Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?
Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit, through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you to
a local hotel? Perhaps utl's Mike Hughes could enlighten me?

Ian

"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to
anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going
to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit, through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

This is not the fault of the bus. You'd have to do this whatever form
of transport you used.

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

so do I.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you
to
a local hotel?

They woud. They wouldn't be happy.

tim

Ian F. wrote to uk.transport.london on Sat, 5 Mar 2005:

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you to
a local hotel? Perhaps utl's Mike Hughes could enlighten me?


I'm not Mike Hughes, but I was looking up the Hotel Hoppa on the
Internet the other day for reasons that now escape me and on
http://www.londontoolkit.com/lhr/hotel_hoppa_bus.htm
it suggests you use free local buses instead, and there is a link to a
page with details of these.

--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 20 February 2005

In message , Ian F.
writes

I remember the days when airport hotels used to provide a free courtesy
bus service.

Most of them still do.

--
Paul Terry

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...

Most of them still do.

Not the Marriott.

Ian

"Mrs Redboots" wrote in message
...

I'm not Mike Hughes,

I guessed that! ;-)

but I was looking up the Hotel Hoppa on the
Internet the other day for reasons that now escape me and on
http://www.londontoolkit.com/lhr/hotel_hoppa_bus.htm
it suggests you use free local buses instead, and there is a link to a
page with details of these.

Never knew about it - as it says on that site, it's not very well
publicised, for obvious reasons. I'll remember that for next time. I wasn't
actually flying, just going to a meeting at the Marriott, having got the
Heathrow Express from Paddington.

Thanks Annabel.

Ian

In message , Ian F.
writes

"Paul Terry" wrote in message
...

Most of them still do.

Not the Marriott.

Not at Heathrow, no. What I meant is that hotel courtesy buses are still
the norm at most UK airports - even the Marriott chain offers them
outside of Heathrow.

--
Paul Terry

On Sat, 5 Mar 2005 13:21:16 +0100, "tim" wrote:


"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Hey Tim... The normal bus to where? Which buses are free from the
central bus terminal?

Ta!

HVB.

HVB wrote:
"tim" wrote:
"Ian F." wrote

Has anyone had the misfortune to use this
appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand
why people do. The normal bus from the central bus
terminal passes many of the hotels and is free.

Hey Tim... The normal bus to where? Which buses are
free from the central bus terminal? Ta! HVB.

The following pdf file shows all the London Transport
buses from Heathrow:-
www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/pdf/heathrow.pdf
This is a big sheet, actually it looks like a copy
of the poster you see in the bus shelters. I have a
copy on my wall printed out on 9 sheets of paper as
my printer supports poster printing. I suggest
you print out just the middle of it, to show the
Central Bus Station and Bath Road. If you get on the
bus and say you are going to one of the Bath Road
hotels you are not charged.

The free buses do not serve all hotels. When I was booked into
the Holiday Inn at Junction 4 (Originally Post House, then
Crest, on Sipson Road) a late night Taxi cost GBP 11 and the
Hoppa was six pounds for two of us the next morning. What
is more - it does no harm to ask the taxi driver particularly
nicely - as by taking a local fare he loses the lucrative ride
into town, then has to rejoin the back of the queue of taxis
at the airport.

More generally there are similar large pdf bus map files
for most places in London, very useful if you want to see
London on the surface and not just get around quickly by tube.
The list is at:
www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/spiders/borough.shtml
My tip is to go straight to the bottom of the page where you
can find the areas listed alphabetically.
HTH

"tim" wrote in message
...

"Ian F." wrote in message
...
Has anyone had the misfortune to use this appalling service lately?

Never had the need, but personally can't understand why people do.
The normal bus from the central bus terminal passes many of the hotels
and is free.

Yesterday morning, it took 25 minutes to get off the airport and to
anywhere
vaguely resembling a hotel, having picked up at Terminal Two, then going
to
3, then pulling into a bay somewhere odd, changing drivers, going through
vast swathes of airport roadworks, into uncharted bowels and tunnels,
stopping at dozens of traffic-lights...and eventually to the exit,
through
the main tunnel and onto the A4 Bath Road!

This is not the fault of the bus. You'd have to do this whatever form
of transport you used.

And they (National Express) charge three quid for it, on a 20 year-old,
freezing cold bus with rock-hard seats! I remember the days when airport
hotels used to provide a free courtesy bus service.

so do I.

Not sure if there's any alternative, though - would a black cab take you
to
a local hotel?

They woud. They wouldn't be happy.

tim

PMFJI ~

FWIW, after the policy switched mandating the Hoppa service, I learned early
on to take a black cab to the Crowne Plaza at LHR. Only once did a driver
give me a hard time (at Terminal 3) so I told the starter I refused to ride
in that man's cab and requested another. The first cabbie was told to get
out of line and lost his spot. That said, the other drivers I have had over
the years have done a good job for me, which in turn I do a "good job" for
them. The extra money is, to me, worth it rather than spend the increased
time and frustration on the Hoppa.

Rich