Yotel?

In my opinion, it's better to keep moving the day you arrive. Get outside, get some sun and fresh air, stay awake as long as you can that first day, and you should be OK the next day. You're arriving with almost a whole day ahead of you - take advantage of it instead of sleeping it away.

If you do not tackle your jetlag on the first day, and spend it sleeping, you will have to do it all over the next day.

From the West Coast we have approx 11 hours plane ride to get to London. generally after that we will last until 8 or 9 pm i would suggest get to your hotel and dump your luggage. Then try walking. you will probably do well to keep awake until 7pm -ish. Then crash. that will be OK may wake up a little early for the first couple of days

I'm in the nap camp. (huh-fun camp!) When our 3 generation group arrived in London at 8 am, we got to our hotel around 10:30-11:00. They let us check in early, we dumped our bags, and went to lunch. Over lunch the fatigue set in. No one said a word. We went back to the hotel, my mom and I napped an hour, my teens slept just a bit longer, and we all had showers. Then we headed out for the day. We were in bed that night by about 9:30, and all felt fine the rest of the trip. Really, if we had tried to power through that fatigue, one of us would have been hit by a car. Certainly, interpersonal relationships would have suffered. Since you have a flat, it might be more difficult. You might try nicely asking if you can leave your bags until check-in time, and they might let you in early.

I try to get myself on Europe time, as much as possible, in the weeks prior to my trip. I'll go to bed progressively earlier and get up earlier to reduce the shock to the system. I try hard to get some decent sleep on the plane by switching to Europe local time as soon as I arrive at my departure gate. I think of dinnertime and bed time based on the new local time. I never ask, or want to be asked, what time it is at home until I'm on my return flight. When I land I keep moving the first day until a decent bed time, then get a good night's sleep and am usually good after that.

I'd probably see if I could drop my luggage off at the flat and then go out and begin my sightseeing for the day until time to check into your flat. Maybe a nap then and then regroup and go out to dinner and evening entertainment.

I've done both -- Power Through and Nap. I prefer the Power Through method because it does seem to speed the adaptation to local time. However, one time I traveled and started coming down with a cold. That time I napped. What i did do, though, was limit my nap to an hour. Then I forced myself to get up and go for a walk. I would recommend walking no matter what to start with. I've found that finding a tour later in the afternoon which gets me off my feet, but keeps me interested helps. For example, a Seine river tour. Maybe a hop on hop off bus tour in London would work. Pam

An alternative to the Yotel is a day room in a hotel at Heathrow. Here's one link: http://www.londontoolkit.com/travel/heathrow_day_rooms.htm Personally I arrive too excited about being in London to nap or relax. A long walk, an early dinner, then heading back to the hotel for an early night's sleep is the perfect first day for me.