Where to Stay for One Night

Stay near Paddington Station where you can jump on the Heathrow Express straight to Heathrow Airport.

Stay near Paddington Station where you can catch the 15 minute Heathrow Express to the airport. We usually stay in the Bayswater area on the north end of Hyde Park, and it's a short ride to Paddington from there. Some reasonable accommodations can be found there too.

Thanks to both of you. Emma, I scoured posts about the St. Pancras area and found one that said they would not be comfortable walking there at night. I'm happy to hear that's not accurate. We are looking forward to experiencing another neighborhood.

David, Paddington sounds good, too. Especially with the Heathrow express. Thank you.

Sue, that post about the area near St Pancras may have been out of date. The area has been quite built up in recent years and now has a very lively scene with nice restaurants, bars, and shops in Coal Drops Yard. Definitely a fun place to explore after dark!

Stay in the victoria station hotel,it will be helpful as you only need is to pick up the bag and leave

Why not take the train from Paddington Station to Windsor. Windsor is a fifteen minute cab ride to Heathrow. You could visit Windsor Castle, take a 5 minute walk to Windsor Great Park and/or take a 8 minute walk to Eton where Eton College (actually not a college) which is a school for boys 13-18yr ods, it’s a prestigious private school.

These are all good suggestions and are very helpful as we decide where to stay. I especially like the clarification about the King's Crossing Area.

Kings Cross St Pancras area. Totally built up in the last 10 years.

Check out Granary Square and Coal Drop Yards. I loved how they transformed the gas towers into condos.

Want to enjoy a lovely space for afternoon tea, dinner or cocktail? Try the Booking Office at Renaissance St Pancras hotel.

You can also follow the Regents Canal path and walk to the Camden Lock neighborhood.

As far as where to stay. 63 Batswater. Book Heathrow Express NOW and then see if 63 has availability. From 63 to Paddington Station where the Heathrow Expess arrives and departs is a 10-15minute stroll. Then 15 minute ride to LHR. Easy peasy.

Yup, the St Pancras/Kings Cross area was certainly sketchy back in the 1980s. The first I even learned about it was from the Kings Cross song by the Pet Shop Boys from around 1985. But, no, there are no more prostitutes or drug dealers there now. The stereotype is as dated as the Times Square stereotype from 1970s cop movies.

Probably more prostitution in Paddington - Sussex Gardens used to have a reputation. Now it's behind closed doors in the posh streets in Chelsea https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/inside-londons-huge-indoor-red-13894792 or the five-star hotels in Park Lane.

Whatsapp nowadays for drugs.

I'm also going to suggest the St. Pancras area over Paddington. The ride via the tube (Piccadilly Line) is direct with no changes and much cheaper than the Heathrow Express. Figure about 1 hour to one hour 15 minutes for the ride. If you need to be at Heathrow by 1:00 PM, I would leave the hotel around 11:30 AM.

The area is fine. I've stayed at the Premier Inn St. Pancras. It's across the street from St. Pancras and the British Library.

Or.....look at almost any stop along the PIccadilly line. Hotels around South Kensington, Gloucester Road and Earls Court are in a more mixed retail and residential areas. (My favorite is the Nadler Kensington just one block from Earls Court Station. It is changing it's name to the Resident Kensington on Tuesday. I have spent over 200 nights in this hotel over the years and it really is like home. Forty five minutes to Heathrow.)

Thanks to all of you. Staying in St. Pancras is certainly going to be simpler for us, both on coming from LTN and going to Heathrow. Thanks for adjusting my perception!