We drove to Oxford and had a bit of a problem getting close to the bus station. From our experience it is not wise to try and drive into the bus station to drop off bags like we did! We had a major problem getting out without being squashed by buses, cars, bikes and people just squeezing through. Oxford Bus Station was not traveller friendly! We eventually managed to get out without any scrapes and luckily found a carpark nearby where we pulled in and unloaded my gear. Oxford carparks have horrendous fees!
I took my bags and waited while Brian returned the car to the rental place by the train station and walked back to the bus station. We were soon on the 2.00 pm bus as planned, and arrived at Heathrow by 3.30 pm. It was just a hop, step and jump to the free bus to our hotel.....the .....Arora International Heathrow Hotel ......not to be confused with the Arora Hotel next to the Sofitel Hotel at Terminal 5!
I took my bags and waited while Brian returned the car to the rental place by the train station and walked back to the bus station. We were soon on the 2.00 pm bus as planned, and arrived at Heathrow by 3.30 pm. It was just a hop, step and jump to the free bus to our hotel.....the .....Arora International Heathrow Hotel ......not to be confused with the Arora Hotel next to the Sofitel Hotel at Terminal 5!
See Arora International Heathrow Hotel West Drayton London for more information
Do Your Homework When Booking a Hotel
Choosing a hotel required more thought and research than I expected. It depends on which Terminal your flight leaves from which hotel is best for you. The public transport is tricky. Apparently the City Council will not let the hotels provide courtesy buses door to door any more. You must use their buses which firstly can actually take quite a long time and are not necessarily frequent from reading forums and the experiences of others. They are also quite expensive. The Hoppa buses cost around 4 pounds per person.
However there are FREE public buses that run regularly from right outside the hotel and stop outside Terminals 1, 2, and 3
You need to add the cost of the bus per person to your hotel price. We decided it was better to go for a more expensive option and chose a hotel with the totally FREE bus right from the door to Terminal One where we were leaving from.
It all went very smoothly. It was definitely worth checking where the hotel was in relation to the terminal we wanted, as Heathrow is very spread out and even designated transport can take time.
We were soon winging our way to Morocco!
You need to add the cost of the bus per person to your hotel price. We decided it was better to go for a more expensive option and chose a hotel with the totally FREE bus right from the door to Terminal One where we were leaving from.
It all went very smoothly. It was definitely worth checking where the hotel was in relation to the terminal we wanted, as Heathrow is very spread out and even designated transport can take time.
We were soon winging our way to Morocco!