Overnight stay in London. Where to stay?
 

On my way to Athens, I have an overnight stay at the beginning and backend of my trip. The schedule allows me early evening free time in London. Any ideas of where to stay that would be easy to reach from Heathrow and back? Thank you.

Gloucester Road area is easy to reach from Heathrow on the Piccadilly line. There are a number of hotels you could choose from.

Premier Inn has a hotel out there; they have a shuttle to and from the airport, a service.

>>Premier Inn has a hotel out there; they have a shuttle to and from the airport, a service.<<

None of the hotels at LHR have shuttles. All use the Hotel Hoppa bus.

11Tangerine11: What times are your flight departures the two mornings? If not too early, I'd stay anywhere in central London -- preferably along the Piccadilly Line (Gloucester Rd, South Kensington, Leicester Sq/Covent garden, Russell Sq, Kings Cross, etc. )

What is your budget?

I would book a hotel close to Heathrow as suggested above. Then, go into London enjoy yourself, come back to the hotel, sleep, get up, freshen up, and catch the Hoppa bus to the airport. You need to be at the airport flight check-in at least 3 hours early. 4 Would be better. Sitting past security is much better than waiting to go through security and you time is dwindling. You do not want to be in London, trying to get to the airport on your flight day. One accident, and you are not flying.

Thank you everyone for replying and sharing knowledge.
Inbound portion of trip: Arrival Heathrow at 2:10pm and depart the following day 12:55pm.
Outbound: Arrive Heathrow 3:30pm depart the following day 3:25pm.
Any suggestions about which hotels close to Heathrow with transportation is helpful.
jkbritt: After reading your reply, maybe it's best to stay in a hotel close to the airport.
Budget travel is not an issue.
Thank you again.

I am now exploring hotels in Central London close to the Picadilly Line. Any suggestions? Thank you again for assisting me.

I would not stay at an airport hotel. You can leave your bags at Heathrow in the left luggage for 10 pounds a bag and head into town.

The only snafu is hotels in London can be expensive. Getting in on the Piccadilly line is really easy!

There is no reason to arrive at LHR 4 hours before your flight. You'll go bonkers. My flights depart mid-afternoon and I always stay in Oxford the night before and take bus to the airport. For your inbound flight you could stay at airport and take tube into London for the remainder of the afternoon and evening but for your outbound flight I'd stay in London.

What's your budget? Do you have status with any hotel loyalty programs?

IMO - With those flight times there is no reason to stay out at LHR.

The first flight -- you could be in town by 4:00/4:30-ish and back to the airport around 10:30 or 11AM. The second lay over, you could be in town by 5:30 PM and back at LHR by 1PM. PLenty of time to have nice meals and walk around. You could even go to the theatre if you wanted either stop over.

I wouldn't even mess about with Left Luggage since that will only eat up time both dropping and collecting the bags. Hopefully you won't have a mountain of luggage.

What is your budget?

I'll be traveling light and I can afford to stay in a nice safe hotel but I don't want to pay $400/500 for one night. I'm female and traveling alone and didn't want to be figuring out where to catch a bus late at night somewhere. Based on everyone's helpful information (THANK YOU!), I'm leaning towards staying in London, make it easy, ride one tube train to and from the airport. I'm checking out hotels along the Picadilly Line in Central London. Wow!!!! $700/night. Scratch that one off my list.

janisj, maybe I have just been lucky, but I have left bags in the left luggage at Heathrow a few times and its always been super fast. The harder part is not misplacing my retrieval tag with jet lag. :)

11Tangerine11 I am staying here for two nights in early April:
Radisson Blu Edwardian Vanderbilt Hotel
http://tinyurl.com/jx486tb
Its on the Piccadilly line. I have not stayed at this particular Radisson Blu but I have stayed at two others in London and they are very nice. I got a deal on it, £89 per night. But that may be due to the time of year I am going.

I'd suggest you stay near the Gloucester Rd or S Kensington stops, a good compromise between Heathrow and center city. You don't give any idea when you are going and hotel rates vary by date/season so hard to say. But I can't imagine where you are seeing rates for $700 a night except for the very top hotels, of course.

I stayed at Millenium Bailey's once, right across from the Gloucester tube stop and really liked it a lot. It's a nice hotel. Their rooms are nothing like $700 a night, probably $200-300 for one night at cheapest level.
https://www.millenniumhotels.com/en/...-hotel-london/

The Radisson Blu Edwardian is nearby, you can check it.

There's no way I would get to the airport 4, even 3 hours before my flight. I always get there 2 hours before and still have lots of sitting around time.

With that much time, I'd stay in London and enjoy my time there.

There are hundreds of hotels along the Piccadilly line that don't cost anywhere near $700 a night. Radisson Blu is a reputable chain, it would be a good option.

you don't have to pay anywhere near $400 let alone $700. What on earth hotel are you looking at that came up $700???

There are MANY very moderately priced hotels w/i walking distance of the South Kensington, Gloucester Rd and Earls Court tube stations. You can easily find a very nice place for $200-$250-ish (the $ is very good against the £ so $200 is about £135. Check booking.com and londontown.com they often have specials

Actually - you don't have to stay as far west as Gloucester Rd -- anywhere along the Piccadilly line or even the District/Circle line will be an east trip from/to the airport. If you do stay along the District/Circle line you'd change at Hammersmith. SUPER easy.

If you want bargains - then look at the Travelodge and Premier Inn chains -- but only the locations along/near those tube lines.

$700!!!! No way you need to pay that.

I'm not sure why you'd need to stay near Gloucester Road, unless you just wanted a shorter trip to the airport on your departure day. I'd rather be in the middle of it all myself, especially with a short time in the city. On my last trip (2013) I stayed near Holborn (Piccadilly line, as well as the Central line) - one night at the Morgan and a few at the Thistle on Southampton Row. I booked the Morgan directly and the Thistle via londontown.com, which is a great discount site. (I'm a 35yo female and was traveling alone part of the time; I feel safe in these areas, and actually just about anywhere in central London that I've been.)

http://www.morganhotel.co.uk/

http://www.thistle.com/hotels/united...ark/index.html

But there are so many options... and absolutely no need to pay that much!

I like the home-like atmosphere at the Celtic Hotel, just around the corner from Russell Square tube stop. There's the far grander Hotel Russell right there, too, and you might want to look into the Ruskin Hotel overlooking the British Museum, or the recently remodeled Doubletree Hilton West End where I have also stayed.

Safety is not at all a concern with any of these, and they're all fairly easy walks from Holborn or Russell Square tube stops.

I just got back from 8 nights at the Celtic, split by a trip to Greece, and as a single woman I enjoy the friendly lived-in atmosphere there, the breakfast included served by sweet uniformed waitresses.

My stays won't occur until MidSeptember and midOctober. Everyone's info has been extreme valuable and given me some room to ponder over decisions which must be made. I thank all you of you from the bottom of my heart. I just want it to be easy, no stress, and not cost an exorbitant amount of money. Thanks to all of you, I have information to work with and recommendations. When I make up my mind, I will post a note and if anyone is in London and I post the pub I plan to visit............................the pint is on me. Thank you again.