Originally Posted by
tarheelnj
I extended my reservation on the front end to guarantee "red-eye" availability when we arrive in the morning, which should be useful.
I was surprised to hear the lounge is closed all day Friday and through the weekend until Sunday evening, when it reopens. I can understanding closing after breakfast, but I'm not sure I'd be happy staying here for business on a Thursday evening. The phone agent did say I would get a coupon for breakfast that morning, though.
The agent also said there's no shuttle or other LHR airport transportation and recommended the Piccadilly line (impractical with luggage and time consuming) or a taxi (expensive). I'm assuming Heathrow Express, then a taxi from Paddington, but other suggestions appreciated.
Also, planning a (long-promised) trip to the Harry Potter studio and understand there's a bus from central London not far from the hotel, which would be a better experience than train + shuttle. Any experiences there?
Contact the hotel just before you fly over so they realize you're using that first night to guarantee availability when you arrive. We've had mixed reports on that working properly overseas; something to do w/ accounting doing the books for the night.
Thanks for the heads up on the exec lounge not being open for breakfast on Friday; I'll update the exec lounge sticky.
Re: transport. With 4 of you it's probably easier to just take a cab or get a mini-cab from LHR. The UK/Ireland forum has an excellent sticky re: transport, including #s of mini-cabs etc. If you decide to do the train/cab combo, then don't do the Heathrow Express but instead the Heathrow Connect. It picks up/drops off at the same place, but instead of running 4x/hour, runs 2x/hour - and it's half the price. I used to do the HEX/cab; now I do the HCON/cab.
Re: getting to Harry Potter Studio from the hotel, that question is probably better asked in the UK/Ireland forum or ask the hotel directly.
Cheers.