Most Stansted Airport hotel searches come down to one question: how close is the bed to check-in? Only two hotels genuinely answer with a covered walkway — Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport, which the airport describes as a short walk from check-in, and Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport, roughly 200 metres from the main terminal. Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton are the walkable choices; Novotel, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express all involve a shuttle; and the terminal itself is a free, if uncomfortable, fallback.
Last checked: 2026-10-03
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Nearest attached hotel: Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport · Distance from Radisson Blu to terminal: 2-minute walk via covered walkway · Alternative walkable hotels: Premier Inn London Stansted Airport (10-min drive) · Cheapest room (single night, Saturday): The George Hotel at £45 · Free on-site parking available: Bridge House (Stansted Airport Stay)
Stansted airport hotels: the essentials
- Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport sits roughly 350 metres from the Stansted Express arrivals area and about 500 metres from the airport (Radisson Hotels).
- Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport is about 200 metres from the main terminal per Hilton’s location page, with the covered-walkway route marketed as a five-minute walk.
- Novotel London Stansted Airport depends on a shuttle the airport lists as a six-minute transfer, with service running approximately 04:00–01:00 (London Stansted Airport).
- Premier Inn London Stansted Airport is about one mile from the airport, with a shuttle every 30 minutes at £4 per adult and free travel for children (Premier Inn).
How we researched this
Last checked: 2026-10-03.
Sources reviewed: official property websites (Radisson Hotels, Hilton, Premier Inn), London Stansted Airport hotel listings, a travel booking aggregator (Hotels.com), and a specialist Stansted hotel guide.
We did not conduct an on-site visit, interview hotel staff, or verify prices through a live booking engine; the rates shown come from the cited sources and the research dataset.
The short version: if a covered walkway to the terminal is your requirement, only Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton qualify. Novotel, Premier Inn and Holiday Inn Express are shuttle properties, and two local rate listings — The George Hotel and Bridge House — appear in the dataset without a recorded terminal distance.
Key facts at a glance
| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Nearest attached hotel | Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport — covered walkway; the airport calls it a short walk from check-in (London Stansted Airport) |
| Radisson Blu distance | About 350 m from Stansted Express arrivals; about 500 m from the airport (Radisson Hotels) |
| Closest walkable alternative | Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport — about 200 m from the main terminal (Hilton) |
| Shuttle-transfer hotel | Novotel London Stansted Airport — six-minute shuttle; service runs approximately 04:00–01:00 (London Stansted Airport) |
| Budget-positioned shuttle hotel | Premier Inn London Stansted Airport — about 1 mile away; 30-minute walk or 10-minute drive (Premier Inn) |
| Premier Inn shuttle price | £4 per adult, children free, every 30 minutes (Premier Inn) |
Quick numbers
- 2-minute walk — Radisson Blu’s route from the terminal via covered walkway, per the airport’s listing.
- 200 metres — Hampton by Hilton’s stated distance from the main terminal.
- £45–£63 — lowest and highest sampled rates at The George Hotel (dataset, Saturday/Friday).
- £4 — Premier Inn shuttle fare per adult; children ride free.
- 500 — rooms recorded for Radisson Blu in the research dataset.
What hotels can you walk to from Stansted Airport?
The hotel map at Stansted divides into two practical groups: properties with a covered walkway and everything else. The distinction matters more than the brand on the sign, because a shuttle timetable turns a six-minute transfer into a wait that depends on the next bus.
Hotels with direct walkway connections
Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport is the first of the two covered-walkway properties. Hilton’s official description markets the route as a five-minute walk, and its location page puts the hotel about 200 metres from the main terminal, within walking distance of the bus and train station.
We’re a five-minute walk from London Stansted Airport’s terminals.
Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport, official hotel description
Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport is the second covered-walkway property and the one most often described as attached. Radisson’s own property page gives the distance as roughly 350 metres from the Stansted Express arrivals area and about 500 metres from the airport, while the airport’s listing calls the route a short walk from check-in.
Hotels requiring a short drive or shuttle
Novotel London Stansted Airport uses a shuttle, and the airport’s listing spells out the numbers: a six-minute transfer and approximately five minutes by car. The same listing notes the shuttle runs between approximately 04:00 and 01:00. That window covers most flight patterns, but it leaves a real gap for arrivals after 01:00 and for anyone catching a flight that needs them at security before 04:00. Hotels.com scores the property 8.6/10 from 1,303 reviews.
Drive time from the hotel to the airport terminal is approximately 5 minutes, while a regular shuttle bus service between the airport and the hotel runs between 04.00am and 01.00am.
London Stansted Airport, Novotel hotel listing
Watch the shuttle window: Novotel’s shuttle runs from approximately 04:00 to 01:00. A flight landing after 01:00 means no bus until roughly 04:00 — the walkable hotels do not have this constraint.
Premier Inn London Stansted Airport is about one mile away. Premier Inn’s official information lists a 30-minute walk, a roughly 10-minute drive, and a shuttle every 30 minutes that costs £4 per adult with children free.
There’s a shuttle bus that runs between the hotel and the airport every 30 minutes that costs £4 per adult (free for children).
Premier Inn, official hotel information
Holiday Inn Express London Stansted Airport is part of the same shuttle group. Hotels.com places it about 1.1 miles from the airport with an 8.6/10 score from 1,343 reviews, and a specialist Stansted hotel guide groups it with Novotel and Premier Inn as a shuttle property.
Distances from the terminal
- Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport — about 200 metres from the main terminal (Hilton).
- Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport — about 350 metres from Stansted Express arrivals; about 500 metres from the airport (Radisson Hotels).
- Premier Inn London Stansted Airport — about 1 mile (Premier Inn).
- Holiday Inn Express London Stansted Airport — about 1.1 miles (Hotels.com).
- Novotel London Stansted Airport — about 2.3 miles (Hotels.com).
What to watch: published distances measure different reference points. Radisson’s 350 metres is measured to the Stansted Express arrivals area, not the check-in row; Hotels.com’s figures point at the airport, not necessarily the terminal door. Always check where a distance starts before comparing hotels.
Stansted airport hotels compared
| Hotel Name | Distance to Terminal | Walkway Connection | Parking | Price per Night (from sources) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport | About 350 m from Stansted Express arrivals; about 500 m from the airport (Radisson Hotels) | Yes — covered walkway; the airport describes it as a short walk from check-in | Not stated in sources reviewed | No sample rate captured in research set |
| Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport | About 200 metres from the main terminal (Hilton) | Yes — covered walkway; five-minute walk (Hilton) | Not stated in sources reviewed | No sample rate captured in research set |
| Novotel London Stansted Airport | About 2.3 miles per Hotels.com; six-minute shuttle (London Stansted Airport) | No — shuttle or drive | Not stated in sources reviewed | From £80, indicative (London Stansted Airport) |
| Premier Inn London Stansted Airport | About 1 mile; 30-minute walk or 10-minute drive (Premier Inn) | No — shuttle or drive | Packages from £114 include 8 days’ parking (London Stansted Airport) | From £114 including parking, indicative (London Stansted Airport); shuttle £4 per adult (Premier Inn) |
| The George Hotel Stansted Airport | Not recorded in the sources reviewed | No — not a terminal walkway property | Not stated in sources reviewed | £45 (Saturday) / £63 (Friday) per research dataset; not live-verified |
| Bridge House (Stansted Airport Stay) | Not recorded in the sources reviewed | No — not a terminal walkway property | Free on-site parking listed in research dataset | Not stated in sources reviewed |
Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton are the only rows where the walkway column reads “yes” — that single cell is the real comparison. Where sources differ on distance, as with Novotel’s 2.3 miles on Hotels.com versus a six-minute shuttle on the airport listing, the shuttle time is what matters for planning, and the distance figure explains why walking is not the point.
Hotel-by-hotel pros and cons
Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport
- Pros: covered walkway to the terminal; closest property to check-in; full-service hotel with roughly 500 rooms in the research dataset.
- Cons: no sample rate captured in the sources reviewed; compare live rates for your travel date.
Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport
- Pros: about 200 metres from the main terminal; covered walkway; within walking distance of the bus and train station.
- Cons: no sample rate captured in the sources reviewed; the connection is a walkway rather than a shared building.
Premier Inn London Stansted Airport
- Pros: shuttle every 30 minutes at £4 per adult; children free; indicative packages from £114 with 8 days’ parking; 8.8/10 from 338 reviews on Hotels.com.
- Cons: about 1 mile from the airport; the 30-minute walk is realistic only without heavy luggage; the shuttle adds a time constraint.
Novotel London Stansted Airport
- Pros: six-minute shuttle; indicative rates from £80; service covers most of the day.
- Cons: about 2.3 miles per Hotels.com; shuttle stops around 01:00 and resumes around 04:00; arrivals in that window need a taxi.
The bottom line: if “walking distance” is the rule, the comparison ends at two hotels — Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton. Every other option in this section adds a shuttle, a drive, or a 30-minute walk to the overnight equation.
Is there a hotel attached to Stansted Airport?
The Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport
Yes — Radisson Blu is the hotel travellers usually mean. The airport’s listing describes it as a short walk from check-in, and Radisson’s own figures put the distance at roughly 350 metres from the Stansted Express arrivals area and about 500 metres from the airport. The walkway connection keeps you out of the shuttle loop: no timetable to check, no bus to wait for, and a route that stays covered between the hotel and the terminal.
What “attached” means in practice
At Stansted, “attached” does not mean sharing a roof with check-in. It means a walkway connection that keeps you independent of shuttle hours. Two properties meet that test — Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton — a point a specialist Stansted hotel guide makes explicitly when it separates the covered-access hotels from the shuttle group.
Novotel, Holiday Inn Express and Premier Inn all market themselves as airport hotels, but each depends on a shuttle or a drive. In practice, “attached” removes the shuttle step from the early-morning sequence: you walk to check-in rather than walking to a bus stop first.
The implication: for a flight before 07:00, the attached hotel is the only option where the walk to check-in is fully under your control.
Can I stay overnight at Stansted Airport?
Airport opening hours
Stansted’s terminal runs on a 24-hour cycle. The airport’s own hotel listings are written around overnight travel — Novotel’s shuttle operates from approximately 04:00 to 01:00 precisely to cover very early departures and late arrivals. The terminal stays open through the night, and travellers do use the seating areas overnight.
Seating and sleeping areas
Public seating is available throughout the terminal, and travellers commonly use it as de facto rest space overnight. The practical minimum for a tolerable night is a travel pillow, eye mask and earplugs.
Safety and security
Security patrols operate through the night, and airport staff at information points can answer questions about gate changes and check-in times. Keep your passport, boarding pass and phone on your person rather than in a bag that can be moved while you sleep.
Best hotels by traveller type
- Business travellers: Radisson Blu — the covered walkway and full-service setup remove the shuttle question, and the research dataset records roughly 500 rooms.
- Budget travellers: The George Hotel showed the lowest sampled rate at £45 (Saturday), and Premier Inn pairs a £4-per-adult shuttle with free child travel.
- Early-morning flights: Radisson Blu or Hampton by Hilton — neither depends on a shuttle window that starts at 04:00.
- Families: Premier Inn’s shuttle is free for children; Hampton’s 200-metre covered walk avoids shuttles entirely.
What you’ll pay
- Budget band (sampled): The George Hotel at £45 (Saturday) / £63 (Friday), per the research dataset; Bridge House lists free on-site parking.
- Mid band (indicative): Novotel from £80, and Premier Inn from £114 including eight days’ parking, per London Stansted Airport’s hotel listings.
- Walkable premium: Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton had no sample rates in the sources reviewed — compare live rates for your dates.
All prices are in pounds sterling as published in the cited sources; exact rates move with dates and availability. Add transport to the rate before comparing — a £4 shuttle is still a cost, and a 01:00 arrival at Novotel means a taxi unless the timing works.
What to do if you have to sleep at the airport?
Find a comfortable seating area
Look for bench-style seating rather than floor space, and choose a spot that is visible to staff and security patrols. A place in the main seating area is better than an empty corridor at 03:00: quieter corners exist, but visibility matters more than silence.
Bring travel essentials
Travel pillows and blankets improve comfort materially. A phone charger and a power bank matter at least as much, because check-in and boarding reminders assume a charged phone. If you give up on the bench plan, Radisson Blu is a two-minute walk and Premier Inn’s shuttle is £4.
Pro tip: set a phone alarm for check-in opening and keep your passport, boarding pass and charger in a bag on your body. The bench will still be there in the morning; your belongings may not be if you leave them loose.
Stay near information desks
Airport staff at information points can assist with the practical questions: where security opens, when check-in desks open, whether a shuttle is still running. Security patrols pass through the overnight terminal, so staying in a visible position makes it easier for staff to see you.
Consider booking an airport hotel
The useful thing about Radisson Blu’s walkway is that you do not need to decide before you arrive: if the bench plan fails, the hotel is a two-minute walk from the terminal, subject to availability. For shuttle properties the decision has to be made earlier — Novotel’s shuttle stops around 01:00.
Step-by-step: an unplanned overnight at Stansted
- Find a bench in a visible, staffed area rather than an empty corridor.
- Set a phone alarm for check-in opening and final boarding; set a second alarm 30 minutes later as a backup.
- Keep your passport, boarding pass, phone and charger in a bag you can hold.
- Use a travel pillow, eye mask and earplugs; wear layers.
- If you are staying at Novotel and landing after about 01:00, the shuttle will not run until roughly 04:00 — factor a taxi into the plan.
- If the bench is not working, Radisson Blu’s covered walkway is about a two-minute walk from the terminal; check availability at reception.
Can I sleep in an airport the night before my flight?
Airport policies on overnight stays
Stansted allows overnight stays in the terminal, and sleeping in the public seating areas is free. That makes the terminal the default answer for a zero-cost night before an early flight, provided you accept noise, lighting and bench comfort as the trade-offs.
Tips for sleeping in airports
Treat it as a planned exercise: travel pillow, eye mask, earplugs, phone alarm, and valuables kept on your person. Check your airline’s check-in window before you settle. A shuttle property like Novotel starts running at 04:00, which covers most morning departures — but a walkable hotel removes the timetable from the night entirely.
Comparison with airport hotels
The price comparison is stark: the terminal costs nothing, while the sampled hotel rates in the research dataset run from £45 at The George Hotel to the indicative £80 at Novotel and £114 at Premier Inn with parking. Radisson Blu and Hampton by Hilton had no captured sample rates, so the real comparison for those two needs a live date. The George Hotel and Bridge House both come with a transport unknown, since neither property’s terminal distance was recorded in the sources reviewed.
Getting to and from each hotel
- Radisson Blu — covered walkway; about 350 metres from Stansted Express arrivals and about 500 metres from the airport.
- Hampton by Hilton — about 200 metres from the main terminal; within walking distance of the bus and train station.
- Premier Inn — about 1 mile; 30-minute walk, 10-minute drive, or shuttle every 30 minutes at £4 per adult, children free.
- Novotel — six-minute shuttle or five-minute drive; shuttle operates approximately 04:00–01:00.
Our pick: Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport
For most travellers the covered walkway is the deciding factor, and Radisson Blu is the closest hotel to check-in. The airport describes it as a short walk from check-in, Radisson’s own figures put the distance at roughly 350–500 metres, and the research dataset records about 500 rooms. The covered route means no shuttle, no fare and no 04:00 uncertainty.
Walkable alternative: Hampton by Hilton London Stansted Airport
Hampton sits about 200 metres from the main terminal with its own covered-walkway claim and a five-minute walk time. If Radisson’s live rate does not fit, Hampton is the same practical category with a different rate card.
Budget pick: Premier Inn London Stansted Airport
Premier Inn’s £4-per-adult shuttle, free child travel and indicative packages from £114 with eight days’ parking make it the strongest value option when the shuttle timing works. The 30-minute walk exists, but the shuttle exists so you do not have to attempt it with luggage.
Related reading: ?
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Frequently asked questions
Does Stansted Airport stay open all night?
Yes. Stansted’s terminal operates on a 24-hour cycle, and the airport’s own hotel listings are built around overnight travel: Novotel’s shuttle, for example, runs from approximately 04:00 to 01:00 to cover very early departures and late arrivals. The public terminal stays open, and travellers do sleep in the seating areas overnight.
Can I sleep in the airport for free?
Yes. Sleeping in Stansted’s public terminal costs nothing. The trade-offs are noise, lighting and seating comfort. The lowest sampled hotel rate in the research dataset was £45 at The George Hotel on a Saturday, while the closest paid option, Radisson Blu, is roughly a two-minute walk via a covered walkway from the terminal.
Is there a hotel attached to Stansted Airport?
Yes. Radisson Blu Hotel London Stansted Airport is the property most commonly described as attached. It is connected to the terminal by a covered walkway, and the airport describes the route as a short walk from check-in. Radisson’s own figures put the distance at roughly 350 metres from the Stansted Express arrivals area and about 500 metres from the airport.
Can I sleep at the airport instead of the hotel?
Yes — Stansted allows overnight stays in the terminal, and sleeping in the public areas is free. If you change your mind mid-night, Radisson Blu’s covered walkway is about two minutes from the terminal, subject to availability. Shuttle-dependent hotels are less forgiving: Novotel’s shuttle stops around 01:00 and does not resume until approximately 04:00.
How much does the Premier Inn airport shuttle cost?
£4 per adult, with children travelling free. The shuttle runs every 30 minutes between the hotel and the airport. Premier Inn also lists a roughly 30-minute walk and a 10-minute drive as alternatives.
Sources and references
Official airport, hotel and booking sources are cited inline above. The remaining comparative sources are listed below.
- Hotels.com — hotels near London Stansted Airport: hotels.com — hotels near London Stansted
- Stansted Airport Info — hotels guide: stanstedairport-info.co.uk/hotels
Data current as of early 2025; review scores cited from Hotels.com span 2024–2025. No sample rates were captured for Radisson Blu or Hampton by Hilton in the research set, so those prices should be checked live for your travel dates.