herewegoagain88

I'm planning a trip to 5 day trip London with my sister and my senior citizen mother. Mom's a trooper, but I don't want to cause her too much grief during our trip.

I'm staying in a hotel in the West End, near the Marble Arch tube. My flight leaves at 7:20 am at Heathrow. I'm trying to figure out if it is more logical to book a hotel near the airport for the last night, or if I can arrange for reliable transportation to the airport.

I've found a business called Hotelink. They claim to start operating hours at 4:00am. Has anyone used this service before? Is it reliable?

Alternatively, does anyone know how far it is to Paddington Train station? Is it too far to walk from the Marble Arch tube?

Thanks in advance for the advice!

allisonm

We used Hotelink 2 years ago to get us from our Marble Arch hotel to Heathrow. Our flight was early, 8am, I think. We had pre-arranged it thru our TA and just had to call the day before to confirm. They picked us up at the hotel right on time, and the driver (Dave) was very new. No problems.

kaudrey

Try www.london-transfers.com or Swiss Cottage Cars - they are both car services that many people on this board use with rave reviews. I used London Transfers and they were great.

Karen

flanneruk

From Marble Arch to Paddington usually takes me about 20-25 minutes. For more precise estimates, input your hotel's postcode into www.multimap.com, then zoom the map in and out to see the precise distance

Though not quite a senior citizen, and someone who walks a lot, I certainly wouldn't want to do that walk with luggage (not even wheelies). And you're likely to get at least as good a price from a decent car company as the £36 min three tix on the HEX will cost you.

ira

Hi here

If you go to http://www.londontransport.co.uk/tfl/
and click on "journey planner" you will find the schedules from Marble Arch to Paddington. It's a straight shot. Costs 1GBP.

maxie

We've used Hotelink twice in the past. I agree that using Hotelink from the airport to the hotel was very slow and I would definitely use another service in the future. Using Hotelink for the return trip to the airport was fine. We confirmed the return to the airport about 48 hrs in advance. The drivers always picked us up on time and we arrived at the airport with time to spare before the flight. Most drivers were very helpful with our luggage except for the last driver we had who would not help us load our luggage into the van. If you haven't booked yet I probably would consider using another service.

I wouldn't book another hotel for the last night of your stay. You can find a service to pick you up and get you to the airport in time for your return flight.

Yes, Paddington Station is a good distance from the Marble Arch tube but you can take the tube to Paddington Station.

Enjoy your trip!

flanneruk

The tube isn't an option. It's actually longer by tube to Paddington(you have to change at Notting Hill Gate, so you have heaps of stairs to climb at each ofthe three stations), and the first Westbound from is 5.54. Which means the first HEX you could get would be the 6.20, arriving T1-3 at 6.35.

Mrs F would probably regard that as a bit early for a 7.20 flight. The rest of us would disagree.

martytravels

I agree about HotelLink being crammed. The vans are tiny, the seats big enough for a kindergartener, and they squeeze them full. Some people had to sit their big suitcases on their laps because there was no room in the big luggage area. On my second trip to London, I took the Gatwick Express train in to the city. It was much more comfortable.

janis

For that time of the day a car service or mini cab would be your best bet. You really don't have to book before you leave for London. Take the rec's offered on this forum (Swiss Cottage, London Transfers, justAirports, etc), ask your hotel if they have a mini cab company they recommend and if not use one of the contacts listed above.

The tube won't work for you, Hotel Link is OK but not great, walking to Paddington in the wee small hours w/ luggage would not be fun.

So book a mini cab or airport car service once you are in London.

herewegoagain88

Thanks to everyone for their input! I'm really getting excited about going across the pond. I'm going to be a little less concerned about our eary morning airport transfer and will finally book our accomodations. I'm so excited. I'm tempted to stay at the Morgan Hotel everyone is raving about on this website.