I am arriving back in London at Gatwick Airport on a late evening flight, and have a U.S.
bound flight the next morning from Heathrow. Any advice on where to stay that evening?
We are just looking for a clean comfortible hotel that won't take hours to travel to Heathrow the next morning.

We stayed at the Heathrow area Sheraton a couple of years ago, had a shuttle (not free) to the airport that took, if I recall correctly, about 20-25 minutes.

I've stayed at both the Hilton and Yotel (both at T4) and would do so again. I've also heard positive things about the Sofitel at T5.

I've stayed off-airport, too, and don't think the savings worth the extra hassle of getting to and from the airport.

What time in the morning? If it is really early - your only real choice is LHR. Priceline is amazing for hotels near the airport.

What time do you land? Late at night the coach from LGW to LHR only runs every 2 hours.

The 'hassle factor' partly depends on which terminal one is using. The off airport hotels are very convenient to T-1,2 & 3.

Whereas the T-4 & 5 hotels are great - though expensive - if you are using those terminals.

Our flight arrives at 11pm on a Saturday night at Gatwick. Our flight from Heathrow departs at 11am from Terminal 3 the next morning.

The Jurys Inn is located right by the Hatton Cross Underground station. Local buses stop there and the service is free to LHR. The London Toolkit site has the details. See this page: http://tinyurl.com/299qnu5.

The last National Express Gatwick-Heathrow bus leaves Gatwick at around 23:30. If you miss it, you'll have a long wait for the next one. It leaves at 01:50.

<<< Our flight arrives at 11pm on a Saturday night at Gatwick. Our flight from Heathrow departs at 11am from Terminal 3 the next morning. >>>

First coach to LHR you could catch is 01:50 arriving 03:05

There is a train to London Bridge that departs at 00:15 which you should get which would put you into bed by about 01:15.
But on Sundays the Tube to LHR doesn't start until 07:30 which means the earliest you could get to LHR would be around 08:45

Much as I hate to recommend it, I would say your best option in this case is to find a hotel at Gatwick then take an early morning coach to LHR just so you get a decent amount of sleep. There are plenty of services from 05:45 onwards which will get you to LHR well before check-in opens even if Things Go Badly Wrong

I just realized that you implied in your first post that you want to stay near Gatwick. That makes sense. The Premier Inn is within walking distance of the North Terminal. For details, see this page: http://tinyurl.com/38t63z5.

Take a National Express bus from the North Terminal to Heathrow in the morning. It's wise to be at Heathrow a full three hours before a flight across the Atlantic. Early morning direct National Express buses run about every 10-15 minutes. See the timetables at www.nationalexpress.com.

"<i>I just realized that you implied in your first post that you want to stay near Gatwick. </i>"

I didn't read it that way - dunnelli said they want >><i>a clean comfortible hotel that won't take hours to travel to Heathrow the next morning.</i><< which would seem to mean staying near LHR, not LGW.

But unfortunately w/ an 11PM Saturday night landing you really don't have many options. There is no way you'd catch the 11:30 PM coach to LHR. Staying in central London (which would be my choice if the times were better) won't work very well because of the Sunday tube times.

Your best choices would probably be either stay at LGW and take a very early AM coach to LHR . .

OR

Book a car service from LGW to a hotel near LHR. It will cost a bit, but there will be NO traffic and you'd get to LHR by about 01:00 or maybe even earlier.

http://www.heathrow2gatwick.com/?gcl...FQxZbAodnEK3KQ

W/ that dreadful arrival time-- I'd consider the car service myself (I'd probably sleep through the 45-ish min drive)

Day Hotel, Hounslow, stayed there last week.

This is the next to last stop on the Picadilly tube line, probably took less than 10 minutes to get to the terminals at Heathrow the next morning (Heathrow terminals are the last stop on that tube line).

The Hotel is part of the Days Inn chain, clean, well priced, secure.

However......you will have to walk down a flight of stairs at the stop, no elevator and the hotel is about a block away, so if you have much luggage this may not be a good option for you. If you choose to do this, turn left when you come out of the station, do not cross under the rail line, the building numbers are not very obvious right around the station.

There is absolutely nothing to do or see in this town so it is only a place to stay.

wjkpjk: There is no way they could get to that hotel given their arrival time at LGW.

At time of night arrival I think I would arrange for a car service such as www.justairports.com upon arrival at LGW to a hotel near LHR. Terminal 5 at LHR has the new Sofitel. Or you can use priceline or other suggestions for others near LHR (or even the Days Hotel in Hounslow).

Oh - yes - of course they could take the car service to the Days Inn -- I probably wouldn't though. My post was mainly about wjkpjk's post w/ how to get to the hotel by tube/public transport.

(justairports is very good but for LGW/LHR, I <i>think</i> heathrow2gatwick would be a bit cheaper - but get quotes from both for sure)

Thank You everybody for your input!!!...After taking the advice from all of you, I believe we will stay at Gatwick for the night, and take the National Express to Heathrow early in the morning.Has anyone stayed at the Hilton at Gatwick? They have a good rate for the night and it is at the airport. Also, do you need reservations on the National Express Bus to Heathrow?