Heathrow Hotels/Baggage storage
 

We will be taking a morning flight from Heathrow - after arriving in Heatrow the night before.<BR><BR>Are there any baggage storage facilties available at Heathrow so we don't have to lug our luggage to the hotel and back.<BR><BR>Also any recommendations on a medium priced airport hotel would be appreciated.

Yes, there is. I forget how much it is. They do the same thing as if you were checking the bag for a flight. It goes through x-ray machine, I guess they are looking for explosives. It might be somewhat expensive to leave it overnight.<BR>As far as hotels, try Ibis, Holiday Inn or any other mid-priced chain. If you leave the luggage at the airport, I would suggest taking the Heathrow Express to Paddington station(15 min. for 11 BP) and finding an inexpensive place around there. At least you could go out for a dinner/drinks in the evening.<BR>Have fun!

Hi,<BR><BR>According to the www.baa.co.uk website there are baggage facilities at each terminal( where are you flying from?)<BR><BR>Good hotels nearby (you may be able to get a good deal on the internet)<BR>Hilton-Connected by a Walkway to Terminal 4<BR>Marriott<BR>2 Sheratons<BR>Holiday Inn<BR>Renaissance<BR>Le Meridien<BR>Apart from the hilton theo thers are located to the north of the airport along bath road and can be reached by a hotel hoppa bus (&pound;3 one way). There are also local buses form the airport which are free.<BR><BR>Regards<BR><BR>Gregory

Gregory,<BR><BR>Can you tell us what local buses are free?<BR><BR>Many thanks,<BR><BR>GK

John,<BR>I'd recommend the Heathrow Hilton because you can walk to it via a covered walkway from Term. 4 and you can take your luggage on a trolley right to the hotel door. In the a.m. you pick up another trolley at the door (there is a stand of them) and walk back to Term. 4. Hilton is not the cheapest of a/p hotels, but it is by far the most convenient. We've stayed there a couple of times and love the "no bus" option! Rooms are smallish but comfortable and the bathrooms are quite nice as well. Very well soundproofed too I might add, we heard nothing,street noises or air. I'd give it serious consideration, simply because of it's convenience. Why pay for storage if you don't have to?<BR><BR>I would not bother going into London to find a hotel - that's a lot of bother. What I would do, however, is what we've done. Assuming you are in at a decent hour (late afternoon, early evening), take the tube into London and have dinner or just walk around a little. It takes about 1 hour on the tube to Picadilly Circus(a bit less to other stops), but it's a nice way to spend the evening, then go back to you a/p hotel and get a decent sleep for the trip home! That way you are at the a/p, already and with having to cope with extra time w/security I'd not go into London for one night lodging at all.

Forgot to say,check both Hilton's 800 number and website for rates, they can vary. It's more expensive then some of the other hotels, but for convenience it is worth every penny!

Just read Gregory's post -- where are these free buses - we've never seen any. One thing that bugs me about the hotels around Heathrow (except Hilton) is that you have to pay 3 pounds to get to them. Multiply that by 2 or 3 people in your family and then again getting back to the a/p and it gets expensive. I guess I am used to the free shuttles all the hotels in the US provide from the a/p. Those "extra pounds" add up if you know what I mean :-)

Until about 4 years ago the LHR Hotel Hoppa bus was free. This made it very convenient to run back and forth to the airport for last minute shopping, etc before packing to fly out. But the BAA put a stop to that and it now costs &pound;3 each way.

Lori, <BR><BR>You're so right about the Hoppa Bus. Three pounds back and forth is a bit of a rip. And an inconvenience when you've got to have the right change. To prepare for this on my upcoming trip to London, I asked friends here in NY if they had any loose British change at home. The collection I got totaled close to THIRTY pounds. (Forget the Hoppa Bus. I'm gonna keep askin' 'til I get enough for the flight.)<BR><BR>GK

Hi,<BR><BR>If memory serves the free buses are only from the Central Bus Station ( in the middle area between Terminals 1,2,3) and are the ordinary buses ( London Buse/London Transport) and are free until you get to the start of the Bath Road as you go in the tunnel under the northern runway (pedestrians not allowed).<BR>A good bus I think is the 111 going via Hownslow to Twickenham which stops outside the Marriott and one of the Sheratons.<BR>If it is not free to there then it is only 70p single (cheaper than the Hotel Hoppa buses which you will find outside the terminal entrances) and as long as you do not have too much baggage should be ok alltohugh after a long flight the Hoppa maybe more convenient.<BR><BR>Regards<BR>Gregory

Hi John: I believe the company that operates the left luggage at Heathrow is the same one that does the railway stations too, called Excess baggage. Here is some info on their service which I just copied from a March reply. I believe it's the same for Heathrow. This should help you to make up your mind which option to take. <BR><BR>Dale<BR><BR>Author: Dale ([email protected])<BR>Date: 03/01/2002, 05:30 pm<BR>Message: Hi Sue: The left luggage facilities at the rail stations are run by a company called "Excess Baggage". If you go to their web page, www.excess-baggage.com, there is an e-mail response service which gives you a place to ask questions. To give you some idea, I just used their facilities at Charing Cross station last month and the price had just gone up from 4 GBP per 24-hour period to 5. That's per bag by the way. The rates may be cheaper if you're looking at a longer storage, so see what they're offering. We learned the hard way last year when we did this as it cost the three of us 24 GBP last for a few hours storage, a hefty fee for we Canadians because of our exchange rate. Is there some other way to stow your luggage? If you're already staying at a hotel in London, can you work out a deal with them to mind your luggage for you? I know from reading this board that some hotels will do this for you, probably at a small fee compared to what Excess Baggage charges. I hope that this helps, and good luck!<BR>Dale<BR><BR><BR>--------------------------------------------------------------------------------<BR><BR>