| What
if my plans change after making a reservation? |
| Reserve
with confidence as there are no problems if your plans change
and you need to cancel or change your dates. Your deposit will
be refunded in full provided you have let us know not
later than two days before the date you were due to arrive. |
| |
| How
do I get to you from Heathrow Airport? |
| Heathrow
Express |
Take the non-stop
Heathrow Express train straight into Paddington Station, leaves
every 15minutes (journey time approximately 15 minutes) and
costs £14.50. Children up to 15yrs are £6.70. From Paddington
Station take a 5 minute taxi ride to the hotel - approximately
£6 |
| Private
Hire Car |
|
| Taxi
(Black Cab) |
There are always plenty of taxis
lining up waiting for customers, takes about 50 minutes depending
on traffic delays, i.e. costs a bit more in the morning and
evening peak periods. Costs about £45. |
|
The Tube |
Get a ticket for
Marble Arch and take the Piccadilly Line Tube into London,
leaves about every 5 -10 minutes. Change at Holborn onto the
Central Line and take the westbound train to Marble Arch.
Costs £4 (Children 5-16 yrs - £2) and takes about
55 minutes.
(Note - Temporarily, until approx. October, 2006, the Tube
service to and from Heathrow Terminal 4 will incorporate a
free bus shuttle from Hatton Cross which will add approx.
5 minutes to the journey. If you have trouble with climbing
stairs get off the Tube at either of the Heathrow Terminals
1, 2 or 3 and use the free Heathrow Express Service to link
to Terminal 4. Passengers using this route should allow an
extra 30 minutes to complete their journey.)
|
| How
do I get to you from Gatwick Airport? |
By Rail - Take the Gatwick Express
train direct from the airport to Victoria Station. It leaves
about every 15 minutes and costs £14. The trip takes about
30 minutes to reach Victoria Station and then take a taxi (about
10–15 minutes £9).
By Private Hire Car (Minicab) – . |
| How
do I get to you from Luton Airport? |
By Rail – Luton Flyer to
Kings Cross, change onto the Victoria Line to Oxford Circus
and change again onto the Central Line to Marble Arch. Costs
about £12. Takes approx. 70 minutes. Alternatively to
the Tube from Kings Cross take a taxi, 15 minutes approx. £6.
By Greenline Bus – Ticket to Marble Arch, £6 - £11.
Takes about 75 minutes and leaves every 20 minutes. See http://www.greenline.co.uk/ |
| How
do I get to you from Stansted Airport? |
By Rail – Stansted Express,
which runs from the airport every 15 minutes from 0800 to 1700
weekdays and every 30 minutes early morning, evening weekdays
and weekends. Ask for a ticket to Marble Arch and change trains
at Liverpool Street onto the Tube (Central Line). Journey time
- approx. 1 hour. Cost - £15, children £7.50.
By Private Hire Car (Minicab) – |
| How
do I find you after leaving the Tube? |
| Take a print of our local map
with you. Just turn left out of the station and walk along Oxford
Street for about 20 yards and turn left at the KFC. Walk up
Old Quebec Street and we're opposite the end of that street,
about 100 yards from the station. |
| What
do I get with my "English" Breakfast? |
| Our policy is to make sure you
start the day with a full and satisfying breakfast consisting
of a choice of various cereals, choice of fruit juices, tea
and coffee, toast, choice of jams, marmalade and honey, eggs
(fried, scrambled, poached), grilled bacon, sausages, tomatoes,
baked beans. If you're still hungry when you're finished, have
more of whatever you want. |
| Where
can I get information about travelling around London? |
|
London
Buses and Tubes - Tube and bus
fares are based on a six-zone system. Check http://www.londontransport.co.uk
for full details, tube maps, bus maps and the latest prices.
Tube and bus maps and other information are also available
free at our reception desk.
Smoking is forbidden in the Underground (on the cars and the
platforms) and on buses.
Travelcards - It usually saves money to purchase a
daily or weekly Travelcard which allows unlimited travel in
Greater London on the rail network, buses, Underground and
the Docklands Light Railway. You can then travel on any
combination of tube, train, bus and DLR within your selected
zones as many times as you wish, for as long as your card
is valid. The standard card for central London covers zones
1 and 2 and this should be quite sufficient for the general
tourist. With a Travel Card you can just get on and off trains
and buses in the zone you've chosen as often as you like at
no extra cost. They also entitle you to 1/3rd off the cost
of travel on scheduled Riverboat service.
It's a considerably cheaper way to get around if you are intending
to do any more than two journeys in a day. The Travelcard,
although also valid for use on buses, can only be bought at
Underground and railway stations, and at selected newsagents.
The weekly cards need a photo ID, which can be obtained at
the station.
An on-the-spot fine for not having the correct ticket on a
bus or train is £20 so make sure you don't stray outside
the zones that your Travelcard covers.
Taxis - Black-cab drivers tend to know central London
very well and can be hailed in the street when the yellow
Taxi sign on the roof is lit.
Black cabs are expensive but are fully insured and low-risk.
A standard journey across the West End will cost about £8
- £12 outside rush hour. A 10% tip will be expected.
|
| Where
can I get information about theatres? |
| There
are more than a 100 theatres in London and you can see a full
list of what's on, maps of theatre locations, seating plans
and theatre box office telephone numbers at http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/
. It’s important, before you pay for any tickets with
your card, that you check the seats you’ve been allocated
against the seating layout to ensure that they’re OK.
If you’re booking on the ‘phone have the seating
layout on the screen in front of you before you call.
Buying
from the theatre box office - There is usually no
booking fee when you buy tickets in person. If you telephone
the box office direct to order tickets, you may be charged
a small booking fee. At busy periods, some box office telephone
numbers ‘trip over’ to ticket agencies. In this
instance, any fees should be identical to those charged by
the box office.
Buying
from the Half Price Ticket Booth in Leicester Square
- This ticket booth in the clock-tower building in Leicester
Square is the best way to buy discount tickets on the day
of performance. Have a look at http://www.officiallondontheatre.co.uk/tkts
for further details. Warning - make sure you go to the correct
place in Leicester Square, ignore the booths you pass getting
there.
Buying
tickets from a ticket agency - Most legitimate ticket
agents are members of STAR (The Society of Ticket Agents &
Retailers), an organisation that aims to encourage best practice
among ticketing outlets. Ticket agents always charge a booking
fee, up to 25% of the price you would pay if you bought the
ticket direct from the theatre box office in person. These
fees vary so compare this cost from their websites before
committing yourself.
|
| Where
can I park the car? |
It's worth pointing
out that the roads in London are very crowded and the cost of
parking is prohibitively expensive so we strongly recommend
that you do not bring a car unless you really have to and don't
hire one unless you intend to take it out of the centre the
same day. London now has a “Congestion Charge Zone”
in the very centre and the Edward Lear Hotel is just within
that area. Payment of the congestion charge allows you to enter,
drive around, and leave the charging zone as many times as you
wish that day. Congestion charging applies between 7.00a.m.
and 6.30p.m., Monday to Friday. You can pay the £8 congestion
charge either in advance or on the day of travel before, during
or after the journey but you must pay by 10.00pm on the day
of travel to avoid penalty costs. For further information -
http://www.cclondon.com/index.shtml
If you do need to bring a car we have an arrangement with NCP
for discounted parking at 3 of their local underground parking
garages, including 2 that are just outside the Congestion Charge
Zone and only a 10-minute walk away. The hotel can provide tickets
for these garages at a cost of £6 for each 12 hours.
Street parking on a single yellow line is free from 6.30pm -
8.30am. Metered parking at other times and traffic wardens are
predatory in central London so don't over-run the time on your
meter. You have been warned!
|
| General
Questions |
|
Electricity
- British current is 240 volts, AC, so you'll need a converter
or transformer for U.S.-made electrical appliances, as well
as an adapter that allows the plug to match British outlets.
You can buy a transformer/adapter at many places in London
and we recommend "Boots the Chemist" as their prices
are reasonable and they have many branches close to the hotel.
We
supply hair dryers and an iron.
Time
difference in America - Most of the year Britain is 5
hours ahead of the time observed on the East Coast of the
United States. When it's noon in New York, it's 5pm in London.
Tipping - In restaurants, service charges around the 10%
range are usually included in the bill. Sometimes this will
be clearly marked but, if it isn't, waiters won’t mind
if you ask and you can decide for yourself how much to leave.
There's no tipping in fast-food cafes, pubs or theatres.
|
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