The best London airport hotels

Just a five-minute walk from Stansted’s main terminal, and handy for the Stansted Express, Radisson Blu is sleek and modern with a glass façade and an unexpectedly spectacular wine bar featuring a tower of over 4,000 bottles that soars above the lobby. Food wise, try the New York Grill for steak and lobster or there’s comforting pizza and pasta at Italian restaurant Filini. There’s also a gym and spa on site, which can be handy especially post flight. Comfy beds, black-out blinds and the ‘super buffet’ breakfast mean it’s a failsafe choice pre or post-trip.

For anyone flying in or out of Gatwick Airport’s South Terminal, you couldn’t get much closer than Bloc Hotel, a converted office block which sits directly above the terminal building (it’s a quick hop from the departure lounge). Rooms are small but modern and tech-advanced, based around the Japanese capsule-hotel concept. Bedside tablets enable you to operate lights, electric blinds, air conditioning and even check-out, which makes it ideal for those rushing off to early morning flights. The potential downside is that there’s no restaurant or room service but you do have the run of the terminal literally downstairs to choose from.

If you don’t fancy four-star Hilton prices then the Hampton is a good bet. Connected to the North Terminal by a covered walkway, and a free shuttle
ride from the South Terminal, it provides all the same high quality service, with slightly fewer luxuries thrown in. The communal areas are sleek and modern featuring a snazzy white-bar with high stools in the reception area. Rooms are basic but have really comfortable beds with a choice of pillows, alongside TVs and table space for working. A free hot breakfast is served daily and there’s a
24-hour reception so no worries about booking those obscure 3am flights here. The 24-7 fitness centre could be a useful way to wake up or zap away any lingering jetlag, too.

Just need a couple of hours to freshen up before you board? New for 2022,
YOTELAir has launched hourly rates (bookable 24 hours a day, for a
minimum of 4 hours), allowing those on a long transit, with an unexpected
layover, or an unforeseen delay/cancellation, to book a room and escape the
madness of the airport. Located in the South terminal, it’s handily just a few
minutes’ walk from departures and arrivals. Based on ‘smart design’ at ‘smart prices’, cabin-style rooms are small but have everything you could need and it’s fun pressing a button to turn your sofa into a SmartBed, Jetsons style. For those wanting to work there’s superfast WiFi, wireless charging and cabin workstations. Make the most of the rain showers with Urban Jungle amenities, and the free hot drinks.

Flying from Terminal 5? Then Sofitel Heathrow is definitely your best bet being the only on-site hotel with direct access via a covered walkway. The
hotel has an unusual design – a rather futuristic series of rectangular glass atriums complete with Japanese potted trees and wood panelling that gives it a holiday, rather than corporate feel. The facilities are great too, including a modern spa, 24-hour gym, a champagne bar and two restaurants. Being a French-run hotel, food is a priority, and the main Belle Époque restaurant serves seriously good cuisine in a contemporary setting under one of the
atriums.

If you’re flying out of Terminal 4, the Hilton is a great choice as it’s the only hotel with pedestrian access to the terminal. Fronted by a huge wall of glass, it has an airy, serene feel with everything centred around the light-flooded atrium that contains reception, open plan restaurants and a bar. Facilities are first-rate for an airport hotel, including a business centre for printing out boarding cards, a pool, sauna and steam room to shake off jetlag. You’re also spoiled for choice with dining, including Chinese and Italian options. Breakfast is a plentiful continental buffet served from 5am, so you can fuel up before you board.

A budget option that’s big on personality. Other than the Hilton at Terminal 4 and Terminal 5’s Sofitel, all Heathrow hotels sit outside the
airport’s fence and the Ibis is as close as any on busy Bath Road, which runs parallel to the airport. Even though it’s a chain hotel, each branch has an
individual theme. In this case, it’s aviation with playful design touches like hot-air-balloon lamps, cloud-motif wallpaper and minibars that resemble air stewards’ trollies. You have everything you need here – a restaurant serving up crowd pleasers like burgers, lasagne and bangers and mash, and helpful extras like printers for boarding passes, departures screens and a long-stay car park (at a cost) if needed. The breakfast buffet is included in the cost of your room, and after that, you can take the shuttle bus directly outside to Terminals 2-5 within around 30 minutes.

Full disclosure: this is not an airport hotel. Not even slightly. It’s actually a sprawling country estate that will make you feel like you’re pulling up to Downton. Yet it’s only 10 minutes by car from Luton airport. Stay here to get your holiday off to a roaring start, or to give yourself something swanky to look
forward to when you land. The historic suites are named after their famous temporary residents, including Queen Mary and Winston Churchill. They’re in the country house style with Molton Brown toiletries and views of the grandiose Capability Brown-designed gardens. Breakfast is a grand feast with smoked kippers and eggs benedict on the menu. Waft around the grounds
with the resident peacocks or enjoy post-flight pampering in the spa.

The UK’s first super yacht hotel (yes that’s right) is permanently moored in Royal Victoria Docks, which happens to be right next to London City Airport.
Begging the question, why not? Start your holiday early by indulging in the boat high life before you fly, or extend your trip after landing. The ‘cabin’
rooms are actually huge and come with an in-room tablet, Lavazza coffee machine and White Company products. Facilities wise, there’s a lovely
restaurant in ‘Lands End’ and cocktails in the Sundown Bar looking out over the London skyline. In need of pampering? There’s also a Decleor and Carita Spa. You might not want to leave but when the time comes it’s just 1 mile to City Airport, around 7 minutes by taxi or 10 by DLR.

Situated right next to the Excel exhibition centre and the Prince Regent DLR station, Aloft couldn’t be handier for City Airport. It’s also only 20 minutes on
foot from Canary Wharf station. This doesn’t feel like a boring corporate hotel with its loft-inspired rooms with floor-to-ceiling windows to make the most of the views across east London. Bathrooms are stocked with Bliss Spa products and have walk-in showers so it feels like a treat. There’s an indoor
pool with sauna and steam room, a buzzy bar, Docksider restaurant plus ‘grab & go’ food available 24 hours a day – handy if you’re flying at an unsociable time.