Hex or Tube?
 

Going from Heathrow to The Athenaeum Hotel. Am I better off taking the Heathrow Express and catching a bus or taxi at Paddington, or the Picadilly Line to Green Park station?

As you can see on this map of the location of the hotel: http://www.athenaeumhotel.com/location.html

the hotel is located right on the Picadilly line. I would just board the Picadilly line at Heathrow and it will drop you off right near the hotel. If you take the Heathrow express, you will end up at Paddington, and then have to either take a cab or 2 tube lines to get to your hotel.

Thanks. If I took the HEX, I would not transfer to the tube, but rather to the 436 bus.

Go for the tube, I mean why take the HEX when you have a direct train from the airport straight to your hotel which is cheaper and takes an equal amount of time??

http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk/ will give you timings of between 48 & 58 minutes by HEX / 436 bus and between 55 & 59 minutes by Tube to Hyde Park corner & 10 minutes walk. You don't save much time waiting for a bus at Hyde Park corner BTW.

Green Park stop on the Picadilly line is closer to the hotel than the Hyde Park stop.

Enjoy your trip!

The hotel has quite a good restaurant (Bullochs at 116) which often runs promotions with www.toptable.co.uk.

See http://www.toptable.co.uk/details.cfm/qs/rid|862/

At the moment, if you dine before 19th October you get 50% off the bill. This deal has to be booked through top table but when I did this they were very discreet about the whole thing :cool:

You chose an excellent hotel and location. Enjoy. Take the tube to Green Park.

MisterNice

HEX + cab if you have anything more than a briefcase.

Wimp - and if you need to use HEX, don't, get the Heathrow Connect service instead

I have a rollerboard (a wheelie) and a computer bag, which I can easily manage on the tube.

Thanks, everyone, for the advvice. Sitting on the stand at FRA waiting for ATC clearance to LHR ...

I'm on the tube now: couldn't be easier. For future reference, what's the Heathrow Connect?

A train service that runs on the same route as the Heathrow Express, but stops. It's a little bit cheaper (£9.50 instead of £14), but slower (25 minutes instead of 15) and less frequent (every 30 minutes instead of 15). So the average wait+journey time is 40 minutes instead of 23. Plus the Connect does not run to T4, so you have to change trains at T123 to go to T4.

IMHO, all these factors put together remove the appeal of the train over the Tube if you're going to use the Connect - if you're going to spend so much longer on the train but still pay a whacking great fare, you might as well go on the Tube and pay relative peanuts, even if it's fractionally longer still.

I agree with you. Based on my most recent experience on the Tube, and past experience with the HEX, I think it makes sense to be one or the other, depending on destination. I can't imagine a scenario where I'd take the LHR Connect over either of those.

It all depends on what's important to you: saving a few bucks and arriving on the tube [and taking an hour to do it] or spending some more and arriving in the back of a taxi - unharried and relaxed. For my money, I think it's worth the extra $30 to take the Heathrow Express. I've taken the Tube a number of times and find it too slow, crowded and exasperating - especially during the am rush hour. There are places to nickel and dime; LHR>Central London isn't one of them in my opinion.