Heathrow to Hotel

In the same boat. From what it looks like is taking the Heathrow express to Paddington. Then the tube to wherever you hotel is. From what I have been researching. We’re headed to London in April and that’s our plan.

Heathrow Express is a pointless expense. It’s only marketing that keeps it alive now the Elizabeth Line has added an additional option to the Piccadilly Line. The key question is, in this enormous city, where are you trying to get to?

And it is highly unlikely that a car will be faster than the two much cheaper options.

No matter which way you take you’re probably only talking about 20 minutes difference between the slowest and fast means. I doubt that little time will change one’s schedule much. A lot depends on where your hotel is. We take the Piccadilly line simply because there’s a station a two minutes walk from the hotel area we stay at, and its inexpensive.

Our hotel is in the Mayfair district (Washington Mayfair hotel). Going into Paddington, I would still have to take a transfer to the hotel.

In that case take the Piccadilly Line to Green Park which is a five minute walk to your hotel. You would walk much further and pay much more taking the HEX to Paddington and changing to the tube there.

Thanks for that information. I'll look into that option.

I fly in from the west coast. After 10+ hours in the plane and 13 or so in transit I’m tired and a little grumpy/impatient. I just can’t take the tube ride in to central London. I take the heathrow express and then a cab or Uber to the hotel. Fastest? Nope. Cheapest? Nope. Most comfortable for me. Heathrow express tickets are relatively cheap if purchased at least 90 days in advance. I haven’t tried the Elizabeth line but am open to giving it a try.

London has pretty bad traffic. Depending on time of day it’s unlike that a cab or minicab would be quicker than the tube.

I haven’t tried the Elizabeth line but am open to giving it a try.

The Elizabeth Line is the death of the HEX.

That statement is a little too broad.

The Heathrow Express costs less than half the price of the Elizabeth line IF one buys their tickets 90+days in advance, which is what we do. £5.50 versus £12.80 at all times of the day.

So IF one is going to the Paddington area it is a faster and cheaper option.

We have used Blackberry Cars 2 times and were very happy. Meet you at Costa Coffe at Heathrow and right to hotel.

Which form of public transport to take depends on where your hotel is located.

For the Washington Mayfair, the easiest for of public transportation, and the most affordable is taking the Piccadilly Line to Green Park and walk to your hotel. It's about a 3-5 minute walk. The fare is 5.50 GBP. The entire trip should take around 50-55 minutes.

If you take the Heathrow Express and then the tube it will cost at least twice as much, include walking between trains and will save you about 10 minutes. If you decide to take a taxi from Paddington add an additional 10-15 GBP in addition to the fare from Heathrow to Paddington.

With London traffic, don't expect a car to take much less time. It is door to door and the most comfortable. A private car service, booked ahead, will cost between 50 and 75 GBP. A taxi will cost near 100 GBP.

It's correct that the HEX is excellent value if you book 90 days in advance. But plenty of people can't or don't want to and the walk-up price at £25 is way overpriced given it delivers you to Paddington which is generally not the best place to be.
The Elizabeth line is making a big difference as it takes the same route as the HEX although it stops a few times, but it's big advantage is that it carries on right across central London so may well be able to get you close to your hotel in one shot.
But the Piccadilly line remains an excellent option for many visitors as it can deliver you straight into the centre of town and coupled with a very easy change (20 feet across a platform) to the District line gets to very many places that visitors want to be very cheaply.
I would need some very serious persuasion to use any form of road transport, more expensive by a considerable factor and almost certainly slower.

I can testify that unfortunately walking from Paddington to Mayfair was not as close or simple as I thought. I suppose taking a taxi for that last bit would work but that is a crowded part of town that might require some zigging and zagging.

As for London traffic ... I was there in December, one of the busiest times of year, and I thought it flowed amazingly well. I took a city bus from Trafalgar to St Pauls with no problem, did have a bit of trouble getting from Westminster to Mayfair but the cabbie "worked" with us on the fare.

Taxi to Mayfair will be roughly $100 and is very convenient, so it's your trip so your call. Your hotel could also arrange for a car to pick you up.

In truth the traffic in central London is often not too bad, almost certainly as a result of the congestion charge, which makes driving your own car there very expensive. It's a bit further out that the traffic can be really bad and you have to get through that zone to get into the middle if you're taking a road route from any of London's airports.