I have an SQL database containing hotel information, some of which is the geocoded lat/lng generated by Googles geocoder.
I want to be able to select (directly using an SQL query) all the hotels within a certain range. This range will never be more than 50km so I dont need to go as detailed as alot of answers on here are suggesting (taking into account earth curvature and the fact its not a perfect sphere isnt an issue over the distances im searching).
Im thinking a simple Pythagorian formula would suffice, but I dont know what the latitude and longitude figures represent (and therefore how to convert to metres) and also ive read on a couple of 'simple' solutions to my problem that there are issues with their formulas and calculating distances between two locations either side of the meridian line (as I am based in London this will be a big issue for me!!)
Any help would be great, thankyou!
----Helpful Information-----
My database stores the geocoded data in the following format:
geo_lat: 51.5033630,
geo_lon; -0.1276250