Review: Hilton London Gatwick

There is a Hampton Inn by Hilton joined to the north terminal and I mean literally joined as opposed to Hilton south. The enterance is at the end of a row of checkin desks. Whilst no major benefits for diamond members (therefore I don’t use it much), it is quite new and clean. It’s certainly worth it for a short overnight stop.

" I also walked past the Costa Coffee in the lobby, which was closed, but which is a feature I generally appreciate." Having an actual coffee machine in the room is a feature I actually appreciate. Really fail for a hilton to not have them

I've stayed in 7441 (but more often 7447 and 7448) at the Hilton Gatwick probably at least a dozen times. Spent over 400 nights at that property over the years. Good memories!

How long of a walk is it to get from the North Terminal to this hotel? Trying to decide if I should stay here and walk, the Courtyard and take the shuttle, or the Hampton before a departure from the North Terminal.

Loving the trip so far Ben, thank you.
The Sofitel Gatwick is excellent in my experience - their club level rooms have been renovated and the Prestige Suites in particular are very well done and often reasonably priced. In my experience the club lounge itself, though small, offers excellent service without the scrum, and the position opposite the North Terminal but by the monorail makes access to both terminals very convenient. Service levels are a step up for me compared to the Hilton, so I’d recommend it when your passing through next.

Euro,

Nobody walks between the two terminals. There is a shuttle train that takes just a few minutes. This means that you can stay at the hotels at either terminal regardless of which terminal your flight uses.

This Hilton is a real PITA to walk to and from, as the article notes. At one point you are walking through a car park. Nasty.

I prefer the Premier Inn at the North terminal, which is almost always cheaper than the others. Or Bloc hotel for an early morning flight from the South terminal, as it is just a few feet from security

If that's a premium "executive" room I don't want to imagine what a regular, non-premium room is like in this hotel. I'm sorry, but the room, which admittedly is clean, looks like it was last decorated around 2002. The TV looks to be from about 2007 or 2008. The hallways -- wow -- maybe late 1990s? The bathroom, again very clean, looks like a hospital bathroom.

The Hampton is the better HHonors property at Gatwick. No lounge or anything (it is a Hampton...) but just a better quality hotel than the old tired Hilton.

Wasn't this hotel where one seemingly regular hotel room was used by US Airways to allow business class passengers to shower after arriving on a US flight? I remember a long walk to the hotel and the name (Hilton) rings a bell.

The Hilton Danube Waterfront in Vienna has a similar problem with their executive lounge. It's always full. Often with screaming kids. It's more like a crèche with a bar.

It is a schlep and you took the correct route. Never seen it that quiet even at stupid o’clock in the morning. Reception is a bit meh but the lobby bar/restaurant staff organised a complex drinks and meal order for a group of 20 of us very well and the British buffet breakfast provided enough heart attack on a plate to last me to dinner time after I returned for a second night before heading home. Standard rooms aren’t much different, btw, and in the same time zone as reception.

We Brits appreciate a kettle and tea, anon, and view US hotels’ coffee-only machines with the same disdain. When in Rome...

Regrettable about the executive club buffet zoo. This, sadly, seems to be a UK/European trait. I attend a lot of trade shows and, if there’s free grub, you are likely to be killed in the stampede. Disgusted, I have several times given up and gone and paid for something else myself, away from the mob, served and eaten with some civility.

Liking BA, fair review of an English hotel, eating a curry for dinner - we’ll Anglicize Lucky yet.

There's a M&S grocery with a pretty nice selection of prepared food to get food before the trek to the hotel and additional trek to the room. Just got drinks in the crowded lounge and brought them back to the room for a picnic.

Rico

Yep, my standard MO is to buy some sushi/sandwiches at M&S and a couple of bottles of wine. Cheaper than a cheese sandwich and a beer at the Hilton.

The Wetherspoons pub/restaurant in the South Terminal is good too if you want something hot.

@Lucky, maybe that purple carpet accent was a nod to Delta's "Passport Plum" uniforms. 🙂

Stayed here a few months ago and enjoyed it. Pretty decent, actually, for a rather inexpensive airport hotel.

I stayed there when I was a college student beginning my semester abroad. How long ago? Well, I flew British Caledonian (and saved the British Caledonian luggage tags!).

Good memories. The one obvious change: the room service menu is a LOT better than when I was there. 😉 Thanks for photographing it.

Wow if that’s an exec room then you would be better off at travel lodge And as for a lounge with free food and beer , brits will always cause a stampede.

The 1830 feeding of the vultures in the LGW Hilton exec lounge has been like that for many years & your description was spot on! It is possible to get quite a feed in there, maybe you need sharper elbows or to lose your spacial awareness - that seems to work well for many others.

I'm surprised with your extensive travels you weren't able to better appropriate food items 😉

I'd agree with what you've said about this place. Decent enough for the purpose you used it. While not as close to the terminal as the Hampton at North terminal, the Hampton suffers dreadful noise from the baggage handlers which is why I actively avoid it now.

While having an in-house coffee place is great in theory, I’m very much of the opinion Costa is the worst coffee chain in the U.K.

The only other hotel where I've experienced that sort of stampede was the Hilton at LAX. And the food, when I finally got to it, was pretty awful to boot!

As an American who likes a cup of tea, I really appreciate going to Europe where there's a kettle in my room rather than a nasty coffee machine that hasn't been cleaned in a million years that I'm expected to use to make tea. Who knows what's growing in there. I can see if a kettle is clean and, also, clean it out...

Yes spot on regarding the "feeding time at the zoo" in the lounge. Many is the time my partner and I have just gone to watch the frenzy! It's mainly senior citizens with razor blades inserted in their elbows. That said the Hilton is my go-to at LGW. There's not that much between it and the Sofitel in my view. I tried the Premier Inn once - never again. Oddly I quite like the bar at the Hilton and I don't feel I'm being quite so ripped off with the F&B there as at the Sofitel which really leaves you a bit marooned in the North Terminal.

the dinner seems underwhelming... the Naan bread is the usual packaged naan you get in TESCO...so much for Hilton

Great breakfast at the Hilton Gatwick South, also found the lounge a great place to relax and enjoy a few drinks and nibbled in the afternoon. Not sure on the room, we were upgraded but it needed an update in our opionion, can't beat the convenience of the location.