London in August

If you are only in London 4 days, you should be in the West End, Bloomsbury, or maybe Paddington to be able to walk to sights. Departying flight at 9 am, means you need to check in at 6 am. You need to be at Heathrow , or at best Paddington and take the Heathrow Express- Canary wharf is not realistic. Heathrow security/check in are usually very time consuming

Check out the London School of Economics: http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/ They offer apartments or suites, with a kitchenette and coffee maker, laundry room in the basement, and some locations have a cafeteria on the first floor. Look at their website for more information; they have several locations, all convenient to the tourist sights and museums. Here is a map, showing the location of my three favorites; Grosvenor House Studios, High Holborn Residence, and Northumberland House. http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/images/Maps/New%20maps/LSE%20-%20Grosvenor-High%20Hol-Nthumberland7.4.pdf If you wish to stay south of the Thames, look at the Bankside House, which is near the Globe and Tate Modern: http://www.lsevacations.co.uk/images/Maps/New%20maps/LSE%20-%20Bankside%20House%20D.pdf

Jon, staying in Canary Wharf to see London is like staying in Leesburg to see D.C. Get a place in the West End. Look at hotels, too, in case you find apartments wanting to rent by the week. Know what Heathrow terminal you'll be departing from. No slick trains or automated sidewalk connecting terminals. Think of Heathrow as five airports on top of each other. And, yes, it is best to be at Heathrow 3 hours before an international flight. If things are running smoothly, you may have time on your hands. But, they don't often run smoothly. Few airports are busier. Given the early flight, consider staying the last night at one of the Heathrow hotels. You'll only need to wake at 5am, not 4am. If not, take the Heathrow Express from Paddington. Costs a bit more, but it really does take only 15-20 minutes. The fastest way.

I agree with j.c. You may want to consider staying at the airport on your last night. We stay at the Hilton because of convenience. It's the only Heathrow Airport hotel with direct access to Terminal 4 via a covered walkway and Terminal 5 via a free hotel shuttle bus. http://www.hilton.co.uk/heathrow The good news is you can roll out of bed on the morning of departure, and dash directly to your plane. The bad news is it's not the cheapest hotel near the airport (but I think it's reasonable considering London hotel prices in general). The rooms are very clean and nice, and they have 3 restaurants for your dinner the night before.

I'd second the London School of Economics. If that doesn't work check out Citadines. We have used them in the past. They have several central locations. We stayed at the Covent Garden/High Holborn location with our kids. Very easy to get to the tube, a grocery nearby, and very safe location.

I would not stay in CanaryWharf/Docklands if I were a first-time visitor, particularly if I only had 4 days. It's OK for business travelers, which may be why your office mate suggested it. But as a tourist location it's the boondocks. For a central area with budget/moderate hotels, try Bloomsbury or the area around Victoria Station. A lot of people like Earl's Court. I'm not a fan because it is not walking distance to any tourist sites. However, you can find reasonably priced accomodations, it is convenient to Heathrow, and it is easy to get into central London tourist areas from there. Covent Garden/Strand/Trafalgar Square is my favorite area because it is walking distance to so many tourist sites. It's a bit pricey, though. There's a Citadines apartment hotel right off Trafalgar Square. I have not stayed there and it gets mixed reviews on tripadvisor, but it's in an awesome location. Another option is a hotel in The City. It is close to a lot of tourist sites, but is quiet at night and on weekends because the area is mostly businesses. I'm not a fan of Paddington, but it's a better location than Canary Wharf/Docklands. I think the area is rather dreary and a bit further out than I like to stay. If you stay there your last night, I suggest taking the Heathrow Connect instead of the Heathrow Express. It's less than half the cost of the Express, and only about 10 minutes slower. http://goo.gl/DWaMj http://goo.gl/j7LYn