A good while ago I reviewed the Hilton at Gatwick Airport – you can read it here.
A recent trip required me to stay at the airport for an early morning flight. The Hilton used to be hugely expensive, but there is so much competition there now that prices have come down a lot. A prepaid stay, in the recent sale, was around £70.
The hotel is a reasonable walk, via lifts, from the main terminal. If you come from the train station you need to enter the terminal and then look for the signs to the hotel,
There is a moving pavement on the way to the car parks.
Cross the road and enter the car park
Turn left and get in to the lift, going down one level to the hotel’s walk way.
There is another long walkway until you get to the entrance of the hotel proper:
Navigating the seats around the large Costa coffee shop near the entrance you come to the central area, which has a bar, reception, concierge desks and well as access to one of the restaurants.
Check-in was quick and as an HHonors Diamond they gave me an upgrade to an Executive Room. (In fact by checking in online I knew that they had given me a room in 74XX range. These are rooms in the new part of the hotel, and much nicer.
Going up to the 4th floor, you walk past the Executive Lounge on the way to the new block of rooms.
This is the point where the two parts of the hotel join:
The new corridors are much brighter and lighter than the old part of the hotel.
The rooms are unchanged from my last visit. They are pretty comfortable and there is no noise from the airport because of good insulation. Extra pillows were provided on request and there was a bathrobe in the wardrobe. No in-room amenity was provided but there were two bottles of water.
There is a decent desk and WiFi was fast – and free for Gold and Diamond HHonors members. Tea and Coffee making needs were provided as you can see. There were plug sockets for various plug types.
The spacious bathroom features both a bath and a shower. The bath is pretty narrow and so not good to lounge in for any length of time.
The Executive Lounge offers snacks in the evenings and breakfast (with some warm items) in the morning. There are plenty of seats available and the lounge was never full when I was there:
Red and White wine, as well as spirits were available for free pour in the evenings.
A pretty good nights sleep resulted from a couple of glasses of wine in the lounge.
Summary – a good hotel in a reasonable location and which can be had for a good price at weekends especially.
I agree with your review, I stay here quite often and like the hotel. In terms of getting to the hotel. In your fourth picture, if you cross the road, enter the car park, go down the little ramp to your left and then turn right and walk through the car park, at the end on the right is a door which brings you into he walkway to the Hilton. Only saves a minute but avoids the wait for a lift.