2 nights in Windsor.
Has anyone stayed here Charles House?
The other options that we are considering are:
The Rutlands B& B or Travel Lodge
We arrive around noon on a Thursday. If we wait until Friday to tour Windsor Castle the State Apartments will be closed. Is it possible to get to the Castle in time on Thursday?
Any favorite spots to eat, have a beer.....?
Lastly, recommendations on the best manner in which to travel between Heathrow and Windsor- both directions.
Thank you
Are you arriving at Windsor or at Heathrow around noon? If Windsor, you'll have no trouble seeing the castle and St. George's Chapel in the afternoon. If it's too far to walk from your lodging, a taxi will save time and simplify things. If it's a noon landing at Heathrow, and it's delayed or you spend much time getting bags and/or at passport control, you could have some time pressure in Windsor. Again a taxi is probably the quickest and simplest way to get there.
EDIT -- You can't bring luggage into the castle grounds, but I think you can check bags at the security point. Check the website if this is relevant. Might save you from having to check into lodging before touring the castle if time is tight.
I stayed at the Charles House for one night, before our morning flight back (visited Windsor Castle in the afternoon). It was nice and it was reasonable. We were able to leave our luggage early before check in time. Our room was the only twin bed room at the top of the stairs. It was on the small side, but as I said, very nice. We didn’t opt for breakfast. It was walkable from the Castle - maybe 10-15 min., but was a £4-5 taxi ride. I don’t know about the other 2 places you are considering.
We were headed in the opposite direction - from Windsor to Heathrow, and used Windsor Cars, which I came across as recommend on this forum. I think he quoted a price of £8. I assume they would pick you up at Heathrow for the trip to Windsor if you didn’t want to use public transportation.
I’ve stayed at the Travel Lodge, it was nice. It’s a 3 minute walk from the Windsor & Eton Central train station. Travel Lodge is only a few minutes walk to the castle.
A taxi is the easiest bet to get from Heathrow to Windsor and vice versa and whe I was there 2 years ago, it was about £15. You can also use Windsor Cars as RS advices but if you do, wait until you land in Heathrow before you call them otherwise they charge you extra for waiting time and parking. The RS book warns you about this but I decided to go against it and arrange it in advance and it took over an hour to get through passport control so the driver ended up waiting for us. With all the extra costs it was about £40! Should’ve listened to Rick! On the way back to Heathrow our b&b host just called us a cab.
As for "spots to eat, have a beer...", we're staying at The George which is in Eton a 7-minute walk from the castle (directly across the bridge). It's an inn over a pub dating back to 1542 which claims to have been frequented by William Shakespeare and Charles Dickens. Might be worth a look.
And yes, if you arrive at noon, you have time to tour Windsor Castle. :) I missed the State apartments my first time and really enjoyed them when I went back! You could also consider going back for Evensong at the chapel - it was really lovely!
