I'm not sure about the $H$ contractible part.
For the general question, have a look at these notes of Peter May's. Proposition 3.7 states that if $H$ has local cross-sections in $G$ then $p$ will be a principal $H$ bundle. According to Wikipedia this is also in Steenrod's book on fibre bundles. Wiki also has the following
The most general conditions under which the quotient map will admit local cross-sections are not known, although if $G$ is a Lie group and $H$ a closed subgroup (and thus a Lie subgroup by Cartan's theorem), then the quotient map is a fiber bundle. One example of this is the Hopf fibration, $S^3 \to S^2$ which is a fiber bundle over the sphere $S^2$ whose total space is $S^3$. From the perspective of Lie groups, $S^3$ can be identified with the special unitary group $SU(2)$. The abelian subgroup of diagonal matrices is isomorphic to the circle group $U(1)$, and the quotient $SU(2)/U(1)$ is diffeomorphic to the sphere.
More generally, if $G$ is any topological group and $H$ a closed subgroup which also happens to be a Lie group, then G → G/H is a fiber bundle.
There is no reference given for the second part. I suggest having a browse through Mimura and Toda - it is likely to be in there, although difficult to find.