Hilton HHonors - Various Hilton London's Ease of Access to Paddington During AM

I have a 1230 flight out of LHR (to ORD) on a Monday morning. I suspect that I'll need to arrive at LHR around 0930?

Sort of staying at the Hilton Paddington or the Hilton at Heathrow, what is the next best Hilton with relatively painless access to Paddington Station?

Not sure I want dirty looks from fellow passengers on the Tube with my big suitcase during the AM rush hour. :D

I was thinking about the Hilton Metropole. It seems pretty close via taxi to Paddington?

What about the Hilton Olympia? How much of a pain will it be getting to Paddington in the AM? It is worth taking a taxi or should I risk the tube?

Any other suggestions? Thanks!

Greetings. Metropole is only a few blocks away from Paddington and easily walkable, and of course Paddington Hilton (which I liked BTW and has a little casino on site). If you don't want to lug your all your stuff around, LHR has "left luggage" facilities too. Many people have large bags on the trains so it's ok and it's easy access from Paddington to LHR. Trip Advisor has good reviews on the area hotels as well. If you are new in town, a great, inexpensive way to see London is via the double deck touring buses you can get around there too. Fish and chips at at an authentic rowdy English pub is recommended to start the evening.

As pointed out by REDSOX1 both Paddington and Metropole are convenient. Either will give you easy access to the Heathrow Express. If you're only staying one night Paddington probably works best. For multi-night stays Mrs P and I prefer Metropole for Tube accessability.

Hilton Kensington works well also. It's significantly cheaper than Paddington, always gives lounge access, the staff consistently seems friendlier, and the Westfield mall has many restaurants. If you leave by taxi @ 0900 you'll be on a 0930 HEX no problem. Alternative in good weather is to walk across Shepherd's Bush to the Metropolitan Line (15 minutes), then 15 minutes to Paddington.

If money's the object (and/or spending it on eats or presents instead of pillow), definitely Kensington. But from the H. Paddington, you can pretty much just pour yourself down to the HEX.

An experienced travler should be able to make it through LHR in 90 minutes to 2 hours no problem. My wife and I were there on a Monday morning about 6 months ago and found it no worse than O'Hare or Atlanta.

We left our hotel near Big Ben and took the Tube to LHR (much longer ride than the Paddington Express). We gave ourselves 3 hours from leaving and made our flight with little rush.

If your bent on using the Express, the Metropole is an easy 4 block walk.

After departing Waldorf Hilton, I walked to Covent Garden (on the Piccadilly Line) and arrived LHR in 1 hour. Not bad for 4 quid!

I just did this a few hours ago. You can't get more convenient than the Hilton Paddington (lift / elevator to the trains from the same floor as the lobby of the Hotel). BUT, Mrs Duckdollars and I stayed at Hilton Metropole. Her flight departure was 12:05 (noon) from LHR ... I'm staying in town for more work :-(. We walked our bags from Metropole to Paddington in 5 mins.

At Paddington there are several options for getting to LHR.
1 - Heathrow Express (17 lbs? - 20 mins)
2 - Heathrow Connect (8 lbs? - 30 mins)
3 - Tube (less - 1 hours?)

Heathrow Connect leaves every 30 minutes.

We left Paddington at 9:30 on Heathrow Connect .. were checking in at LHR by 10:15 or so. No problems.

Heathrow Connect... Not as lucky. Each time I've taken it - mid-day twice - the traffic has been stop and go for much of the way. I will not rely on it again unless I'm in a group with someone with a stronger will than mine. The tube is many stops. You certainly can't thriftily beat the price. Lesson (to me): Just consider the Express to be the cost of doing business or of doing fun. I usually stew about spending it before the fact, but never after. I still spend earnest time in the arcades at LHR..... :o

I had good luck with Heathrow Connect the past summer. I think it depends on how many travelers you have--we had three of us, so saving £30 or so each way was a significant amount.

The Metropole is a few hundred yards from Paddington and isn't a tough walk if you don't have a lot of luggage. If you do, I think our cab from the Metropole to Paddington was about £5.