Need help with 2 trips:

Will arrive Heathrow at 0730h on a Friday in June and need transport to
Grovesnor House Hotel on Park Lane. That same evening will need transport to
Gatwick to meet family member who arrives at 1930h and will need transport
from Gatwick back to Grosvenor House Hotel.

What suggestions does anyone have for best mode of transport, considering
hour of arrival at Heathrow and return trip from Gatwick to hotel?

--
Paul R

In message ,
Paul R writes
Need help with 2 trips:

Will arrive Heathrow at 0730h on a Friday in June and need transport to
Grovesnor House Hotel on Park Lane. That same evening will need transport to
Gatwick to meet family member who arrives at 1930h and will need transport
from Gatwick back to Grosvenor House Hotel.

What suggestions does anyone have for best mode of transport, considering
hour of arrival at Heathrow and return trip from Gatwick to hotel?

I can help with BOTH trips.

I am a licensed London (black cab) taxi driver. Contact me by e-mail and
I can give you a reduced price for almost all of your journeys (you may
have to take a train to Gatwick where I would meet you on my way in to
work - I live on the South Coast and pass Gatwick on my way to/from
central London.

Mike

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England

"Paul R" wrote in message
...
Need help with 2 trips:

Will arrive Heathrow at 0730h on a Friday in June and need transport to
Grovesnor House Hotel on Park Lane. That same evening will need transport
to
Gatwick to meet family member who arrives at 1930h and will need transport
from Gatwick back to Grosvenor House Hotel.

What suggestions does anyone have for best mode of transport, considering
hour of arrival at Heathrow and return trip from Gatwick to hotel?

Gatwick trains leave every 15 minutes from Victoria - if there's a lot of
you it may be cheaper to get a taxi back to London from Gatwick. The
Heathrow Express leaves from Heathrow to Paddington every 15 minutes for £15
return, then get a taxi from paddington.

If you're on a budget, picadilly Heathrow - Hyde Park Corner and walk (about
1/2 a mile).

Depends, how many are you on each leg, and do you value ease over money?

--
Everything above is the personal opinion of the author, and nothing to do
with where he works and all that lovely disclaimery stuff.
Posted in his lunch hour too.

Quickest and most comfortable way from Heathrow to hotel is probably
to take Heathrow Express train to Paddington and taxi from there (may
be a queue for taxis at that time). Quite expensive though
particularly if there are several of you.

Cheapest way is probably to take Piccadilly Line tube to Hyde Park
Corner and walk to hotel from there (5-10 minutes). However the tube
will get increasingly crowded with commuters as you approach Central
London and the more luggage you have the more stressful will be your
journey.

If you travel by road you will also hit the morning rush hour and you
will probably be stuck in traffic for part of the time (although if
you take up Mr Hughes's offer he may be able to keep delays to a
minimum)


When travelling to Gatwick in the evening I recommend either walking
(15-20 mins) or getting a bus to Victoria and then taking a fast train
to Gatwick (fairly frequent). You could also return by train and get
a taxi from Victoria to the hotel.

On Thu, 13 May 2004 at 20:31:45, Roland Perry
wrote:

(Excellent advice snipped)

Walk or taxi to Victoria Station (a little under a mile). Gatwick Express,
half an hour. Remember that your arriving passengers will take typically
30-45 minutes to clear customs and immigration. If it's just one person
it'll be cheaper to go back to Victoria on the Gatwick Express, then
probably a taxi to the hotel is worth the expense ($5-10)

Do bear in mind that SouthCentral trains also run a service from London
Victoria to and from Gatwick Airport, which is cheaper than the Gatwick
Express, but almost as frequent.
--
Annabel Smyth
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/index.html
Website updated 9 May 2004

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message wczoc.48553$Ut1.1365006@bgtnsc05
I would be very tempted to exit the tube at Knightsbridge, where it's a
normal road (Hyde Park Corner is a very busy intersection - once famous
for being the busiest in the country) and get a taxi the last mile.
There should be plenty of them available outside Harrods (use the
western exit to the station).

That sounds like a good bit of advise...plus at that hour of the morning I
won't be competing with shoppers for the taxis outside Harrods :-)

Most hotels will be rather taken aback by someone checking in at 9am
(rather than 2pm onwards), have you checked what the position is?


Doesn't really matter. Since we have confirmed reservations, the hotel's
Concierge will store our luggage until our room is available. We asked for
an early check-in, so there's a chance it might be available around noon. If
not, we'll keep walking...and sightseein'

Your LGT pick-up suggestion also sounds good...thanks!

That same evening will need transport to Gatwick to meet family member
who arrives at 1930h and will need transport from Gatwick back to
Grosvenor House Hotel.

Walk or taxi to Victoria Station (a little under a mile). Gatwick
Express, half an hour. Remember that your arriving passengers will take
typically 30-45 minutes to clear customs and immigration. If it's just
one person it'll be cheaper to go back to Victoria on the Gatwick
Express, then probably a taxi to the hotel is worth the expense ($5-10)
--
Roland Perry

If you travel by road you will also hit the morning rush hour and you
will probably be stuck in traffic for part of the time (although if
you take up Mr Hughes's offer he may be able to keep delays to a
minimum)

Especially as I can use bus lanes to avoid many of the queues

I was just thinking about the journey into London that time of the morning
for a taxi - would you go M4 to Junction 2, then down to the Chiswick
roundabout, and along the A315 through Chiswick High Road, Hammersmith and
Kensington? Would the queues towards the Chiswick roundabout make it worth
going that way as opposed to staying on the M4/A4 and cutting up Sutton Lane
North up to the High Road? Suppose for a cab it really wouldn't be a bad
journey at all.

Peter

In message , Annabel Smyth
writes
Do bear in mind that SouthCentral trains also run a service from London
Victoria to and from Gatwick Airport, which is cheaper than the Gatwick
Express, but almost as frequent.

This is true, but for the tourist, an extra couple of dollars for the
branded and easy-to-find service is probably well worth it. Even more so
in the evening rush hour.
--
Roland Perry

In message , Roland Perry
writes (Of the Grosvenor House Hotel)
Interesting hotel, but a real problem to get to by public transport.

Expanding on this (and trying to stay on-topic).

While the catering and ballroom facilities are clearly World Class (and
priced accordingly) many of the lower priced rooms are in my experience
"surprisingly basic".

Catering to the south for non-millionaires is largely restricted to the
Hard Rock Cafe, just round the corner in Piccadilly (a magnet for our
American friends), while to the west is parkland and the east
apartments. Go up to Marble Arch, however, to find plenty of fast food,
and in the side streets off Oxford St and in the lower parts of Edgware
Rd, plenty of reasonably priced and varied dining.

Alternatively, take the tube from Hyde Pk Corner to either High St
Kensington or Leicester Square.
--
Roland Perry

In message , AstraVanMan
writes
If you travel by road you will also hit the morning rush hour and you
will probably be stuck in traffic for part of the time (although if
you take up Mr Hughes's offer he may be able to keep delays to a
minimum)

Especially as I can use bus lanes to avoid many of the queues

I was just thinking about the journey into London that time of the morning
for a taxi - would you go M4 to Junction 2, then down to the Chiswick
roundabout, and along the A315 through Chiswick High Road, Hammersmith and
Kensington? Would the queues towards the Chiswick roundabout make it worth
going that way as opposed to staying on the M4/A4 and cutting up Sutton Lane
North up to the High Road? Suppose for a cab it really wouldn't be a bad
journey at all.

I'd just stay on the M4/A4 all the way along to Cromwell Road, then cut
up Exhibition Road, in to the park, R along South Carriage Drive, up
Park Lane, R in to Brook Gate, L Park Street and we're there!.

However, I would be listening to the local traffic news and I then have
alternatives via Chiswick High Road, (usually from Chiswick Lane of the
Hogarth roundabout), Hammersmith Bridge Road (beside the flyover), etc
most of which have bus lanes that I can use.

That's the advantage of doing the 'knowledge', it does give you several
options if traffic becomes difficult.

--
Mike Hughes
A Taxi driver licensed for London and Brighton
at home in Tarring, West Sussex, England