Why W11 is different
For most of central London the train from Heathrow is the better choice, because the road into the West End crawls through Hammersmith and Kensington before it arrives anywhere useful. Notting Hill is one of the exceptions. It sits on the western side of the centre, and the road from the airport reaches it before the worst of the traffic begins, while both of the fast trains finish at Paddington, which lies to the east of it. By rail you overshoot and then come back; by road you stop on the way.
The streets themselves add to the case. W11 is a district of stucco terraces and garden squares, where a front door is often at the top of a flight of steps and the nearest large hotel may be some distance away. Among the smaller ones, a hotel occupies a run of Victorian houses on Pembridge Gardens, a minute from Notting Hill Gate. Wherever you are staying, a car that stops at the kerb outside is worth more here than in a district of big hotel forecourts.
By car: the road and its minutes
The usual road runs in along the M4, through Chiswick and Hammersmith on the A4, and then north to Holland Park Avenue and into Notting Hill. On a clear road, late in the evening, early on a weekend or in the middle of a quiet weekday, my reckoning is thirty five to forty five minutes from the terminal kerb to the door. In a weekday rush an hour to an hour and a half is quite ordinary, and on a bad evening it can be longer still.
To those minutes add the airport itself: passport control, the carousel and the walk out, which can take anything from twenty minutes to an hour depending on the terminal and the time of day. A car with a driver waiting in the arrivals hall saves the queue at the taxi rank, and either way the great merit of the road is that you carry nothing further than the boot.
By train: the Heathrow Express or the Elizabeth line
The Heathrow Express runs non stop to Paddington in about fifteen minutes from the station serving Terminals 2 and 3, with a few minutes more from Terminal 5, and it leaves every quarter of an hour. The Elizabeth line makes the same journey with stops, in about half an hour, and carries on beyond Paddington through the centre, which makes it the better train for a guest going on to Bond Street or further east, and no better than the Express for a guest going west.
Allow five to ten minutes to walk from arrivals to the platform, and up to a quarter of an hour waiting if you have just missed a train. The journey itself is the one part of the whole trip whose length does not change with the traffic, and that is the whole of its advantage.
The change at Paddington, and the honest total
Paddington is where the rail route is won or lost. There are two ways onward. The first is a taxi from the rank at the station, which in ordinary traffic reaches most of Notting Hill in ten to fifteen minutes. The second is the Circle or District line from the Praed Street side of the station, two stops through Bayswater to Notting Hill Gate. It sounds simpler, but it means a walk across the station with your bags, a platform, and at the other end a climb out of Notting Hill Gate by escalator and stairs. With more than one case, take the taxi.
Put together, my honest reckoning by rail is forty five minutes to an hour and a quarter from the arrivals hall to your door, allowing for the walk, the wait, the train, the taxi queue and the taxi, and a little more from Terminal 5. The road, off peak, takes thirty five to forty five minutes once you are in the car, and perhaps ten more to reach the car from the hall. At the wrong hour of a weekday it can reach an hour and a half or beyond, and that is the moment Paddington wins.
Which to choose, and when
The rule I give guests is a simple one. Landing in the morning after the rush has cleared, in the middle of the afternoon, late in the evening or at a weekend, take the car: it will usually be quicker, and it is always easier. Landing on a weekday with the evening rush under way, from roughly four o'clock until seven, take the train to Paddington and a taxi from there, since the train's minutes do not change and the short last leg avoids the worst of the road.
Two further considerations can override the rule. With heavy luggage, or at the end of a very long flight, the car is worth a quarter of an hour of extra traffic simply to avoid carrying anything. And with only a small bag and a tight appointment, the train is the one route whose arrival time you can be certain of before you set off.
Arriving well, and the evening after
If you would like company on your first evening, the arrival is best arranged with a margin. Tell me your flight and your address, and I will set your companion's arrival for an hour and a half or so after you expect to reach the door, which leaves time for a late carousel, a shower and a change of shirt. If the flight is delayed, send one line when you land and I will move her; the earlier the line, the easier it is. How she comes to the door, announced, met or on the latch, is settled in writing beforehand, as the letter on arrivals describes.
This is an evening at your address in its simplest form: an hour at £250, two at £500, and every length on the tariff, with the fee handed to your companion in person when she arrives. Laura and Vanessa both live in Paddington, within ten minutes of Portobello Road and Ledbury Road respectively, and know the district's quiet kitchens well. Rosa, one of the circle's petite women, lives in Marylebone, a short cab ride away, and is the brightest company I know for a guest who has just stepped off a long flight.
One line of the presentations carries most of the names above, and that line is brunettes.
Alongside it
Tonight
Put it to use
What this letter describes takes one written line to set in motion, and Booking shows how little there is to it.