We’ve booked in here a couple of time on route to foreign parts and although it’s not heavy on ambience it proved to be cheap (although not particularly cheerful) and extremely convenient for Gatwick airport. We paid around £80 for a night’s accommodation and breakfast with 15 nights parking thrown in for good measure. The first time we stayed there we were struck with the strong smell of curry as we entered the hotel lobby, but on this occasion we were heading straight off to the airport and returning for our overnight stay at the end of our holiday.
There was an air of slight inefficiency, probably caused by the fact that it is more normal to stay in the room before the holiday starts rather than returning at the end, but having sorted that out we were given clear directions to the off-site parking and a credit note to indicate that the parking was paid for. It’s around a ten-minute car ride to the parking lot and the real advantage of parking this way is that we’ll have secure parking close to the airport (a five minute bus ride from car park to the terminal).
All the bedrooms in this 27 bedded hotel are non-smoking and on our return in the early hours we were only too pleased to crash out in a comfortable but extremely compact bedroom. Getting into the hotel was an experience in itself as the door was firmly locked and no-one was on reception. We rang the doorbell and hammered on the door for about five minutes before a dishevelled and weary looking guy appeared at the door, unceremoniously gave us a key and then pointed us in the general direction of the room. No offer to assist us with luggage as we struggled our way down the corridor. Certainly no prizes here for customer relations. We woke surprisingly early, considering our lack of sleep and ate a hearty breakfast, surprisingly all in the price, before heading off home to Nottinghamshire.
Despite our lack of enthusiasm for the hotel we returned to in only four months later, prior to our second trip to India. This time we had a coffee in the lounge (uninspired and tasteless – and that’s both the coffee and the lounge) before heading off to Gatwick. This time we were only using the hotel facilities to gain cheap parking and as our return flight was early afternoon we had no intention of staying the night. Crazy that it’s cheaper to book three weeks parking through a hotel than direct with the car park!
I really wasn’t over-enamoured with the hotel and we certainly won’t rush back for an overnight stay. I don’t commend it to you, but for a base with cheap parking it’s got to be worth a shot!