Staying at Thistle Hotel Marble Arch in London and need to get to Heathrow terminal 1. Taxi costs a bit much so looking at taking tube from Picadilly.

Don't want to catch a bus from hotel to Picadilly station ( 4 people + luggage at morning peak!!) so wondered if anyone knew how long it would take to walk there.

Directions from hotel to Picadilly line also much appreciated.

Take the Marble Arch tube on the Central Line to Holborn. Switch to the Piccadilly Line to Heathrow. I'm not sure what the stair or escalator situation will be.

Mind you I'm usually a proponent of using the tube to get to LHR; however Marble Arch is particularly poorly situated for a variety of reasons.

The only way to get there by tue with only 1 change is the way noted above; escalators at Holborn make the change not too bad but you're going east away from Heathrow for about 10 to 12 minutes and them doubling back adds another 10 or 12 minutes so it makes the trip about 75 minutes that way..

You can walk up I believe the street there is Park Lane and it is about a 15 minute walk to Hyde Park Corner tube where you can catch the Picadilly line; don't know how much baggage you will be lugging and how much additional time this will take.

Buses make that trip in about 3 or 4 minutes but you, as noted, would have difficulty with 3 or 4 of you with luggage.

More direct tube trip, but with 2 changes, Central line to Notting Hill Gate, up stairs to District or Circle line 2 stops (District to Earls Court, Circle to Glouester Rd.), then downstairs (escalators at Earls Court, lifts at Glouester Rd. after a walk up stairs from the platform to the booking office level and then Picadilly line.

I suspect in this case you're probably best off, despite the added cost, with a car service. If you were going alone, it might not be all that bad to use the tube or a combination of bus and tube but with several others, car service seems the best way.

You can get ideas about various journey options, with several methods of transport, at the Journey Planner at http://www.thetube.com .

You mention that "taxi costs a bit much" -- well, sure. Have you checked on a car service for maybe half the cost of a taxi, especially if you pay cash? www.justairports.com

Here's another huge recommendation for www.justairports.com We have been very pleased with their service and prices. Note: Prices are considerably less if you pay cash.

Especially with four people and luggage. The type of vehicle to select is challenging, but if you select one too small for your party, you can just start over.

We've stayed at the Thistle Marble Arch. Great choice, especially with kids.

As some of the others have said -- Marble Arch is an especially inconvenient location for using the tube to/from LHR.

The only way that is cost and time effective, ESPECIALLY with 4 people in tow, would be a car service. Every other mode will involve one or more transfers, and/or long slogs above or underground, or be very expensive.