mku4440

We have a last minute change to our itinerary as British Airways canceled our early morning connecting flight from Milan to London. We now have to scrap Milan and fly into Gatwick night before.

Recommendations on where to stay somewhat close to Heathrow that might be fun for a night? And grab a good dinner? We arrive into Gatwick at 6:30pm. Thanks in advance.

crellston

If you are flying with BA presumably you will be flying out of T5 LHR? If so, and you have a morning flight out I would probably go with Sofitel on terminal. Part of the Accor chain you will get a better deal by joining their All Accor loyalty programme and booking via their website or app. They have some decent restaurants. A cheaper but perfectly acceptable option would be Premier Inns.

If your flight out of heathrow is later in the day then you could conceivably head into town, check in somewhere and grab a
late dinner and head to LHR in the morning. Staying somewhere along the Piccadilly line, maybe Covent Garden or Holborn (lots of restaurants option inc. Chinatown/soho) or Knightbridge/ Green Park (if you like Indian food , Gymkhana my fav. Indian restaurant is a 2 min walk from GP tube. )
Don't you just love BA??

bilboburgler

I tend to advise people to stay in a hotel in Windsor just because, its Windsor. So take the airport bus Gatwick to Heathrow and a bus to Windsor, job done. At Heathrow there are a line of hotels to the north, all basically ok and very much linked by a free Hopper bus. The Sofital is right in the airport and very clean. NB the Heathrow Express is just marginally faster than all the other trains that go to London from Heathrow and costs more.

KayF

I think it depends on how early your flight out of Heathrow is. If it's super early then staying close to Heathrow makes more sense. If not, then catch the train from Gatwick into London and catch the tube out again in the morning to Heathrow. You can check the airport websites for travelling between the two airports, or Transport for London (TFL) for lots of good info on the tube. The travel is pretty straight forward but allow plenty of time. There are a zillion hotels in London, are you on a budget or do you want luxury?

Heimdall

I’ve stayed at the T5 Sofitel, it’s very nice, with direct access to the terminal through an overhead walkway. If you are flying out from Terminal 2 or 3, the new Hilton Garden Inn is also very comfortable. The Hilton Hotel is connected by underground walkways to the terminals, and also to the Piccadilly tube line and Heathrow Express if you want a quick trip into central London.

If you have a late flight it might be better to take the suggestions of staying in Windsor or central London. The airport hotels are restful and have good restaurants, but not much different from Sofitels and Hiltons anywhere else.

HappyTrvlr

Sofitel LHR , highly recommended. Great restaurant, Belle Epoque, make reservation in advance.
We stay there on every trip to Europe as we always fly in to LHR on daytime flights from US.

mku4440

Thank you all so much for the quick responses! Yeah, BA isn't my favorite at the moment. They never sent email update our flight was canceled...I only logged on yesterday to look at something before we depart for our trip in a few days and noticed our reservation disappeared. 7 hours spent on call after call after call before someone was able to help me.

Our flight is 10AM, so not too early that we can't possibly stay in Windsor. I was there in college by my husband has never been. That might be a good option. I'll also talk to him about staying at the Sofitel and taking train into town for dinner. We did similar in Paris a few years ago and had a lovely evening. Cheers!

annhig

if your flight gets into LGW at 6.30 pm, then you are unlikely to get out into the concourse until 7.30pm, and to LHR by 8.30pm. Then in the morning you'll need to be checking in by 8am. That doesn't seem to me to leave much time either for Windsor or dinner in London. It might even make more sense to stay in centre London over night, have a more leisurely dinner, and then take the Heathrow Express in the morning from Paddington. Or settle for the Sofitel and dinner in the Belle Epoque which really is pretty good.

crellston

I agree with Annhig. For me, the only real options given a 10.00 departure would be a hotel in town dinner and then underground to LHR by about 07.00. or straight to LHR and the Sofitel.

balthy

If you didn't receive notification of the flight change, check your booking to make sure it has your email address, otherwise they have no way to communicate the change to you. Flights are getting cancelled/rescheduled on an adhoc basis so contact details should be up to date. I've had my flights on BA & KL changed so many times over the past year and have always received emails.

This is a lovely place to stay close to LHR.
https://www.alexanderhotels.co.uk/great-fosters/

If you do stay at an airport hotel at LHR and want to eat out locally, this pub is very good, it's busy too. Its close to the Marriott on the Bath Road, just a short walk behind it. It is not posh, it's very popular with locals.
Pheasant Inn

Trophywife007

We love the Pheasant Inn -- been there many times as the food is great.

mku4440

Yes, we have 2 email accounts on file and neither received notification of booking cancellation. Checked spam folders as well. But both immediately received new booking confirmation, so I assume error on BA end.

mku4440

Thank you again. We ended up booking a night at The Swan Hotel along the River Thames. We can have dinner downstairs at their pub on arrival. Should be a lovely last evening before heading home. (But The Pheasant looks amazing too, wish they still had lodging).

mku4440

Follow up, our night's lodging at The Swan was fantastic! Highly recommend if you need a night near the airport. We called an Uber early that morning for transportation. Our room was charming and beautiful overlook of Thames. Sunday their restaurant specialty is roast. Crazy to say after 7 days in Sicily but the roast may have been our favorite meal of the trip!

annhig

that's a great recommendation, mku4440!

It's hard to beat a great roast and that view looks pretty special too.