Spending your layover at Stansted

Hotels in and next to the terminals

None of the rooms listed below at London Stansted Airport (STN) is airside: Stansted lists no airside rooms or sleeping pods, and says the terminal has no overnight sleeping facilities. That matters less here than at most airports, because every international arrival at Stansted clears passport control anyway, so you’re already landside. See visa and transit rules.

Hotel	Where	Airside or landside	How you get there
Radisson Blu	By the terminal	Landside	A 2-minute walk by a direct covered link
Hampton by Hilton	On the airport grounds	Landside	A 5-minute walk by covered walkway
Holiday Inn Express	Opposite the Mid-Stay car park	Landside	Shuttle bus, 10 minutes, £3 a person
Days Inn	By the M11 junction 8 service area	Landside	A 5 to 10-minute drive; the hotel lists an airport shuttle
De Salis Hotel	Elsenham, 2 miles away	Landside	Shuttle, about 7 minutes, with conditions and charges

The terminal at night. Stansted says the terminal closes from midnight to 2am, that it doesn’t allow bedding down there, and that early-morning passengers shouldn’t arrive before their check-in time. If you land in the evening and fly the next morning, book a bed.

Radisson Blu is the closest: Stansted’s page calls it the only hotel directly connected to the airport by a covered walkway, 2 minutes from check-in. It has three restaurants, a pool and a health club. Check-in is from 2pm, and Stansted’s page shows rooms from £90 (seen November 2026).

Hampton by Hilton is a 5-minute walk by covered walkway, with a reception open 24 hours, a gym open around the clock and breakfast included. Check-in is from 3pm, and Stansted’s page shows rooms from £77 (seen November 2026).

By shuttle: the Holiday Inn Express (from £80), the Days Inn (from £67, no restaurant) and the De Salis Hotel (from £65), on Stansted’s pages (seen November 2026). Our layover plans list each hotel with how to get there.

Day rooms

None of the hotels’ pages on Stansted’s site offers day rooms or hourly rates, and Stansted names none in the terminal. With a daytime layover, ask the Radisson Blu or Hampton by Hilton directly about an early check-in, or book the night before: check-in is from 2pm and 3pm.

Lounges you can pay for

Stansted’s lounge page describes one lounge. Its prices change, so check before you go.

Lounge	Where	Hours	From
Essence by Escape Lounges	Near Gates 1 to 19, by the transit system	4:45am to 7:30pm daily, closed on Christmas Day	£28.99 booked at least 24 hours ahead, £35 on the day (seen November 2026)

• Who can use it: only passengers of the airlines that leave from Gates 1 to 19: Air Algerie, Arkia, British Airways Cityflyer, Corendon Airlines, Emirates, Flyone, HiSky, Jet2, Lufthansa, Pegasus, Royal Air Maroc, Royal Jordanian, SunExpress, Tui and Turkish Airlines. Stansted says Ryanair and easyJet passengers can’t use it. Once at Gates 1 to 19, you can’t go back to the main terminal.
• Entry: from 3 hours before your flight’s scheduled departure. Infants under 3 go free, and children are welcome.
• What’s included: cold food, soft drinks, tea and coffee, wine and bottled beer, Wi-Fi and charging points.
• Priority Pass, Lounge Key and DragonPass: cardholders pre-book through Stansted’s portals, subject to availability.

Showers

Stansted says it doesn’t currently offer shower facilities, except a wash room for passengers using its assisted travel service, and the Essence lounge lists none. A room at the Radisson Blu or Hampton by Hilton gives you a bathroom and a bed.

Fast Track

Stansted sells both kinds of FastTrack online, up to 12 months ahead or on the day, subject to availability.

• Security FastTrack: from £6.49 a person, from 4am to 8pm. Stansted suggests choosing a slot about two hours before departure. Infants under 3 go through free with a paying party.
• Passport Control FastTrack: a separate lane at passport control when you land, from £15 a person and open 24 hours. Every passenger needs a pass, children included, and it isn’t sold for arrivals from Ireland or within the UK.

Both are non-refundable when bought on their own.

Left luggage

Stansted’s own facilities pages list no left-luggage service. If you’re heading into London, the nearest is at Liverpool Street, where Stansted Express arrives: Network Rail lists a desk run by Excess Baggage Company, open 7am to 11pm every day, with no prices published.

App-booked storage near Liverpool Street is another option: Stasher listed spaces from about £1.49 a bag a day, and Bounce from about £4.30 a day (both seen November 2026). This matters because the Tower of London doesn’t allow suitcases, St Paul’s has no cloakroom, and Young V&A has nowhere to store large luggage. More in getting into London.

Connections, money and Wi-Fi

• Connecting: every passenger arriving on an international flight passes through passport control. If your bags aren’t checked through, collect them in arrivals and check them in again. Stansted asks you to allow plenty of time, and says minimum connection times vary by airline and route.
• Getting back for your flight: Stansted recommends getting to security at least 2 hours before departure, and this guide plans on the same 2 hours.
• Money: ChangeGroup has currency exchange both before and after security, and cash machines offer pounds, euros and US dollars.
• Wi-Fi: free for 2 hours in every 24, in the terminal and the lounge. After that you pay or wait for the allowance to reset.

With 6.5 hours or more and the right documents, you could be in Old Spitalfields Market about 2 hours after landing.