# Heathrow hotel or London?



## sml2181 (Jul 3, 2009)

United called. They changed our dates (were supposed to leave Sat but they changed it to Thursday and we changed it to Fri).

Now we arrive at LHR at 3 pm next Friday and have to be back on Saturday 8 am - Terminal 1.

I can only assume traffic will be not great during that time. Otoh, if it is like here (AMS), traffic is down near the airport when kids are out of school.
Would it be worth it to get into London? 
How long should it take if we take a taxi?
DH doesn't really like the idea of getting stuck in traffic....

We will be with our 4 children and LOTS of luggague so I doubt we would want to take the train. Right? 

When staying near Heatrow, I think we will stay at the Sheraton Skyline, which would be 50GBP per room when I use our Starwood ownership discount. And we get lounge access, including breakfast. (The other Sheraton is cheaper but doesn't have a pool.)
However, one part of me says we still should get into London...
Somehow our girls agree with me, but our boys, including DH don't...(care)...

What would Tuggers do?


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## DeniseM (Jul 3, 2009)

The easiest way to get to London from Heathrow is on the tube.  It's about 40 min. There is a tube station in Terminal 5.  I managed it by myself with 2 bags, when I took DD's extra winter clothes back to the US with me.  

What do you plan to do for one evening in London?  It would only be worth it to me if I made special plans for the evening.


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## helenbarnett1963 (Jul 3, 2009)

*with 4 kids and lots of luggage I would stay put!*

if your flight arrives at 3pm, it could take a while before you even get off your plane, then it can easily be an hour or more to get your bags at LHR and then you willl need to do immigration.  I wouldn't count on being through the airport much before 5pm.
Then getting into London is 40 minutes on the tube, in the rush hour, on a friday!
Taxi would cost you at least £50 and could easily take over an hour on a friday.
By the time you get into London all the "sights" and most of the shops will be closed.

Think - if you were in New York or another big US city on the same schedule would you do it then?

My recomendation (and I speak from many years experience of overnighting with kids at LHR and other airports) book a nice hotel with a pool and a family-friendly eating place and have a relaxing evening.

If you do want to go into London for the evening for a meal or to see a show, then its perfectly do-able on the tube, but i would defintely check into your hotel first and get rid of your luggage, which means a bus trip from the terminal to your hotel then one back in again to get the tube - it would be too much for me to cope with after a long flight and I've only got two kids!


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## sml2181 (Jul 3, 2009)

Well...I didn't have any specific things in mind to do IN London yet, other than having a nice dinner...

Usually we do just stay at or near the airport - but:

1. we had to cancel a weekend trip to London 2 times 
2. this is a special day for our family and we had to cancel a very nice restaurant reservation near our home town...because of the flight change.

BUT, this trip brings us to Hawaii, so I guess I should stop whining and just stay near the airport, something which I would recommend myself to anyone else too - if not for...

We may indeed just go to our hotel first and see if we take the tube without luggague. (I am bringing lots of Dutch treats and other stuff for our Dutch friends who live in CA - we'll be meeting them in Honolulu. Their relatives here gave us packages too, to forward to them. I just hope that the chocolate sprinkles will still be sprinkles..That's why we don't travel light to Hawaii.) 

My DH thanks you both for "bringing me back to Earth".


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## DebBrown (Jul 3, 2009)

We recently had a one night stopover in London on our way home from Scotland.  Our plane landed at 1:30 pm.  We took the free bus to the Sheraton Heathrow and checked in.  Took the bus back to the airport and the Heathrow Express (because the Picadilly line was down) into the city.  We had a couple of hours to shop/hang out in Covent Garden before eating dinner and going to the theatre.  We saw Oliver! and it was fantastic.

The return trip to the airport and hotel got us back a little after midnight.  We did NOT have an early morning flight so it was fine for us.

I asked my family if it was worth it and they all said it was.  

Deb


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## sml2181 (Jul 3, 2009)

Thanks. See, I am not alone!  

I reserved the Sheraton Skyline (which is great because with this stay I have earned my 7th free night  ) and we will see how things are.

BTW - IF this would have been NYC, I sure would have gone into the city! Any excuse will do...


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## wauhob3 (Jul 3, 2009)

What about you and the girls going in to the city for the night and boys staying at the hotel?


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## LisaH (Jul 4, 2009)

Is it possible to change it back to Thursday so you can have Fri touring London? I have done a couple of overnight stops at London but my friend lives there so, being picked up/dropped off at the airport and being able to catch up with my friend, I felt the overnight stay is worthwhile. Otherwise, I'd just stay at the airport. Another thing you should consider, LHR enforces the two-piece hand-carrying luggage rule strictly. The size of luggage has to meet the requirement otherwise they will force you to check the piece.


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## sml2181 (Jul 4, 2009)

Can't change it back to Thurs - my kids are still in school then. 

Normally I wouldn't have a problem with doing something with the girls alone - it's just that I promised not to do that on this day. Never mind. We'll see.


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## sml2181 (Jul 4, 2009)

Well, United called again.
Our flight to London has changed again - we are now arriving 6 pm.
So - good thing we're staying at LHR, I think.


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