layz

I spend most of my time on the British Airways forum so it's easy to forget not everybody knows Heathrow.
I'll try and help you picture it:
Heathrow has three train stations.
Terminals 2&3 are in the central area, as was the now closed T1
Terminal 4 is then on one spur on the rail network
Terminal 5 is on another.
The Heathrow Express (the expensive train from Paddington) stops at T2&3 station first and then goes to T5.
TfL Rail (a cheaper option, formerly called the Heathrow Connect) starts at Paddington, stops at stations on the way, then T2&3 and then T4.
The trains are free between the Heathrow terminals but you pay to go to Paddington or any other destination.

The HGI is on the tube (London Underground) Piccadilly Line, the station is Hatton Cross and is one stop to T2&3 and two stops to T5, there's also tubes that go to T4 so check the destination screens before boarding. You can also use the tube to get into Central London, it's the cheapest but slower option.

Dax1956

Thank you that information was very helpful.

writerguyfl

There are many different wheeled vehicles that potentially traverse hotels on a daily basis. Examples: wheelchairs, strollers, and electronic convenience vehicles (ECVs). I don't see how a bike is much different. It's better actually, as most bikes are light enough to pick up and carry through public areas.

Of course, it's up to each individual hotel (or even each individual hotel employee) as to whether they allow bikes. If you want to be diligent, you could contact the hotel in advance.

observer

Could one of the very knowledgable people here advise me regarding the Hoppa schedule from T5 to the Hilton T5 around 8 am on a weekday. I will be traveling light (only carry on) and had hoped to take Hoppa and save some money. But I can't find a timetable for Hoppa route 57 on the Hoppa website.

Thanks.

jerry a. laska

https://www.heathrow.com/file_source..._timetable.pdf

:D!

Bus 285 from HGI to Heathrow Central (T2/T3) is free. I won't take the tube on this route because of the time I missed a flight due to being stuck underground between stations for 20 minutes.

Buses 482 and 490 run between Hatton Cross (3 mins walk from the HGI), T4 and T5 and are free. Annoyingly in the very early morning, they both run at 30 minute intervals but both buses arrive at roughly the same time instead of spreading the headway. They also tend to be completely packed with airport workers, and travel time is about 25 minutes. For the train it would also be wise to check timetables.

Dax1956

Bus won't work because of luggage and child. So sounds like it's the hopper, from either Hilton at terminal two with no stops, or one of the others with two stops. One more question, does the train from Paddington take you straight to terminal five, or will we also need to get on a hopper to get to the actual terminal? Hope that makes sense. Thanks once again.

Duck1981

Straight into (or below) the terminal; with lifts taking you directly to check-in & departures.

layz

I think I'll contact a few of the hotels nearest the start and see what they say. Failing that I'll follow wizla's idea and use the parking at Canary Wharf. As I used to live near there that's a familiar route to the start line for me.

:D!

Plenty of people take the local buses with child(ren) and large luggage. But understandable if you don't want to.

The Heathrow Express train goes non-stop from Paddington to T2/3 then T5, every 15 minutes.

The TfL rail train has 5 stops between Paddington and T2/3 then goes to T4, thus it is a bit slower, and currently only runs every 30 minutes. It is less than half the price of the Heathrow Express at walk-up prices.

About 3-5 minutes walk including escalators or lifts from the relevant station to T3, T4 and T5. T2 is about 10 minutes walk plus lifts. The walk to T2 is exposed to wind around the terminal entrance, T3 slightly exposed, T5 is sort of indoors and T4 is completely indoors

layz

Just to clarify terminology - Hoppa (full name Hotel Hoppa) is a bus. At Heathrow hotels aren't allowed to put on their own shuttle buses as there's so many hotels and only limited space, so there's some buses that run between the terminals and groups of hotels. They follow set timetables. I'm not a big fan of them as I think they're overpriced for what you're getting.

The trains from Paddington take you directly into the airport, for T2&3 there's moving walkways from the station to the terminal and in T5 you just take a single lift from platform level that takes you straight to departures level. If you're going between terminals on the train these are just the regular trains they just happen to be free between the terminals. Therefore to go from T4 to T5 you need to change at T2&3 (which is why I prefer the bus between T4 and T5, neither is ideal for luggage).

In your case with a lot of luggage I think it's probably worth paying for the Hoppa if you're staying in Hilton T4, less walking and unlike the free bus there's sufficient luggage space. If the newly opened HGI T2 is available then the free train between terminals would be the best option (I'm guessing, as it's not opened yet I can't comment on the walk between the hotel and the station).

For the HGI Hatton Cross it depends how much luggage you have, it's very close to the tube station but you need to cross a busy road (there's an option of both a footbridge of traffic light controlled crossing so it's safe).

Perhaps after saying all this as a first timer it might just be worth taking the option that seems the least hassle as long as you're happy with the price.

Land-of-Miles

The Hilton Paddington is an expensive train trip to a pricier property with a poorer lounge than either of the two airport Hiltons. The OP is a Gold so likely to get lounge access.

Whilst HGI's can be good they are not really full service properties and either of the two airport Hiltons are better options than any other HGI I have visited.

The T5 Hilton is further away (best option Uber to get there and back) but has better rooms and public space. The T5 Hilton has a great Indian Restaurant

The T4 Hilton has very small rooms unless you are lucky enough to get a suite which are very nicely laid out. The T4 Hilton has a great Chinese Restaurant.

The T4 Lounge is I think bigger and better than the T5 lounge.

For me I think it depends on how sensitive you are to transport costs and if you have checked bags with you. If I had bags I would probably pick the T5 Hilton and uber both ways (but you could equally do this with the T4 property, it just doesn't have much space for bags in the rooms). If I had hand luggage only I would pick the T4 Hilton if it were at least £20 cheaper than the T5 Hilton and use the free buses between terminals.

layz

A lot has probably changed since I was last gold (2012 and diamond since) I did get lounge access as a gold in T4, never tried T5 back then (can't remember when the hotel opened) and Paddington never gave me lounge access as gold so never got to see what their lounge was like. The reason I was staying in Paddington a few times in 2012 was because I was working in Windsor at the time and had tickets for some Olympic events. That seems so long ago.
I guess another reason not to stay in Paddington is because of the chance there might be problems with the trains on the day of your flight. There's a number of reasons that this could happen, most common signal failure. I've been fortunate enough to never encounter it but it can happen and if it does you have the choice of an expensive taxi ride to the airport or taking the tube which will likely be busier because of no trains to the airport.

Discovery Bay

I'm pretty inexperienced at public transport!
However, I have stayed at the Hilton T5 on a dozen or so occasions in the last 2 years.
I have always found the Hotel Hoppa service to T5 to be very reliable - never more that 3 or 4 minutes adrift.
For travel to terminals other than 5 - I have used local taxi service - booked by the hotel.
For arrival transport from terminals other than 5 I have used Uber - and that worked just fine.

Dax1956

Does anyone have any information on the new Hilton in terminal two? I am diamond by the way. Do you know how far from the train station it is? Would we have to get on a hotel hopper somewhere at the train station to get to the actual hotels. Same question I suppose for the Hilton at terminal five . Thank you, you have all been so helpful.