Yotel

Perfect for travelers that land at a inconvenient time or have an early flight.
The rooms are small but when you’re just sleeping you doing need much room anyways. Beware the bathroom and bedroom are only separated by glass. So hopefully you’re really close with the other person, if there is one, or I’d book two separate rooms.

Friends and I have used Yotel on several occasions. For what I needed, a place to rest for a few hours layover or after a late arrival, its perfect & priced right. Single pods were comfortable, similar to a plush lower bunk bed with tv in the cubby with you. Wetbath, towels, linen and soap provided. Not travelling solo? They have similar options with twin bunkstyle beds and such. Great for those headed departing on first flights out and such.

For what this is, and for what I needed, it was perfect.
What this is a convenient place to rest your heard for a few hours before an early morning flight, or if you land at LGW at an unsociable hour; or worse still, an hour that you can’t get home at without paying an arm and a leg.
This is also a place that is suited to single travellers, in the small pods anyhow, that have limited luggage. I didn’t see the larger pods; but I can’t imagine they’re much bigger. Do not book a small pod for two people! Especially if you plan to use the toilet; it’s separated by glass only.
I liked the TV at the end of the bed. I also liked that it was pitch black inside, meaning a good sleep. I didn’t hear any noise from fellow travellers.
I especially liked rolling out of bed, literally, first into a great shower and then into the departures hall. It really was too easy.
I’ve got a couple of early morning flights in the future and will no doubt book myself in here again.

LOVE YOTEL!
I was handed a 35£ food voucher and a 12 hour layover!
I than began to look at places to go and stay for a few hours where I can watch TV, rest and possibly shower. I got called numerous hotels and got quoted as I was leaving I saw YOTEL! … It’s right inside the terminal! Went down the elevator and ended up at ‘Mission Control’ they offered me a coffee, tea of any basics you are after.
Awesome helpful staff looking at finding you a small pod that you sleep in. I am 6 foot 4 inches. Keep that in mind. I peeked my head into a room. Looked okay. The girl quoted me a price significantly cheaper than any surrounding hotel. £37 for 7 hours!
The room it’s self was interesting. It was literally a Pod. It has a bed… bunk style, a big TV, a table, toilet and shower! They have a great lighting system. Very calming. You don’t know what time it is. You can sleep at any time of the day.
I said I was tall earlier and I fit in the pod no problem. My girlfriend and I could both watch TV with out feeling uncomfortable.
I love the YOTEL I wish there were more locations. I left feeling so refreshed and cleaned up.

We stayed at the Yotel Gatwick after a late flight. Located in the south terminal this hotel is ideal for a quick stop over.
The check in was quick and simple. Our room was a premium cabin it was small as expected but that was fine for a few hours. Although it’s hard to find space for cases etc.
The bed folds out to fill the room. The room is comfortable and clean however some areas were a little grubby and the room smelled of smoke. The temperature was hard to get to a comfortable level.
I’m not sure I’d feel safe here if I was alone but I can’t put my finger on why I think maybe it feels a little isolated.
The bathroom is well designed and there’s a good hot shower.
It does what it says on the tin basically.

Not bad…
On one of the nights of my holiday, my sister and I were to arrive at London Gatwick Airport in the evening after midnight. We didn’t want to be travelling around the (could be dangerous) streets of London with all of our luggage, as we were two tiny defenseless girls, so we looked at what options we had at the airport.
Enter the Yotel. It’s basically a hotel but all of the rooms are v. compact and provide the bare essentials. We chose the standard size room (which can fit up to two people). One-​third of the room was occupied by a bed that was slightly wider than a normal twin, which was built into the wall and lofted (with a TV also built into the wall at the foot of the bed). Another third of the room was the bathroom area, which was just glass partitioning, shower, toilet, and drain (so be aware that whoever you are sharing the room with can see you naked in the shower or using the toilet!). The third separating the bed and the shower was just a «hallway» if you want to call it that, or better yet, just a strip of floorspace where you could toss your luggage.
The benefit of staying at a Yotel is that you can pay by the hour. We booked our room from 2:30 (yes, in the morning) until 7:30 since we wanted to spend a full day out and about doing fun touristy things. The cost for 5 hours stay was £44.50, which is much cheaper than it would be to pay for a hotel room. And had we booked a hotel room, we wouldn’t have gotten our money’s worth since check-​in is usually at 14:00 and checkout is usually at 11:00. It was a pretty perfect deal. It’s also a good place to take a nap in between layovers, if you need it (though keep in mind, they only have three locations: London Gatwick, London Heathrow, and Amsterdam Schiphol).
The horrible thing about our Yotel experience was that there was no hot water the night we stayed! We had to take cold showers (which were bearable only because it was summer time so the water wasn’t freezing). Their customer service is superb though, because even though we didn’t complain (we were too excited to be in Europe to whine about it) I received an email the following day that my credit card would be refunded 50% of what I’d already paid. Brilliant!

Yotel is a friendly sounding name and that may have been what inspired the team, which brought the conveyor belt sushi revolution to London with Yo! Sushi.
They’ve once again sought inspiration from Japan in bringing pod hotels to London.
I had an early morning flight from Gatwick and the depressing thought of dragging my weary body out of bed to drive to the airport at a far too early time of morning made me explore on-​site hotels. The Hilton, Sofitel and Marriott were all too expensive for a single traveller like me. Yotel, while not exactly cheap, was a much better option and they only charge you for the hours that you require rather than by the day.
I knew the rooms were small but I was starting to wonder exactly how small as I wandered around Gatwick South terminal looking for Yotel. There was no one at the information desk nor could I see any signs but I was eventually directed by a workman doing renovations. Better signage is definitely needed
A discrete lift takes you down a level from the main concourse and into a world of purple-​pink lighting. It’s very calming but everything is bathed in this rather peculiar hue.
I had pre-​paid on the easy-​to-​navigate website and was able to check myself in using one of the automatic machines. There is help at a 24 hour reception desk if necessary and it’s here that you can purchase food or borrow an alarm clock if you need to.
As warned, the room is compact — no room to swing even a mouse let alone a cat but it does contain everything you expect to find in a normal hotel room — TV, desk (foldaway), lovely monsoon shower. I didn’t have any luggage but I can imagine a large suitcase may get in the way especially if you put up the desk.
The bed is a funny arrangement — the one in my room was like the top bunk of a bunk bed but there’s no bottom bunk which was boxed off — I assume that the bottom bed is accessed from the bedroom next door.
There were lots of power points and wifi is free
It was nice to check into my room and then wander upstairs into the main airport concourse where there were food and drink options, some of which are open 24 hours. There’s a lot of building work going on at the moment and I’m promised from all the signage that an even better retail experience on the way.
I slept well in a comfortable bed and being already at the airport gave me some extra time in bed the next day.
So yes, I would use Yotel again in the future if I needed an overight sleep at the airport for an early flight the next morning.
I put on my thinking cap to come up with a few new business ideas for Simon Woodroffe to expand his Yo-​empire:
Yo-​Dough — bank
Yo-​Fro — froyo shop
Yo-​Bro — social networking site just for men

Rooms are small but they’re great if you have an early morning flight. I got a standard room, but I really didn’t like the fact that the bed was so high (maybe 3 feet off the ground) — which made it uncomfortable to use the restroom in the middle of the night. (Where’s the light switch? Now how do I get down from here?)
Very limited space for suitcases, and a tight combined shower/​toilet space. If you shower, the toilet seat is going to get wet. Heck, water might spill out into the rest of the cabin too.
I didn’t like it when I arrived two hours earlier than my reservation and was told I would have to pay more if I wanted to check in immediately. The fact is, if I had changed my arrival time to be two hours earlier — it would have been the same price! So I wandered around airport for two hours before I returned to the Yotel.
Despite its shortcomings, it is a good alternative for people who have an early morning flight out. Just make sure to set an alarm so you don’t miss your flight!
Oh yeah — and free WiFi till checkout … but make sure you have your reservation confirmation code with you — it’s your password!

Having an early departing flight from Gatwick and with the tube lines down thanks to good old TFL it was decided that I would a) have to stay and sleep on a seat at the airport or b) get an expensive taxi from east london to gatwick. with none of these being viable options and the fact that I wanted to actually have some sleep before my flight I decided to give Yotel a shot as I wanted to go for the most cheapest option and only really needed a bed.
Located inside terminal 4 meant I didn’t have to go too far in the morning. The hotel itself are tiny capsules/​cabins and are basic and clean. They serve food and drink to your room and you can check in at any time through the computer system outside the entrance. There are a few room options and all rooms come with flat tv screen, wifi and 24 hour cabin service. By memory the room charges are based on the amount of hours you stay with a minimum of 4 hours having had to be booked.
My only complaint about this is the noise and that you can hear whats going on each room beside you and when people walk through the hallway (which isn’t good if your a light sleeper with the intention of a nights rest).
Ideally I try not to book flights that depart so early but this is always an option!