Tag Archives: Gatwick

Hampton by Hilton Hotel, Gatwick Airport North Terminal, England

04 Wednesday Jul 2018

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We stayed here in June to catch an early morning flight departing from the North Terminal. This was our first stay as we’ve previously stayed at the Hilton South Terminal. The Hampton North beats Hilton South hands down!

The Hampton entrance is directly from the North Terminal and you’re at the reception desk and room in minutes. Contrast this with the Hilton South, a long walk from the terminal and another long walk from reception to your room.

Check in was friendly and they were also able to print a document we emailed them without any issues nor cost. As Hilton Diamond, we were upgraded and also offered a choice of snacks from the snack bar.

The room was clean and functional and had a king-size bed.

The bathroom had a walk in shower.

The view from the room was interesting.

There isn’t an executive lounge, but the Hilton South lounge isn’t much to write home about.

My partner left early for her flight – the EasyJet check in is steps from the hotel entrance.

I had the decent buffet breakfast, which I think is free for all guests – I wasn’t asked for my room number. I wouldn’t be surprised if a few people waiting for their flight in the North Terminal sneaked in for a free breakfast! The Hilton South charges for breakfast unless you book a breakfast included rate or have Hilton Gold or Diamond status.

I’d booked a taxi to collect me from the hotel. There’s a short corridor that leads to the hotel car park and taxis can pick up there – 15 minutes free parking.

I’d definitely recommend this hotel if you are flying in/out of Gatwick North. In fact, I’d almost be tempted to choose it if I was flying in/out of Gatwick South as the walking distance is about the same.

Hampton by Hilton
Longbridge House North Terminal,
Horley, RH6 0PJ, United Kingdom

TEL: +44-1293-579999

http://hamptoninn3.hilton.com/en/hotels/united-kingdom/hampton-by-hilton-london-gatwick-airport-LONGNHX/index.html

Norwegian Air Shuttle, London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira return, Boeing 737-800

10 Friday Mar 2017

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We flew Norwegian to Funchal, Madeira on Saturday 25th February 2017 and returned Saturday 4th March.
LGW dep. 14:10 FNC arr. 17:45 Duration: 3h 35m
FNC dep. 18:30 LGW arr. 22:05 Duration: 3h 35m

This was part of a package that included half board in a superior sea-view room at the Vidamar Resort Hotel in Funchal and private transfers to and from the airport. The package was purchased almost a year ago in a sale for around £500 per person.

Seat selection was chargeable and by the time I looked, the front row seats had already been chosen. I went for row 25 D and F – an old trick where you hope that the airline won’t put someone in the middle seat – only works if the flight isn’t completely full. Charge was £7 per seat, per flight.

I registered for the Norwegian Reward program – this doesn’t offer status levels, just rewards, like free fast track or lounge access in exchange for points that you earn each time you fly. But as with any loyalty program, it doesn’t hurt to register.

There was no queue at check in and we were able to drop our checked bags quickly. I paid for fast track security at London Gatwick South Terminal – £5 per person. So we were quickly in the terminal and went to the No. 1 Lounge.

Boarding by seat row and both front and back. The plan worked and the middle seat was left empty.

What surprised me was the number of Portuguese families on the flight. We had small children and babies all around us. Contrast this with our previous Thomson Airways flight that was a sea of grey-haired English tourists. I guess that with Norwegian scheduled fares so low, many from Madeira are taking the opportunity to visit the UK. If you want to avoid crying babies, I’d choose Thomson!

There was no menu in the seat backs – this was provided a while after take off. Apparently the menu is flight dependent.

Here is the menu for the outbound flight:

The bottles of wine were quite small. The food was okay.

The Pilot announced that there was no Wi-Fi available as this was a brand-new aircraft and it hadn’t been fitted yet. There was free Wi-Fi on the return – it wasn’t that fast but useful for sending messages and checking news.

The overhead monitor showed various cartoons and TV shows, there was no headphone jack in the seat, so they shows had English subtitles.

The flight was about 40 minutes late. We could only disembark from the front and so it took some time. Funchal airport is small and we were quickly outside.

There was a line for check in for the return flight so we had maybe a 15 minute wait. Security was quiet and we were through quickly without fast track.

We could see the aircraft from the gate, but they insisted on using buses. Families were checked through first and put in a room to the left. Then everyone was allowed through on either left or right sides. When the bus arrived, both left and right doors were opened, so families gained no advantage at all.

The bus sat for 15 minutes and then took us to the aircraft. The doors opened and people got off. Then someone ran up to say things weren’t ready and the bus should go around again. Passengers back on. Bus drove around.

Boarding was by the front and rear stairs but without guidance – so some low-numbered row passengers were trying to fight their way all the way from the back to the front.

The flight was full, including the middle seat. We were again surrounded by small children and babies.

The food menu was different, but with some similarities. Drinks menu was the same.

The flight was about 30 minutes late – arriving 13.30pm. Gatwick passport control was quiet.

This wasn’t a bad return flight for the price and I’d certainly consider using Norwegian again on other routes.

No. 1 Lounge London Gatwick South Terminal

26 Sunday Feb 2017

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My American Express Gold Corporate Card offers free membership of Lounge Club. It’s similar to Priority Pass, where you can access various lounges and a fee is debited from the credit card associated with the account. American Express offer the first two visits for free. I’m still not sure if that means my first two visits, with a guest charged, or, first two charges – I’m hoping it is the latter.

I haven’t used the card before as I usually have status with the airline I’m flying with and use their lounge. This time we were flying from London Gatwick with the low-cost airline, Norwegian, as part of a package to the Portuguese Island of Madeira.

There are No.1 Lounges in both the North and South Terminal at Gatwick – we used the South Terminal. On arrival we were told that the lounge was full and likely to be so for the next hour – but we could pay £12.50 per person extra and use what they call club rooms which include champagne and better food. We said we’d think about it.

Having thought about it, we returned with the intention of paying for the club rooms, only to find that the regular lounge was now available. So if you’re told the lounge is full, simply walk out and back in five minutes later!

I wasn’t expecting much as most generic lounges usually have just soup, crisps and a small selection of drinks. I was amazed to find a manned bar and food menu. Just off the large lounge area, which included dining tables, there was a TV room and a quiet library type room – it was actually better than many airline lounges that I’ve visited. The toilets were too small for a lounge this size.

Here is the food menu:

And this is how the Lamb Hotpot looks:

Overall a really good lounge and well worth a visit if you’re flying from Gatwick.

 

Thomson Airlines – London Gatwick – Funchal, Madeira

30 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Thomson operate a one-class 737-800 on this route – flight time is about three and a half hours. It is possible to pre-book seats for a fee, but only the first row offers any value. All 32 rows are arranged as 3-3 so there’s no option for couples wanting to pay for a combined aisle and window configuration.

Outbound (row 28):

We used the ‘night-before’ check in – something that I think Virgin first invented and really useful. So in the morning we already had boarding passes. Gatwick security seems to have improved and we were through quite quickly.

Legroom was acceptable for a charter flight, seat width was a little tight.

All food and drinks were chargeable. Prior to trolley service, the flight attendants walked the aisle and asked if anyone wanted to order a hot panini. We ordered one.

The trolley service commenced but it was another hour before the panini arrived; by that time many passengers who had ordered the same were complaining.

There was a permanent line for the bathroom throughout the flight. The rear section had two bathrooms.

Upon (early) arrival, passengers were disembarked by the front and rear doors onto a bus. Passport control was quite fast as was baggage delivery.

Inbound (row 2):

Check in was a little slow, although there were five desks available. Security and passport control were reasonably fast. Only one cafe and one shop after passport control and no lounge evident.

A bus delivered passengers to the aircraft. Boarding was by the front and rear stairs.

Prior to departure, the crew walked through the cabin spraying insecticide. Passengers were assured that this was harmless. I’ve never seen this happen before, even when returning from Asia. I’m guessing that one spray won’t harm anyone, but I wonder what cumulative effect this has on the crew. Something for their union to consider. Still anything that kills bugs is a plus 🙂

All food and drinks were chargeable. This time there wasn’t a question about hot paninis and we didn’t ask for one after the outbound experience. We’d also purchased some really good quality sandwiches from the cafe just near the departure gate. As this was the return, I could see that many passengers were hoping to use their left-over Euros for on-board purchases. This was possible, but the smallest denomination accepted was a 1 Euro coin. I saw one person’s purchase converted to EUR6.03 and they had to pay 7 Euros. The exchange rate didn’t look to good either. We used sterling for drinks.

There was one bathroom at the front and this wasn’t very busy – not sure why the outbound rear bathrooms were so busy.

On arrival, passengers disembarked via the front door and an air bridge. I’d recommend assistance for elderly passengers as we walked over a kilometre to passport control.

Baggage arrived reasonably quickly.

Overall, not a bad experience – although my expectations weren’t high to begin with.

Hilton London Gatwick Airport – location, location, location

07 Tuesday Aug 2012

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We’ve stayed here a few times when flying the following day. The hotel is attached to the airport South Terminal, but is quite a walk from there. There used to be a direct tunnel between the terminal and hotel but we couldn’t find it this time – I think the terminal re-design means that tunnel has gone. We had to cross into the car park and then down one floor to get to the remainder of the tunnel.

I have a Hilton Gold Card and so check in has always been okay. I’ve seen queues for regular customers.
The hotel is huge and the best rooms are in an extension to the hotel. So it can take 10 minutes to walk from reception to your room. The executive rooms that I have stayed in have always been good quality. There was one time when a flight was cancelled until the next day and we were provided a room at the airlines expense. That room was pretty dingy and so I guess they save those for people bumped from flights.

The executive lounge, in common with most Hilton properties, offers free drinks and snack food. The food in this lounge was worse than other Hiltons I’ve stayed in. Breakfast in the Exec Lounge was a disappointing continental version whereas the Birmingham Hilton provides a full English.

The lobby bar service was, despite sitting at the bar itself, so slow that after 10 minutes we went to the bar downstairs. The lobby bar had three staff doing almost nothing and the bar downstairs had one guy doing a good job serving quite a number of customers. Drinks are expensive.

If you don’t have access to the lounge and don’t want to pay a fortune for breakfast, there is a McDonalds across the open car park where I guess you could get an inexpensive breakfast.

The hotel doesn’t include UK VAT in the prices shown on the Hilton website, so expect to pay 20% more.
If you only need to stay somewhere for a few hours then consider the Yotel in the South Terminal.

Yotel – London Gatwick – a great idea that works

25 Wednesday Jul 2012

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No bugs or insects found here 🙂

We booked this from 10am to 5pm on a Sunday where we were arriving from the USA early morning and flying to Prague in the evening. On arrival the receptionist was really friendly and helpful and we were given a key to pod 4.

The pods are perfectly designed with a bed that moves from an upright to flat position.

There is an en suite shower, toilet and washbasin and everything worked nicely.

There is a TV – although we slept most of the day. The free wi-fi worked nicely.

Free tea and coffee are available from reception and the afternoon receptionist was equally helpful and made a pretty good cappuccino.

The place seemed pretty empty and we weren’t disturbed by any noise from adjacent rooms. The walls seem quite thin and so I wonder what would happen if a noisy family were next door.

The only weird part is not having a view from the window to the outside world.

Yotel website.

There are also Yotels in London Heathrow Airport, Schipol Airport Amsterdam and New York City (not airport). If anyone has been there then feel free to leave a comment about your experience.