The only hotel close to Heathrow is the Holiday Inn near the M4? Leatherboy, I am not sure you know that area too well. There are loads of hotels closer than that to Heathrow, including a Holiday Inn on the Staines Road, which is walking distance. There are also hotels on the airport site itself. There are hundreds of hotels surrounding Heathrow. The problem is that there are no rooms to be had. The exceptional temperatures (for the UK) means that we have no infrastructure for this extreme weather. BAA are pathetic and their response is pathetic. BA on the other hand have been praised for their handling of the issue and the minister responsible for aviation has just publicly praised their response. (BAA is a spanish owned company (owned by Ferrovial) and operates the airport... it has no connection whatsoever to BA). The airlines cannot put people in hotels because there are no rooms available.
Cortney, the "weather" excuse that US based airlines use to avoid paying for taxi's,meals, calls and hotels is not available in Europe. Under EU directive 261, the airlines must take care of the passengers needs, regardless of the cause. However, they are not able to do so because they are unable to find rooms. If you have friends and family, advise them to try and find rooms themselves if they are on European based airlines. They can claim back reasonable costs AND the airlines cannot refuse to reimburse them. THAT IS THE LAW. Some airlines resisted the law when the volcano blew. It did them no good and the law was enforced. The airlines in the end had to pay...even Ryanair. So if your friends need to take a taxi into London, and find a room for themselves, they should do so in the knowledge that they are entitled to have that reimbursed.
For those seeking rooms try:
www.laterooms.co.uk
www.premierinns.co.uk
WWW.TRAVELODGE.CO.UK
www.ibis-hotels.co.uk
www.hiexpress.co.uk
WWW.parkinns.co.uk
www.hiltonhotels.co.uk