My best recent trip to London, I landed at 6am. Nobody at the airport. Drive into the city, no traffic. Got to my hotel The Other House in South Kensington, obviously too early to check in but they have a basement members club / gym / spa where I could take a shower, change clothes etc. Freshened up, went out, had fish and chips, did some shopping, came back and could check in. 100% the way to go.
I think a lot of people's enjoyment of a trip comes down to the "onboarding" experience. If you have a shit arrivals experience it takes a while for your stress level to go down, to start enjoying the trip again.