It is ages since I flew from Heathrow and have found, to my chagrin, that the parking service I used to use, Storacar, has gone all upmarket. Its now aimed at likes of THe Growler; folks who want a really nice motor storing and cossetting whilst they are away.
Need , good secure park where the cars are not crammed in so tight you get a lovely collection of dings down the side? This was why I liked Storacar, secure and they looked after you and it.
Recommendations anyone?
Secondly I see from www.holidayextras.co.uk that they do hotel and car parking packages. Seeing as I need a hotel on the outward trip and many of these packages cost the same, or even less, than the parking has anyone got recommendations there?
Thanks in advance.
Oh yes, before anyone says it I DO NOT REPEAT DO NOT WANT TO TAKE PUBLIC TRANSPORT. (Yes I know I'm shouting just want to make it quite clear.)
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FIF,
Save what you can on the car parking, you'll need it for the bar bill. SWMBO just stopped overnight at one of the Heathrow hotels.
Baileys £6.30 at the bar...at our local Co-Op you'd get over 50 small bottles of Panda Pops for that.
OK so no public transport for you swanky guys. How about a nice Fenland grass paddock parking spot guarded by chickens and a lend of the mountain bikes?
Sorry I had nothing sensible to offer.
David W
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If you happen to drive a BMW or (presumably a Mini) you can go to the local dealer who will service and store your car whilst you fly out. They will also deliver it back when you arrive (although not sure how that works). If you don't drive a BM then, who knows.
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FIF,
Presumably you have a fair trip to get to H'row in the first instance.
I've never had much luck with parking anywhere useful (and safe)and prefer to arrange to be dropped off and collected on return whether at a nearby hotel if needed, or the airport.
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FIF,
Depending on how far you have to travel to get to LHR, it might be worthwhile seeing what the likes of Hertz/Avis/Budget charge for a days hire of a class B or C vehicle. They all have return areas at LHR and complimentary bus shuttles to the terminal (sorry - reference to public transport vehicle couldn't be avoided!). I generally do this when flying from LHR or LGW and it works out to be fairly competitive compared to paying to park your own vehicle (although I do benefit from a Hertz corporate discount rate through the company I work for). This does of course depend on how long you're away for, but at least you can leave your own car safely cossetted in the garage at home.
Failing that, I've never had a problem parking my own car at Pink Elephant, although it's just stuck in a fenced compound.
Hope this helps
RM
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We used superbreak.com to get an Airport hotel this year. Use the search and you'll get a load of choices, some with secure parking, some with 'luck of the draw' parking. We had a family room, breakfast and 15 days parking (luck of the draw type) for £98 when the rack rate was £236, in the 4* Le Meridien.
The Hotel was very nice, but as already mentioned the bar & restaurant in these places are astronomical. I regret not noticing the small row of cafes just round the corner...
The Heathrow hotels are all served by shuttles that visit all the terminals - this costs £3 each way. A taxi is probably only £6, and more direct.
The car was ding free when we got back too.
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I used www.abcholidayextras.co.uk to make a hotel reservation for my last holiday. The cost of a night's hotel room and 15 days parking at the hotel was indeed less than the price of leaving the car at an airport carpark.
However, and it is a big however, my car got broken into whilst I was away. Some toerag used a screwdriver to remove the lock from my Passat and then open the window. I did not lose too much stuff but I had to claim for the damage to be repaired on my insurance. We stayed in the Crowne Plaza; the car park was so full that I had to park on the periphery of he car park on a grassy bank. Nice and out of the way for the so-and-so to get the screwdriver out. There are some hotels on the above site that will use a secure car park. I recall it was about a tenner more for secure parking.
Another problem is that in order to get to the airport you have to catch a bus (yuck eh?). There are of course taxis but the prices are exhorbitant.
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I've used F-H-R (Flight Hotel Reservations, 01342 717372 or www.fhr-net.co.uk) before to get hotel room + included parking at a good rate. They serve Gatwick,
Heathrow, Manchester, Luton + other airports, secure parking also.
I can also vouch for the local lowlife at Heathrow knowing about
Passat door locks - 4 (including mine)were broken into one evening at a Heathrow hotel nearly 2 years ago. Think they were looking for laptops or mobiles - always lock the seatbacks and boot...
Also stayed at a guesthouse type hotel at Gatwick a few years ago from an address from a Sunday Times article (perhaps local Tourist Office could help now)- room was cheap and parking was only a couple of quid a night, but on the return, the car was filthy, having been under a lime tree, and the battery was totally flat and ruined - I suspect the burglar alarm had flattened it (a large battery on an Audi 80TDi!) over the 3+ weeks standing. If I am now going to leave a car for a long period, I do not set the alarm but look for more secure parking...
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Just done this a couple of weeks ago. I stayed at the Holiday Inn Ariel which is very close to Heathrow. When booking via their website I registered as a 'Preferred Customer' or something like that (no charge involved), as a result I got a room upgrade at the hotel (which cost £50 for the night) and ten days parking for another £40. They used Pink Elephant - the ticket was still in the car when I got back - and the car came back ding-free, if a little dusty.
You need to 'phone the hotel to arrange the parking rather than doing it through the website, but it seemed a pretty good deal as Pink Elephant had quoted me over £90 for the parking when I enquired direct.
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Depends on where you live of course but I'd go for a taxi even if it cost a bit more than parking 'cos you don't have to worry about your car while you're away and they'll be there to pick you up from arrivals when you get back so you don't have to fart around getting the car from the car park, finding the battery's flat etc etc.
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Hey! I only paid UKL115/month AND I got it on permanent battery tenders, run once a month and valeted with a meet and greet at Thiefrow for another 60. But that wasn't at Thiefrow.
You wait till that thing of yours has sat a few weeks under regular doses of Pratt and Whitney droppings....
Change is inevitable -- progress is optional.
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