Sleep/Shower Layover at London Gatwick Airport - Hotel?

I realize this in no way answers your question BUT there are non-stop flights on Delta (and perhaps other airlines) from JFK to Edinburgh that I'd take over an 8-ish hour layover probably no matter what the cost.

Delta's cheapest is $1,883 vs the ticket I'm looking at (including checked bag) would be about $344. I'm thinking I'd rather arrive in Edinburgh showered and with a nap since we won't be able to check into our apartment until 3, and this would give us a full day in Edinburgh.

I know that Heathrow has lounges with showers (for a fee of course) that are not tied to the particular airline business and first class lounges (I've researched these because my wife and I will have lengthy layovers there in September), You should see if Gatwick has anything similar.

There is a Yotel in the South Terminal at Gatwick. This would fit your needs well as, I believe, they will rent for the hours you need. Sounds like an excellent idea to me. I am amazed at the recent deals on British Airways and Virgin Atlantic. It's going back to the 1980's in price. Love it!

I'm not sure that you'd have sufficient time to clear immigration, get to the hotel, have a sufficient nap (one that does nothing but make you more groggy than before), shower and be back in the required time prior to your next flight.

Lounges are an option but as far as I can see only the airline lounges have shower facilities and unless you're a frequent flyer whose status permits entry or you're flying at least business class you won't have access.

I've only ever stayed in the Sofitel that is on the list of the link you provided. It's a very nice hotel but quite expensive however looking at current day room rates they're not too disimilar to the Yotel in which case the Sofitel would win hands down every time. It's connected to the North Terminal so not far to travel to but acknowledge that you're going to have the briefest of naps, one which will make it extremely difficult to extricate yourself from your bed. I'd simply save some money and try and catch 40 winks or so on both flights.

Since you arrive at Edinburgh at 8 am is it reasonable to say that what you are doing is instead of an overnight flight you are planning on the last flight arrival of the evening - flying all day and evening - then an overnight stop followed by the first flight of the morning to Scotland?

Can you arrange to take the second or even third flight of the morning so your body has a chance?

Arrival process I would estimate at 60 to 90 minutes. Immigration always seems to be the wild card. Sometimes you’re lucky and it’s a quick 15 minutes. For your flight to Edinburgh check with your airline but it is pretty common to allow 2 hours. So total of about 3 1/2 hours total.

The UK is supposed to allow US passport holders to use the egates starting in June so hopefully that will reduce wait times at passport control.

Have you looked at all the options for nonstop flights from NYC to Scotland? Depending on when you are going, you can get flights to from JFK to Edinburgh or Glasgow, on Delta or American, and from Newark to Glasgow or Edinburgh on United.

You aren't by any chance trying to price one way flights? If you are, use "multi city" or "multiple destinations" instead.

Apologies if you have already tried these tricks. But when I went JFK to LHR and EDI to JFK (in September 2018 on Delta), it was only a bit more money than going roundtrip to London would have been.

If it's still too expensive to fly nonstop to Scotland, I like Nigel's idea of taking the day flight into London (leaves early in the morning from JFK or Newark, lands about 8 PM in London). Then, you can get a real night's sleep before heading to Scotland by air or train.

I wonder how you are searching for your flights. I research on matrix.itasoftware.com which I think offers more flights than most (although it does not sell the tickets.) Throughout the height of the summer it shows non-stops from NYC to Edinburgh on Delta and other major airlines in the $660 to $800 range. The cheapest flights it shows (Aer Lingus and Norwegian) require stop-overs and only save about $100. Vacation time is valuable and so is personal energy; I'd take the non-stop and have at least a half-day extra at your destination both going and coming.

The Yotel lets you book for as little as 4 hours. You do have to exit the secure area, but you should have 4 hours.

I’ve stayed their twice before flights that left very early in the morning.

My wife and I stayed at the YOTEL in Gatwick last June, before an early morning flight. It was a fine experience--very clean and comfortable, if small. Great shower. Location within the airport was great. As has been mentioned, they rent by the hour, and you can do so on line.
Steve

Thanks everyone, I totally forgot about multi-city! I feel like such a dummy. Now I see the rest of the Delta fares, the 6 hrs 58 min looks good! I haven't had luck at sleeping on the plane on past trips and was thinking showing up early at 8:30am with a nap and a shower would be a better plan, but I can't turn down a 7 hr flight vs 14 hrs+ of travel.

Maybe I'll try Ambien or something?

I'm glad you were able to get the nonstop to Edinburgh with a multi-city fare. Would you mind posting the price and your itinerary? This will be helpful for others, as so many assume that they have to fly round-trip to get an affordable fare.

Sure, it's a Delta flight and departs JFK to EDI 9:12 PM - 9:10 AM 6 hr 56 min nonstop
Return Athens to JFK 2:30 PM to 6:41 PM 11 hr 11 min nonstop and it was $887 for one ticket including an upgrade to main cabin to include checked bag.

Thanks for the update - sounds good to me!

I agree. Sounds like a much better plan!