Courtyard London Gatwick Airport

Nothing could spoil our mood, staying here the night before a 10 day vacation in Italy. But we were not too impressed by our time at this hotel and here is why.
The Room: The bed wasn’t comfortable so we had a bad nights sleep, somewhat defeating the point of spending a night at an airport hotel. We had a disabled shower room too which meant the whole room ends up wet adding an extra hazard to late night evacuations. When we commented on this we were told no offence was meant, which seemed an odd response. I also object to the large bottle of water in the room that you have to specifically tell them you didn’t drink if you don’t want it added to your bill.
The Service
We decided to get room service. After several minutes of no answer we decided to call the front desk instead. We had to call them a couple of times before they picked up and put us through to room service… which then turned out to add 6 pounds to deliver to the room so we decided to just go downstairs where it turned out the restaurant was full. So we ate at the bar. which had no decent beers at all, grumble grumble. At least the reception amused us when they asked how our stay was an when the response was ‘very mediocre’ they thanked us.
Wouldn’t recommend it or stay again.
Oh and there is no mobile signal in the hotel… across two networks! Not saying that is their fault (although I bet they profit by getting more paid Wi-​fi customers as a result) but it is worth knowing!

On our way out of town, we decided to stay at a hotel near the airport. This Marriott was the chosen one, as it’s cheaper than the Hilton, but still within walking distance of the terminal. The convenience helps, as does the A/​C available in the room.
To get from the terminal to the hotel, you have a couple options. First option is to take the shuttle. Originally, I was under the impression that this was free, but be warned, it is not. £3 per person for the ride is the going rate, which I find pretty steep. The second option is to walk. There are signs once you get outside that point the way. It takes about 10 minutes to walk, and it’s a pretty flat walk for the most part, but as another Unilocaler mentioned, there are a lot of sidewalk bumps that are quite rough on the suitcase.
Once in the hotel, I checked in with relative ease. The attendant was friendly, and that is always a good thing. They asked for a credit card to be put on file for incidentals. They apparently charge £50 to it, and «reimburse» you later. You can tell them that you wish not to participate and not be able to charge anything to the room. I did this, and I had to sign a paper, but that’s well worth it to me. It was a bit difficult to figure out where to go to access the rooms. There is a tiny sign, but that was only found after I went in every other direction multiple times. If you’re standing with your back to the entrance, go right and you’ll find the elevator bank.
I found our room, and noticed the shower looked a little unique. It was a handicapped bathroom, which means that everything is flat, there’s a curtain, but the entire room was filled with water when showering. I left the mat in the corner of the room, but that was completely soaked when I was done. It had to have been in the top 5 worst shower experiences. Cell reception is nonexistent from the room unless you’re right by the window, and even then, it’s VERY shoddy. Wi-​Fi isn’t free, and another Unilocaler said that it doesn’t work well at all. I believe that this is another way that the hotel is ripping off their guests. There’s a bottle of water in the room, with a tag on it that says you’ll be charged £3.50 for it unless you let them know you didn’t drink it. Cheeky, much?
Good food is going to be hard to find. The options in the airport are minimal at best. There is a restaurant at the Marriott, but it’s expensive and lacking selection. However, they do offer a daily soup and it’s always vegetarian, which appeals to me. I did pick up items for our breakfast at the M&S at the station, which was what I should have done for our dinner, but didn’t think of it. We went down to the restaurant to have some dinner, and they were fully booked, so we were told we could eat in the bar area, but we decided we’d rather get room service. We went upstairs, and I tried to contact the room service number three times without an answer. I called the front desk and they put me in touch with someone that could take my order. I placed it, and the total should have been £18.50, but he told me it would be £24.50. Apparently they charge £6 charge for room service. Wow. I cancelled the order, and we went downstairs, where we used that £6 for beer instead. We ordered a pizza with red onion (£12), onion rings (£3) and jenga chips (£3.50). Everything was okay. The jenga chips were the best thing we had… What are they? Chips that are shaped like the game pieces they are named after.
I asked at check-​out why we were put into a handicapped room, and the desk attendant apologised, and told me that they didn’t mean offense by putting us in there (which I found funny). She mentioned that we had to request a typical bath in order to get one. Never have I ever heard that. Bizarre. Since we noticed the water note, we felt obligated to stand in a line for 10 minutes to ensure we didn’t get charged for the stupid thing. When asked how our stay was, I replied that it was «very mediocre». The agent didn’t seem to understand that this was absolutely not a compliment.
This hotel is taking advantage of so many things and really nickles and dimes it’s guests, which I find a bit repulsive. Keep your eyes open to avoid getting taken at this place.

It’s an airport hotel at the Gatwick’s South terminal. The foyer is dark. The rooms are cramped. Don’t expect much and you’ll be fine. However do not pay extra to get them to bring your car to the terminal after your holiday, if you have left the car with them. Maple Manor Parking took nearly an hour to get the car to us, which is not what you need after a long flight with two overtired children. However no apologies were forthcoming, just lies and belligerence. Awful.

The Courtyard Marriott is so close to Gatwick airport, you can walk there. There were terrific directional signs all the way to the hotel (a bit slow going with suitcases; those bumpy crosswalk edges are a bane to wheels)
Check in was quick, and the hotel is very clean and quiet. Our room was stylish and spacious, and the beds were very comfortable. Best of all, the lighting in the bathroom was bright and natural. The full breakfast is excellent.
Trying to take care of our travel needs was frustrating. There is no hotel concierge to help with airline check in. Internet costs 5GBP/​hr (that’s Cdn $ 8/​hr!) The connection is too weak to load even basic email, so you’re just wasting your money.
The hotel’s business centre charges the same internet fee and the signal is just as poor. You’re better off just going to the airport to check in. (Psst– bring your laptop; Gatwick offers 30 mins. of free wifi so check your email while you’re there!)
I would expect these inconveniences at lesser quality hotels, but not a Marriott.
Miscellaneous brickbats: the automatic ventilation was a bit loud and couldn’t be shut off. Our twin occupancy room had only one suitcase stand. Our room phone didn’t work. The hotel restaurant is expensive and was empty at 5pm. We actually walked back to the airport and had dinner there.
I’d stay elsewhere next time. Updating my family on my whereabouts and checking flight departure status are «musts» for me, so I’d rather pay a higher room rate for a wifi signal that actually works.

We stayed here for one night, after flying in from a holiday in Miami. We landed late and thought it would soften the blow of being back home.
The hotel is virtually next door to the south terminal at Gatwick. You can walk there with cases, but sections of the walk make you feel like it’s not really meant for pedestrians. The hotel is very modern, with a stunning, covered, central courtyard. The rooms open onto this. We checked in at 11pm. There was no welcome, no ‘how was your flight’, no suggestion of food. We freshened up in the very clean, neat, business-​like rooms, and went I search of food. This turned out to be a Twix, a Mars Bar, crisps and bottled water. It was all a bit anti-​climatic.
Wonderful nights sleep. Wonderful shower. Really good breakfast. Exactly what you want from an airport hotel. Check-​out was as frosty as check-​in though. Bill. Credit card. Done. No smiles and no goodbye. I would, however, stay again.

I have stayed at this hotel twice and I believe first time I stayed there, I was the first one to check in to that room because the hotel is brand new. On my 2^nd recent visit, I enjoyed the hotel, really nice layout, very friendly staff, decent breakfast and really great food/​drinks. Queen bedroom is pretty spacious with a lot of space for big suitcases, armoire, iron and ironboard. some of the cons are — internet wi-​fi is not free, it’s 12GBP a day or 5GBP/​hour and depending on the room, you may barely get signal; which is what happened to me and I had to work from bar/​restaurant area. Also, this place is not on the main road and signs are very small, easy to miss if you’re driving. I am looking forward to my trip next week again and staying at the same hotel.

A nice Marriott property on the periphery of the Gatwick airport. It’s not the cheapest hotel in the area, but it’s likely one of the best value.
My room was standard American-​style, with the large king-​size bed I requested (they offered me two doubles if I wanted) with a decent work area, a large flat screen TV, an armoire and a coffee/​tea service tray. The bathroom was nice with a pedestal sink and a large mirror. The room was very quiet and mostly very comfortable.
A couple of minor dings that take off some stars:
— the shuttle bus from the airport is not free. it’s £2.50 (about $ 4).
— I could not figure out the stupid thermostat — it kept trying to chill the room
— I’m not a bathtub person, so the large shower wasn’t a problem for me but it might be for others
— Like so many UK hotels, the Internet wi-​fi is not free. £12 for a day!
Would I stay here again? Possibly. You can’t beat the convenience even if you can beat the price.