper properties along the Bath Road are not near a station.

Getting to Hampton Court from LHR or Hatton Cross would require buses. For instance from Hatton Cross it would be two buses and about 1 hour transit time. From Terminal 4 about the same. There really is no Tube option -- there are trains but not any that make sense from LHR. From Terminal 3 (again - no hotels there within your budget) it would be 2 buses and just about an hour or a REALLY convoluted involving the Tube and three buses.

I'd consider staying IN Hampton Court or Richmond or nearby for your two nights.

Make sure you note the hotel’s check-in time, your plan for a nap early in the morning may not work if you fail to, good luck!

Oh absolutely -- I should have mentioned that, and also meant to say sleeping in the morning can really mess up one's body clock. Some people do like to take a short nap in the afternoon but not a 6 or 7 AM. To be assured of access to a room that early, you'd really have to book it for the previous night, adding extra expense.

Holiday In Express Terminal 4 check-in is from 3pm. Check out 11 am, though later possible for fee. You undoubtedly can dump luggage there before check-in time
Is your stay only one night? So you want to do Hampton Court on arrival and you fly out again the next day? What time is your flight out? If it is early then staying at Heathrow probably makes sense. Are you moving on more time zones with your next flight?

ETA: Holiday Inn Express Terminal 4 won't accept four guests in a room (we're traveling as a family of 4). Holiday Inn Terminal 5 reviews say a taxi is required to get to the airport. If you have any other suggestions for hotels I'd love to hear them!

Thank you for the great advice! A few years ago we got a sleeping room in Spain after a six-hour layover, and just a few hours of sleep made all the difference. We're not crashing all morning, just a couple of hours so we feel human again (none of us sleep well on planes). We're planning to get the hotel for the night before vs early check-in, though it will be worth asking the hotel what our options are. We figured we'd stay at the airport so that we 1) have a short commute to hotel when we land, and 2) won't have to make an extra stop back to the airport on day 2. Otherwise staying in Richmond would be perfect.
Our flight is at 7pm the next day, so we'll get up early that second day and hit some of our favorite London spots before we have to return. Fortunately there's only a one-hour time difference at our destination.

You want a room for four for £150? How old are the children? In general relatively few hotels in the UK will allow four to a room (other than suites) unless the children are young. Most will have a firm age limit but that varies from property to property.

. . . Your OP says two nights but do I understand it is only one night? Landing @ 6AM and flying out at 7PM the next day??

BTW Almost all hotels at LHR would require a taxi or bus . . . except for one (very expensive) at at Terminals 2/3, two @ Terminal 5 (one perrt expensive and a cheaper one accessible by the unmanned Pods) and three at Terminal 4 (two cheap-ish and one expensive). All others are off property.

I think you are seeking a unicorn -- a room sleeping four, attached to a terminal, for under £150

Two nights because we'll arrive at 6 a.m., reserving for the previous night so that we can immediately check-in and sleep. I'll see if hotel will give us a day room rate or early check in, but assuming that won't be an option. Kids are teens.
There are lots of hotels that fit our budget, but it doesn't look like they are accessible to the Tube when I look at Google Earth.
I may certainly be seeking a unicorn when it comes to Heathrow. I assumed there would be more options next to a Tube station (it doesn't need to be attached to the terminal, but without a car we need Tube access). It sounds like we need to taxi to both the Tube and terminal.
When we stayed in London previously we rented an apartment, but what do families do otherwise? It's not an option this time since we'd like to leave our bags all day. Is getting two rooms our only choice?

"Kids are teens" does not help -- 13 or 19 or ??? Premier Inns for example will allow a family of 4 in a room but both children must be 15 or younger -- and they do check ages at check in. That is why I asked how old the children are . . .

" I assumed there would be more options next to a Tube station (it doesn't need to be attached to the terminal, but without a car we need Tube access). It sounds like we need to taxi to both the Tube and terminal."

Close to LHR and close to a tube station are not necessarily the same thing. There are MANY budget hotels near LHR but except for in the terminals, the nearest Tube station is at Hatton Cross which is nearly 4 miles from Terminal 3 and 1.5 miles from Terminal 4.

When I had a 2 night layover, I stayed in Teddington at the Park Hotel (very lovely) and visited Hampton Court, Bushey Park, and walked along locks of the Thames. Lovely village with interesting features. We had a blast. Good public transportation, though going by taxi to Heathrow is probably faster.

The Park Hotel would be good for this stay, being near Richmond -- but AFAIK they only allow extra beds for ages 2 thru 14.

If you're on a nonstop flight from the US to LHR, arriving at 6 am, I don't think you'll need a hotel to sleep upon arrival. If you wanted to shower, American has an arrivals lounge where you can perhaps buy/use miles for a day pass. If it were me, and I fly nonstops from Chicago to LHR often arriving around that time, I would not want to sleep on arrival. I DO want to sleep around 3 pm, though. So, since you have teens who can manage their own carryons, I'd tube to Chiswick, transfer to the District line to go to Richmond. Drop off your luggage, have a walk around and a light breakfast, then on to Hampton Court--though that's a lot of museum for a jet lag day. But the gardens will be nice to wander through.

Another option, if you're there on a weekend, is Syon House, which is incredibly historic, and has a lovely garden center and food vendors where you and the family can picnic after a tour of the incredible, INCREDIBLE house.

Or, you can stay in cute, posh-ish Chiswick, and enjoy their high street, and walk to the historic garden of Chiswick House, or you can do Kew Gardens. (I do think being outside and walking is easier than being indoors with anything too mentally taxing.)

Or you might look at the Premier Inns near Hammersmith. Cheaper than the city. And easy enough to continue into the city after dropping off your bags to go into the city or out to Chiswick or Richmond.

But, if you do have a long, difficult flight from the US with layovers, then that is very different and you know best what your family needs. But on a direct 6-9 hour flight, I wouldn't nap or be indoors long. I'd just plan on getting to hotel in the early evening to relax and sleep. Good luck finding what you need!

I went to booking.com and it looks like the Holiday Inn London Heathrow might be an option. They appear to allow 4 people in a room and rooms have a queen bed and sofa bed (if that would work.) The info I see mentions a third-party shuttle system that you can take to the airport that does have a charge.

That is the Hotell Hoppa which now costs £13 for a family ticket as long as the children are 14yo or younger - otherwise £6 pp. The Hoppa serves all LHR immediate area hotels via different routes. No LHR hotels have an actual shuttle of there own.

Thanks KTtravel! We'll look into that as well as the Hilton at Hatton Cross. I didn't realize the Hotel Hoppa existed until a few days ago. Even though they charge for airport access, it seems to be more cost-effective than a ride share.

For 4 people, a taxi might be cheaper than the Hoppa. I don't know the difference in fares but it might be worth checking.