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Arrivals and departures: a companion timed to your flight, from the terminal hotel to the trip beyond

Flights keep their own clock. You land at 21:40, the connection leaves at 07:05, or the meeting that brought you here finishes in time for one free evening before the airport. Travel bookings are planned around that timetable rather than a start time picked at random, and they cover two things: nights at the airport hotels, and company on a trip beyond London.

Both start with a flight number or a train time. Send it with the hotel, and the desk works backwards from there.

Suited 04 names

Right for Arrivals and travel

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Heathrow, terminal by terminal

At Heathrow the minimum is three hours, £700, and her journey out is part of that time. Her cab there and home again is priced with the fee before you confirm, so there is one figure to agree. The Sofitel connects straight into Terminal 5 under cover, the Hilton Garden Inn serves Terminals 2 and 3, and the Renaissance and the Radisson Blu Edwardian sit along the Bath Road. Tell the desk which hotel and which terminal, and her arrival is timed around your landing. The Heathrow hotel notes compare them.

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Gatwick, north or south

Gatwick works to the same rule: three hours at least, her travel inside them, the fare quoted before anything is confirmed. The Sofitel stands at the North Terminal and the Hilton is linked to the South. The trains out from Victoria are quick, so companions living near there make the journey simplest. A day of notice helps here more than anywhere else on the board.

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Paddington, fifteen minutes from the runway

Rather sleep in town? Paddington is the answer. The Heathrow Express covers the run from the terminals to its Paddington platforms in about fifteen minutes, the Hilton is built into the station itself and the Royal Lancaster is a short walk away by the park. A late landing then becomes an ordinary central booking, with no airport minimum and no fare on top.

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An early departure, a spare evening

The 06:30 flight is a familiar problem: an airport hotel, an alarm set for four and an evening with nothing in it. Three hours from eight until eleven fills it well. Dinner in the hotel restaurant, talk that never once touches the office, an early night once she has taken the lift down. For a stopover in town rather than by the runway, the Paddington station hotel notes sit about twenty minutes from Terminal 5 on the fast train.

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Trips beyond London

Some guests want company for the journey itself: a weekend in the Cotswolds, a race meeting, a few days of business in another city. These are arranged one at a time, in writing. Henrietta needs the dates, the itinerary and where you will stay. Her fares are part of the plan, and the figure for the whole trip comes back as one written quote before anything is confirmed. Weekends are priced on request, as the rates page explains.

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Four lines from the gate

The first message needs very little: the flight number or the train, the hotel, the terminal if it is an airport, and how long you would like. Landing late and not yet sure where you are sleeping? Send the flight first. Henrietta can pencil in a name while you decide, then confirm once the hotel is fixed and the single check is done.

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Companions who travel well

Laura, from Paddington, treats every departure lounge as the start of an adventure and knows the airport trains by heart. Nora, also in W2, is up before dawn for the flower market most weeks, so an early start never troubles her. Vanessa, the third Paddington name, is calm company after a long flight. Roxi, from Pimlico, is a short walk from Victoria and the Gatwick trains, and brings a burst of colour to the most beige airport lounge. Laura and Nora both appear under toned and athletic.

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Delays, diversions and a new ETA

Flights slip. Message the revised landing time the moment the airline posts it, and the desk moves her start to match; shifting it costs nothing while the booking is still three or more hours away. If the flight is cancelled outright, say so in the chat and the evening is rearranged or called off under the same terms. The booking page has the sequence. Send the flight number now.

FAQ 04

Arrivals and travel, asked

Straight answers from the night desk. Anything missing goes to Henrietta in one message.

Three hours at £700, and her journey out is part of those three hours. Her cab fare in both directions is added to the quote before you confirm.

The booking starts at your hotel rather than the terminal. Message the desk when you land and she times her arrival to reach the hotel shortly after you.

Yes, on the same basis as any address outside Zone 2: her cab there and home again is priced into one figure. Ask the desk for timings on the night.

A week or more is ideal, since it clears several days in her diary. Send the dates and itinerary, and Henrietta replies with a single written figure.

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Set the evening

Describe the plan for arrivals and travel in a line or two, and the desk comes back with names, a figure and a time.

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