brenkj

Virtually all hotels in London will store you luggage for you. Like on of the previous posters said, given the flight schedules, this is a very common occurrence, and the hotels have figured out how to deal with it.
I highly recommend doing everything you can to stay awake and active that entire first day. No naps - even short ones! Get to sleep early that night (9:00 should do it) and get a long night's sleep - 10 hours or so. When you wake up in the morning your internal clock should be re-set.

padams421

We book the hotel for the night before we arrive and let the hotel know that we will not actually arrive until the next morning. Consequently, we have a room waiting for us upon arrival.

smueller

My wife and I often pack with this possibility in mind. Things that we would want with us that 1st morning, or items that are too valuable or important to leave in an (often) unsecured part of the hotel lobby, will go into our small carry-on, which we will keep with us while we wander nearby neighborhoods and wait for our room.

We also pack certain items in a small zippered bag near the top of our checked luggage, and just before arrival put certain items in our carry-on into a small zippered bag. The first bag includes things that we do not need or want during the flight, but might want while wandering Paris, Frankfurt, etc. For example, guide books, maps, and so on. The second bag includes things for the flight, but unimportant once we arrive (snacks, flight reading material, ...). As we drop the luggage off at the hotel, we simply swap the small bags.

What we leave vs what we carry can be a tough call. Are critical items safer at the hotel, where there is often minimal attention paid to who comes and goes from the luggage storage area/room? Or are these items safer with jetlagged tourists that are prime targets for petty European criminals?

gail

smueller (immediately above) has some good luggage suggestions, but beware if you are flying BA - they have a 13 pound carry-on limit and when we flew them Boston-Heathrow in April they actually enforced it.

LilyLace

If I am traveling for business and need to freshen up or even take a nap I make arrangements with the hotel ahead of time. Otherwise, you can try to check in early but you should expect to wait a few hours.

prue

Another option that is sometimes available is to have the hotel reception ring your mobile phone (providing you have one that works in whichever country it is) when the room is ready.

Gavin

I have had good luck checking in immediately upon arrival after overnight flights. It is a question of there having an empty room from the night before. On two occasions when finding that the hotel room was ready after a sleepless overnight flight I have napped for a couple of hours and the world did not end. No trouble getting to sleep at the proper time that evening. This experience is not in London as I always take the day time flight to London and this is not a problem.