holocker

Besides the Heathrow COnnect taking a little longer what are the differences between the 2 modes of travel into London.
2 of us arriving in London early on a Sunday and heading to Marriott Grosvenor House and deciding on means of transporattion.

alanR

The HEC is cheaper and slower than the HEX. It runs from T4 through T123 to Paddington and stop at a couple of stations on the way. The HEX runs from T5 through T123 to Paddington and doesn't stop at a couple of stations on the way.

All of which is explained on the respective websites

The Grosvenor House website about costs is wrong - it's £4 from LHR to Central London by Tube.

Personally I'd just get the direct Tube to Hyde Park Corner then taxi from there.

Christopher

Yes, one difference is cost — the Express is about twice the price (from memory). The Express service is also faster, although probably not significantly so for most people in most situations: it has no intermediate stops between Heathrow 1-2-3 and Paddington and takes about 15 minutes, whereas the Connect stops at (I think) five stations on the way and takes about 25 minutes.

The other big difference is that the Express goes from Heathrow 5 to Heathrow 1-2-3 to Paddington, whereas the Connect goes from Heathrow 4 to Heathrow 1-2-3 to Paddington. To be honest, if I were arriving at terminal 5, I'd take the Express and be done with it rather than changing at Heathrow 1-2-3. Similarly, if I were arriving at terminal 4, I'd take the Connect the whole way. If I were arriving at terminal 1, terminal 2, or terminal 3, I'd consider that I had a sensible choice...

ETA: As above, the Underground is another option. Hyde Park Corner is not bad for steps, although there might be some to get to street level from the ticket hall.

hobarthoney

Agree with above. Catch the Tube and save your money. If you want to spend up and get more room then get the Express.

TIMP

Tube on a Sunday would be fine. Connect is fine - I caught it two weeks ago and I actually enjoyed the slightly slower ride.

Seat64A

Another point is that Connect trains are half-hourly. HEX trains run more frequently than this.

SkiAdcock

I stay at Grosvenor House each year. In the past I used to do the HEX/cab combo to GH; now I do the HCon/cab combo (it's about 8GBP w/ tip for the cab from Paddington).

I've not done the tube into Hyde Park & then walking, bussing or cabbing up to GH because, for this particular trip, I have more luggage/don't feel like schlepping up the stairs, and also quite often the tube is crowded leaving LHR & I end up standing for quite a distance, which I'm not into. Having said that, I have taken the tube when staying at dif properties.

BTW - what time early on Sunday? The only downside I've found to the HCon is that it doesn't start quite as early on Sunday as it does Mon-Sat.

Cheers.

holocker

My flight is on Cotinental arriving at T4 at 7:40 am on a Sunday. There will be 2 of us. About how much is the cab from Paddington to Grosvenor House. We will have probably 3 pieces of luggage between the 2 of us so deciding if we should do the train/cab option or take a car service.

Swanhunter

As noted above, GBP8 or so will cover the cab even on a Sunday. If you can manage the bags easily then the train is fine but you will have to carry them on an off the train and a distance on the platform at both LHR and Paddington.

Non-NonRev

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (SymbianOS/9.2; U; Series60/3.1 NokiaE71-2/100.07.76; Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 ) AppleWebKit/413 (KHTML, like Gecko) Safari/413 UP.Link/6.3.0.0.0)

With three bags to transport, why not avail yourselves of the dot2dot van service?



You are transported directly from LHR's Arrivals level to the front door of the Grosvenor House, and your luggage is handled. You do away with the need to deal with stairs, and there is no need for a second ride in a cab.



No fear that dot2dot resembles SuperShuttle in the States - the vehicles used are newish Mercedes vans equipped with high back leather chairs and they even have wi-fi.



http://www.dot2.com

mcgahat

For one person perhaps but for two or more I would think a car service could be had for not much more and no need to stop along the way.

I used to be a HEX person but the connect is not much longer and for the price savings it is just flat out better in my opinion. But I have been taking the tube lately and it really isnt that bad to be honest.........but I dont have a lot of bags so that helps a LOT.

holocker

I am also thinking aobut using simplyairports car service for transport for the 2 of us instead of the train.

Trav+

No stairs with which to cope at Hyde Park Corner; there is an escalator up from the train platform to the ticket hall and exit. After passing through the barriers and leaving the station look left, to Exit 1 for Knightsbridge north side.

There is a ramp at that exit up to street level, where you'll find yourself standing at a set of bus stops. Taxis are usually plentiful along that stretch of Knightsbridge, so hailing one shouldn't be a problem.

Maximum £4 each for the Underground fare plus about £8 for a taxi leaves a handful of pounds to spend on something nice in London. If you decide to take the Underground, sit at the front of the train, as it's nearest the way out at Hyde Park Corner.

Roger

^

It's also less crowded, for the first part of the journey at least, as many passengers jump into the rear carriages at the foot of the LHR escalator (- at T123, I haven't used T5 Underground yet). Just walk along the T123 platform.

JOUY31

So, worst case scenario is a 30mn wait plus a 30mn ride. The HEC doesn't seem to have a good price performance ratio for me when travelling all the way from Heathrow to Paddington. Except if you are staying at Paddington, the Tube seems a better option, or am I missing something ?