"Airside" hotels at Heathrow Airport

No. Terminal 3 used to have airside bedrooms that you rented by the hour but they are closed.

Are you sure your luggage can't be transferred? Have you checked with the airline?

Cannot say that I have yet, but I am am not hopefull - I have had quite a few previous experiences when they were not - more often than not. Mainly because the two airline have no "reciprocity"?!

I flew from Seattle to Venice via LHR and didn't see the bag until Venice. But it was British Air for both flights. Are you doing these flights on one ticket? An airside layover would be much easier than retrieving luggage and going back through security, especially if that involves extra Covid procedures.

There's a Sofitel next to Terminal 5, landside, that would be very convenient if either of your flights uses that termnal and you can't stay airside. It's an expensive place but I got a good non-refundable rate that worked for me the night before an early departure.

It's reassuring that if both flights are with the same airline, luggage has a good chance of going thru. Was this flight recent - ie - Post Covid? Right now in fact I have been looking at a Lufthansa alternative which however has a Frankfurt connection but at least both flights would be with the same airline. Hopefully the luggage problem would not arise. I am hoping that a 3.15 mts connection time should be more than enough. In conclusion, I am still very leery of having to go to any hotel "landside" at LHA. Too many variables. I have seen many comments on this forum of the "landside/airside" inconsistencies in the official advice to travelers. Pity - because a layover in LHA was my first choice. BTW - a layover in Frankfurt is much more manageable - I have been to the airport Hotel there which is extremely convenient for overnite connecting flights and I would recommend it to anyone.

LHA, is the code for Lahr Airport in Germany

LHR intended for Heathrow, of course. Been seeing too many air routes lately - sorry to say!

What are the two airlines at Heathrow?

There is a lot of information missing, like which airlines are involved and if you are booking them as separate flights or on one ticket. But if you are selfconnecting you need to go landside to pick up you luggage, so it really doesn't matter where your hotel is.

It's hard to give advice with so little information. But at the moment it seems like selfconnecting in a non-EU country that many Schengen countries consider high risk is a way of making things more complicated than they need to be.

If I transit thru London with an overnight stay, the option could be using British Airways both times.

But if, as it seems probable, that that means I would need to go landside, it becomes less attractive an option. Might as well try to find a flight with a long enough layover so as to make sure not to be delayed picking up luggage, exiting pp control, checking back in, pp control again, etc. Seems too much hassle when you consider the present ever changing Covid restrictions and unpredictables.

Option two appears to be to be using Lufthansa thru Frankfurt both times (one ticket - but still need two boarding passes) - a long enough layover/no overnite - and with the good possibility of having the luggage go thru. And pray.

It just seems to me that it would be ideal to have stayed overnite in an airside hotel and avoided the hassle after a long flight.

I haven't studied this in depth yet, but a few days ago I was checking for my usual system. I was reading about the airside vs landslide transit categories as I always stay overnight at the T5 Sofitel (I make sure all my flights are at T5) before my BA interEurope flight the next day. (I take a day flight, when it flies, from the US and arrive approximately 19:00 and fly out the next morning). I understood it to say that one doesn't have to get a test if going landslide for < 24 hours. So, this would still work, for me at least...not sure of your timing. This would mean my initial PCR from the US, if needed would still work for arriving at my ultimate destination. So, if this is the case, I don't see what your issue is. You can check your luggage all the way through to your destination if you are flying BA all the way. I don't, because it is such a long layover and I have little luggage, but you can and I possibly would if I had a lot of luggage. All you have to worry about is having what you need for the layover hotel stay. I will say that checking luggage for that long of a period could up the odds of delayed or loss luggage, IMO.

The Passport control always just call my stay as 'in transit' when I'm talking to them. FYI, I haven't used my route since Covid.

Thanks Wray and everyone for the input. This does help. Unfortunately the first problem is I cannot be sure which terminal I will end up arriving or leaving from. Also, i do need to verify the possibility of the <24 hrs layover period - flights are not that always conveniently available. As I mentioned before, during the past several years the transfer of luggage to the next flight in intercontinental flights have at times been very unpredictable - sometimes even when flying with the same airline if the layover is too long. The PCR testing throws in another unpredictable spanner in the works! This time, travelling with family with numerous and heavy luggage is making me be extremely cautious . And I am leaning towards transiting thru Germany because I have Schengen privileges and am traveling to a Schengen final destination. Any Covid related restrictions should be uniform - hopefully.

I travelled to Croatia from Vancouver on Lufthansa via Frankfurt two weeks ago. My bag arrived in Zagreb as I did. Seems like less flights means more waiting, but Frankfurt is familiar to me. Even changing planes, there is a security screening for the zone for the second flight. A hands in the air scanning booth detected tiny pocket zippers on my shirt, so I got patted down, otherwise no issues. As I had filled out the Enter Croatia form ahead of the trip, arrival procedures in Zagreb were non existent. If you have any elders in your band, Frankfurt's electric buggies whisk you even faster from arrival to departure, if pre-arranged. My wife and I once rode along with my mother in law and were at our departure gate in minutes by elevators and routes we never see. Saw a lot of buggies in action or waiting patiently. FRA was significantly quieter, some stores were closed. Still very efficient. Just smile.

That sounds very reassuring. I would have a 3hrs 15 mts layover so am hoping that should suffice however I would sure like to avail myself of the electric buggies service. Cannot find any links on the Frankfurt Airport website that show how to prebook them. Maybe this can be booked whilst in flight to final destination?
I did find this reply for booking Gate to Gate assistance.
Notice:
"Dear customers,
Due to regulatory requirements and the current developments on COVID-19 we temporarily cannot offer the Gate-to-Gate Service. For this reason the booking function is currently deactivated. "
I assume this is not the service mentioned in previous reply. (?)

This post may open up a can of worms, but why don't you just travel with a carry-on bag only and forget checking bags? You would not have to worry about the checked luggage issue.