PV_Premier

I am transiting LHR on an overnight in a couple of weeks, arriving on IB from MAD (T4) at 5:30pm and departing on VS to SFO (T3) at 10:30am the next day

I am looking for a solid hotel recommendation in a cool neighborhood with a good restaurant/bar selection, within 20 minutes ride on the train/tube from LHR. Ideally hotel would be within a 5 minute walk of the tube station. Ease of access to and from the tube on arrival/depature is most important.

Budget is ~150 USD for a night. IHG is my preferred chain, but I am open to whatever.

Many thanks for any help that can be provided, I am a London novice.

lhrsfo

The problem will be that, generally, airports ruin their immediate surroundings and LHR is no exception. HEX will take you to Paddington in 20 minutes if you ignore the 15 minute wait for the train and the minimum 15 minute transit to it from T4. But Paddington Station and its immediate surroundings is not a nice part of town as it's blighted by the station - however a quick Uber will get you from there to many lovely places - at a huge price.

Or take the Tube to Gloucester Road or South Ken which are in lovely residential areas with good restaurants- but this will take 40 minutes with 5 minutes wait for the train from platforms very close to both T4 and T3. This will be very cost effective.

But better would be to forget London and take a cab to Windsor or Eton, admire Windsor Castle and walk by the river. The cab will cost the same as HEX but the hotel should be cheaper.

Can't help on hotels as I do my best to avoid chains.

tanglin

Windsor would be my recommendation also.

DocWatson

Won't it be T5 if arriving on IB?

Swanhunter

Your total requirements are impossible to satisfy in London. Great neighbourhoods exist but not 20 mins towards town from LHR. Paddington is OK and Maida Vale nice but not exactly visitor territory. Hounslow - which is as far as the woeful Piccadilly Line "service" gets you in that time frame - is tremendously missable.

Windsor isn't cool or rocking but has a sense of place and history that will give you some memories. Look at the Mercure or Christopher Wren.

UAPremExecflyer

As you're a self-confessed novice, can I suggest you do a little basic reading about London that will help inform your decision-making.
As others have noted, your current requirements - frankly - are impossible, verging on the ridiculous.
There are lots of great hotels and interesting neighbourhoods with fun restaurants and bars in London.
You're not going to find any with those criteria.

The_Bouncer

$150 is a pretty tight budget in London.

A search for 2 weeks from today reveal the Holiday Inn Express Earls Court for £100 or the Hotel Indigo Kensington for £125. Both are in a decent enough area and about 40 minutes by direct tube to LHR.

Admittedly it's been a while since I was last in that area of London, but from what I recall there are plenty of decent enough places to eat and drink, with a mix of locals and tourists.

PV_Premier

thank you for some helpful feedback. i'll check out Windsor, and if that doesn't work out, I will have to decide between staying near the airport for convenience and rest versus further away for a nice evening out.

KARFA

Yes it will be. IB operate from T5 at LHR.

RichardInSF

Typically, it takes longer to stay near the airport, assuming you take the 'Hotel Hoppa' bus to get to your hotel, than it takes to get to Paddington station on the Heathrow Express.

tom911

Although it won't satisfy your neighborhood requirement, look at the Hilton Garden Inn at the Hatton Cross Tube station, one stop out of Heathrow. I was there on Sunday night (50GBP rate) on 22 hour connection and went into London for the evening after dropping my bag. It's a 7 min walk from the Tube station. You don't need to deal with the 5GBP hotel hoppa unless you want to.



I've stayed up in Windsor before and have gone up there by bus from the airport coach terminal. My recollection is it's about a 45 min trip as the bus does go through some commercial districts as well as residential areas, so unless you're planning that route by cab you'll need to commit some time.

henry999

I second this line of thought. Great location.

Or 2 min walk from the bus stop, and free, if you take the 285 or 555 from the Heathrow Central Bus Station.

KARFA

As the OP is arriving at T5 the bus to take is the 423. The journey is wholly within the free travel zone so would be free. The tube (which I would take) would cost about £1.60 from T5 to Hatton Cross.

ppp909

Given the flight times, you will be arriving/leaving at the busiest times of day. Traffic around the airport itself generally isn't too bad, but further afield it will be. If it were me (and discounting the fact I live 20 mins from Heathrow) I'd stay at the hotel of my choice at the airport and go out somewhere for the evening.
There aren't any hip and happening neighbourhoods in West London, or at least there weren't the last time I looked. Although that does depend on what your criteria are tbh. Windsor is a nice town to wander around but it'll be dark by the time you get there. Further down the river you have Staines (with an undeserved reputation thanks to a certain comedian), Kingston, Twickenham and Richmond, all of which are lovely (think sipping pint by the Thames) on summer evenings but maybe not so much at this time of year. All are within 20-25 mins of the airport, without traffic. Otherwise it's into London.

The other thing to bear in mind is if it's chucking it down you might not want to go far at all. A hotel near the airport allows you to make that choice at the time.

lhrsfo

I can't believe you mean this - even with the proviso in your second sentence. West London is a huge area with one of the wealthiest and hippest populations on earth. But of course they live in pockets of West London, much as hip and cool people live in pockets of East London or North London - and those pockets are not near the airport. If you define West London as any area with W (for West in the postcode, there are extensive areas of London which are great fun to visit - NW1 for Camden, for example, W8 or W10 for Kensington or Notting Hill, W1 for Mayfair (not hip but plenty of superb nightclubs and entertainment options, SW1r SW3 or SW7 - Knightsbridge, Chelsea and South Kensington for fashion, art or other high end activities.

Now, if you mean by West London, the west London suburbs, then I would agree with you, but since when have any suburbs anywhere been hip?