London Luton Airport Hotels with Free Parking

Did you know that there are Luton Airport hotels with free parking? We didn’t until recently so in case you also didn’t know and are thinking of flying from Luton airport and a re looking for ways to save money, here’s a complete guide to these hotels near Luton airport so you can decide whether a Luton airport hotel and parking package is right for you.

If you are reading this and are flying into Luton to visit London, you may be interested to read this post on free ways to entertain your kids in London.

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Do you need to drive to Luton airport?

So you’ve booked your flight and you need to decide how best to get to Luton airport. You may not need to drive to Luton airport if you can easily take one of the airport transport options.

There’s a train to Luton airport from London that brings you to Luton airport parkway and from there you take a shuttle bus to the terminal.

You could also take a bus to Luton airport which would drop you by the terminal. But even if you can take one of these services, they will probably still add on a lot more time to your journey.

It could end up being a case of planes, trains and automobiles and if your flight is one of the first of the day, it will mean getting up very early to catch your flight.

For many people, especially if you’re travelling with small children, driving is the best way to get to the airport. When you have no alternative than to drive and are faced with the cost of using a Luton airport car park, this is when a hotel with free parking might seem like a good idea.

The benefit of staying in an airport hotel

The cost of staying in an airport hotel is slightly more than the cost of Luton airport car parking, but if you have to stay in a hotel anyway, you may as well book a package with free parking.

Even if you don’t need a hotel, it sometimes makes sense to book one.

Luton Airport is our closest airport. Living close to an airport has its advantages. For one, we don’t have to worry about parking at Luton airport but when we have an insanely early flight, the cost of our taxi is sometimes more than the cost of a hotel so for us, it makes sense to book a hotel with parking and have a more leisurely start to our holiday.

This has been a great option for us whilst Luton airport was undergoing extensive upgrades because the traffic to the airport would often turn a 15-minute journey into a 60-minute journey. The last thing you want is the worry of missing your flight due to being stuck in traffic.

Luton Airport parking

If you’ve been lucky enough to find some cheap Luton Airport flights (check our guide to finding cheap flights), you may be surprised to find that the cost of car parking at Luton airport is more than the cost of your flights.

What we have found with the onsite car parks at Luton airport is that the cost varies greatly depending on the day you fly and the number of days you’re away. Sometimes, a longer stay works out cheaper.

There are 4 different types of car park to choose from. The closer you are to the terminal, the more you will pay.

Luton Airport Terminal 1 parking

This is the closest parking to the terminal. It’s a 4-minute walk across a link bridge. If you look online, it will say up to £58 for 24 and £64 for each day thereafter, but you can usually find a Luton airport parking discount if you book in advance.

Luton Airport Terminal 2 parking

This car park is based in the new multi-storey car park and is a 5-minute walk to the terminal.  If you look online, it will say up to £58 for 24 and £58 for each day thereafter, but as above, you can usually find parking discounts if you book in advance.

Luton airport mid term parking

The mid stay car park is the next furthest from the terminal.  Shuttle buses to the terminal operate every 10 – 15 minutes and take about 2-3 minutes.

Luton airport long term parking

The Long stay car park is the furthest ‘onsite carpark’ from the terminal. This is the most cost-effective car park. Shuttle buses to the terminal operate every 15 – 20 minutes and take about 7-8 minutes.

Map of Luton Airport car parks

Is a Luton airport hotel with free parking right for you?

Booking a hotel with free parking really pays off when you have to stay in a hotel anyway.  The thing to bear in mind is that the Airparks car parks included in the package with most of the hotels are a little further from the airport and will require a shuttle bus transfer.

You may want the ease of paying a little more to park right next to the airport or you may want to book parking with the hotels directly and use their onsite carparks (although their parking charges are upwards of £10 per day).

In this case, the hotel with free parking package is not for you but if you don’t mind incorporating a quick shuttle bus journey into your plans, you’ll save a lot of money. We find the best way to do this if you’re travelling with a family is to drop everyone at the hotel with the luggage, and one person goes to park the car.

You can book your hotel and parking package through Holiday Extras or through Luton Airparks. One of the things we like about the Holiday Extras service is that you can cancel for free up to midnight the day before check-in. The car parks included in the package are:

Airparks Luton Airport carpark

This is the furthest car park from the airport at about 5 km from the terminal. Shuttle buses run every 20 minutes and take 15 minutes between 04.00 and 23.20. Outside of these times there is a shuttle service on request.

Airparks Shortrun carpark

This car park is about 1 km from the airport and a 5-minute shuttle bus transfer. The bus drops you about a 5-minute walk from the terminal.

Luton airport hotels with free parking

Depending on your date of travel and the number of you travelling, there are around 8 – 10 hotels at or near Luton airport that can be booked with free parking.

Of these hotels, most of them have parking offsite. The other thing to note is that only 5 of them are within walking distance of the airport and only a couple have family rooms.

We’ve listed the hotels in order of distance to the airport, starting with the closest. Note that prices will change depending on your travel date.

There are also different parking packages you can choose (based on the car park you choose) and each is priced differently.

Holiday Inn Express Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 0.25 km

Parking: At Airparks or Shortrun carpark

Family rooms: Yes

The Holiday Inn Express is the closest of all the airports and is actually on the airport grounds. It is a no-frills 3-star hotel, but is one of the cheaper ones and their rate includes breakfast.

Holiday Inn Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 0.65 km

Parking: At Airparks or Shortrun carpark

Family rooms: Yes

The Holiday Inn is similar to the Holiday Inn Express, as you might imagine. Some people wonder what the difference is between Holiday Inn Express and Holiday Inn.

The main difference is that the Holiday Inn has more facilities. It has an on-site restaurant (where the kids eat free) and a fitness centre.

Ibis Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 0.65 km

Parking: At Airparks or Shortrun carpark

Family rooms: No

The Ibis is just a few metres from the Holiday Inn Express and right next door to the Holiday Inn.

It’s usually the cheapest of the airport hotels. It’s a no-frills 3 star budget hotel. Breakfast is available at an additional cost.

Ibis Budget Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 0.65 km

Parking: At Airparks or Shortrun carpark

Family rooms: No

It’s a no-frills 3 star budget hotel. Breakfast is available at an additional cost. Shuttle to airport or a 15-minute walk.

It’s right next door to the Courtyard by Marriott hotel and is just about walkable distance to the airport terminal if you don’t have lots of luggage or small children.

Courtyard by Marriott Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 1 km

Parking: At Airparks or Shortrun carpark

The Courtyard by Marriott at Luton airport is one of the higher-end hotels near the airport. There is no shuttle bus to the Courtyard hotel from the carparks but you can catch the shuttle bus to the Holiday Inn Express next door and walk.

There is also no shuttle bus to the airport so you might want to take a taxi which costs about £7, although it is still walkable if you don’t have a lot of luggage or small kids.

Hilton Luton Airport

Distance to airport: 4 km

Parking: Onsite (see note below)

Family rooms: Yes

The great thing about the Hilton Garden Inn Luton is that parking is onsite and a taxi shuttle is included in the cost of the package. This option may not show on the Holiday Extras website.

If it doesn’t, you can call them on 0800 458 8454 to book. It usually shows on the Airparks website.

EasyHotel

Distance to airport: 4.5 km

Parking: Airparks or Shortrun parking

Family rooms: No

The Easy Hotel is another no-frills budget hotel closer to the centre of Luton town.

Aubrey Park Hotel

Distance to airport: 10.5 km

Parking: Onsite (although you may prefer to park in the Airparks carparks)

Family rooms: No

The Aubrey Park hotel is a little way away, but it is the nicest of all of the hotels. Staying here will make it feel more like your holiday has already started. It is one of the most expensive ones, however, and there is an additional taxi to factor in which is around £15 each way.

We need to point out here that at peak times, traffic can build up quickly and this 15-minute journey can easily turn into 30 minutes or longer.

This hotel is also a great choice if you are looking for family hotels near Harry Potter World.

Holiday Inn Junction 9 on M1

Distance to airport: 10 km

Parking: Onsite (although you may prefer to park in the Airparks carparks)

Family rooms: Yes

It’s a quick hop up the M1 to Junction 10 for the airport turn off. Again, traffic may be congested in peak times. There is no shuttle bus so this would involve a taxi transfer at an extra cost unless you preferred to park in one of the Airparks car parks.

Luton airport map of hotels with free parking

Luton Airport Drop Off Top Tip

Be aware that you can no longer drive to the airport terminal to drop off your passenger. If you come within 250 m of the terminal (just about where the Holiday Inn Express is located), you will incur a minimum £4 fee (and £1 for every minute thereafter).

There is no way to just drop and run with the new road layout and multiple cameras.

For free drop off, park in the mid term car park for up to 15 minutes for free and your passenger can take the shuttle bus.