Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hotels Near Heathrow

By Chris Linch

As the number of people traveling through Heathrow Airport has increased, the availability of hotel rooms to handle the numbers has remained the same. Because of the need of hotel space in that area, a 70 million pound venture including two hotels close to the airport is in the works. Lord Laidlaw, one of Scotland's richest men, is collaborating with construction company Rokeby Developments on the project. They are planning one hotel connected to Terminal 5 that will feature 600 rooms and another hotel that is close to the airport.

Because of the sheer numbers of people passing through the airport, there is always a shortage of hotel rooms in the area. This concern was expressed and Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments decided to work on remedying the problem. Terminal 5, the first of the two new hotels to open, will help the area move toward a time where there is not a lack of available hotel rooms. Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments believe that with the completion of their projects, there will be no shortages. Even when Terminal 5 is fully operational, however, there will still be a need for more rooms due to the increasing numbers of people traveling through Heathrow.

Terminal 5 is likely to improve both tourism and the infrastructure of the capital, including hotel development. Both new hotels will be a boon to those looking to travel to London for the 2012 Olympics. Since this large group of people will all need somewhere to stay, competition for accommodations is likely to be fierce. People traveling to London with the intention of attending events like the Olympics are likely to want to spend as little time as possible traveling to and from their hotel or sightseeing and more time at their events. For those people, accommodations close to the airport are ideal.

London has become the premiere destination for international travelers. Increasingly strong performance levels for hotels due to the record number of travelers coming to the capital in 2006 have topped the previous highs in the late'90s. As there is no projected decrease in the demand for hotel accommodations, Lord Laidlaw and Rokeby Developments are very likely to have great success with the new hotels.

Because of the need to accommodate the growing number of passengers, the airport and the surrounding area is going to need to expand in areas like parking, hotels, and the number of flights available. This is likely to cause debates with those anti-expansion groups, such as HASAN, that oppose such growth. However, if the airport is going to see 80,000 extra passengers per day, accommodations such as increased parking space will be necessary.

With the 4.2 billion pound new terminal that opened in March 2008, Heathrow will have the capacity to handle another 30 million passengers per year. This will increase Heathrow's total number of passengers to about 90 million people per year. The expansion of the airport necessitates expansion in other areas including transportation like trains and buses and additional parking. New hotels that accommodate airport travelers are a vital link in the growth of the airport and the surrounding area.

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