London has five airports, and the first job is working out which one your flight actually leaves from. Heathrow (LHR) handles the long-haul, Gatwick (LGW) the leisure routes, Stansted (STN) the budget network, Luton (LTN) the charters, and London City (LCY) the short business hops. Between them they move over 170 million passengers a year. Given how spread out they are and how slow cross-London travel can be, hotels near your departure airport are worth far more than a central London base for an early flight. Hotels near the airport
Each airport has its own cluster of hotels, from budget rooms to five-star, with shuttles, parking deals and direct terminal links widely on offer. The key thing is to book close to the right airport. A hotel near Heathrow is no help if you're flying from Stansted.