Hi
We arrive at Heathrow from Australia Sat 13th December. We have an apartment booked in Westminster W1W 5NG, for 5 nights from 3pm on the 13th December.
Our arrival time is 7.25am. 4 adults and 2 grandsons (age 6 and 9)
We don't think the grandsons will be able to cope until 3pm without any accommodation.
Does anyone have any reasonably priced options for somewhere we could stay for 3 of 4 hours?
Thanks for any assistance
Roger and Di
Can you offer to pay for another night at your apartment? That way you only have to move once….especially with young children and a long flight.
Have you asked if it is possible to get into the apartment earlier? I have often been able to get in a few hours earlier or at least leave luggage which helps.
I agree that being able to move into the apartment early would be the best, but if that is not possible - look into the Aerotel at Heathrow. I have not stayed there, but I think others on this forum have - perhaps they will chime in.
Thanks. Our accommodation is booked the night before and we cannot get an early entry on the 13th December.
You learn something new every day. I just learned that there are booking platforms for day hotels. Google AI says there are 2 or 3 such booking platforms with day rates for hotels at or near Heathrow.
The Aerotel at Terminal 3 offers both day use rooms as well as a family room.
You can also check out a couple of websites such as Dayuse.com and Hotelsbyday.com
When we were there in May this year, we ended up booking through Day Use for a hotel that was only two blocks from our hotel. Our hotel was also not available to book the night before. The Day Use hotel was also half the price since you are not using it overnight. It was definately worth both the money and the move as neither of us slept on the plane.
I read it that the accommodation was booked by someone else the night before, not them, therefore they can’t get earlier access.
I read it that the accommodation was booked by someone else the night before, not them, therefore they can’t get earlier access.
Got it, that makes sense. Thanks, Emma!
I haven't rented an apartment (like AirBnB or VRBO) in Europe in 7 years, but when I did, I did not book without an assurance from the owner/landlord that I could get in early on day of arrival, or I would only book such an apartment by paying for the prior night with the understanding I needed early access the following morning. If that was not available to me, I looked for another rental.
And now I only stay in hotels.
By the time you get through the airport and get your bags and get into the city, and have a leisurely lunch, it may be pretty close to 3 PM anyway.
You could perhaps kill an hour or two in the toy dept. of a department store like Harrods or Selfridges. I know for sure the latter will have a very large Christmas shop going at that time of year.
Phred, the OP said they were arriving at 7:25 am. If they can't get into London LONG before lunch , something would have to be terribly wrong.
kill an hour or two in the toy dept. of a department store like Harrods or Selfridges
an even bigger toy department than both together at Hamleys in Regent Street.
https://www.hamleys.com/
Roger and Di, for that postcode your nearest tube station will be Great Portland Street on the Circle, Metropolitain and the Hammersmith and City lines. Plenty of buses also pass nearby heading to all parts.
I can't believe that four adults and two children dragging luggage into a department store would be a comfortable situation for anyone.
Maybe the grandparents could stay at airport with the luggage and parents could take children on the suggested excursions. Harrod's serves pizza and ice cream. Maybe even try taking them to the zoo or natural history museum.
I can’t imagine much of anything more awful than “killing time” with two young kids ( and luggage) for hours after flying around the world from Australia!
Here’s a website where you can search for hotels that offer rooms for “day use” either near the airport or in London itself. It will be worth every penny.
