I arrived at the Bloc Hotel around 2:30pm after my flight from Fort Lauderdale. Unlike most airport hotels, i.e. the Sofitel Heathrow, this hotel is actually in the terminal. After leaving luggage claim, I walked straight toward Marks and Spencer before taking a sharp right turn, at which point signs appeared for the hotel. I…
Continue reading: Review: Bloc Hotel Runway Suite London Gatwick
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OMG that view! I would be glued to it the whole time I stayed there. If they had that set up at LHR I would book a room even when I wasn't travelling!
Oh wow, that view is amazing! #avgeek
"The bed was top quality and I spelt very well". I think you mean 'slept'.
This used to be the old Norfolk House office block where we had our office from 2005-2010. The view is very familiar! Judging by the view, you had the corner suite on the top floor which used to be ACL's office. I spent many hours there negotiating for out-of-hour slot exemptions! Amazing to see how it has been transformed.
OMG you actually had real LIVE AIRPLANE PORN OUTSIDE YOUR WINDOW.
JEALOUS.
I WOULD NEVER LEAVE.
Daniel, as much as I like your TRs, I don't know how anyone could consider 200 quid a "good deal." Yes, it's a suite, with awesome views, and at an airport hotel (in London, no less). But, IMHO, I really don't see the value... Personally, I wouldn't spend more than £150, and even that's really pushing it.
I / we? This is like Frau Schlappig boozing by the bar "I" and dragging an escort to her room "we".
Well whatever tickles your man fancy...
Haha sorry - I decided to change it half way through writing. Will go through and make sure it's consistent 🙂
You consider 210 pounds a great "value"!?. LOL. I hope they are paying you for this review, otherwise that's absurd. I would consider that expensive in Central London, let lone at an airport.
I have mixed feelings on your description of £210 as an "incredible deal". On the one hand, the convenience is outstanding and, of course, the view is great. On the other hand, the room isn't particularly nicely furnished (there's a fine line between "minimalist" and "cheap", and they're straddling it), has some design issues (that pillar in the middle of the living room, and the purple you-cant-turn-them-off lights), not well appointed (not even a microwave or mini-fridge?), and from the sounds of it, amenity-free (no gym or anything like that.) I did just look at their (annoying) website, though, and it does list several dining options, so that's actually not bad (sorry, I've had food from M&S and it's nothing to write home about.)
I guess it comes down to a question of how much someone values the convenience - not having to leave the airport and deal with shuttle buses and the like (I gave a cab driver twenty-five quid once - thank the gods for expense accounts! - for what should have been a £5-6 ride from LHR to a nearby hotel because I was way too tired to deal with anything called a "Hotel Hoppa"), and thus increase your rest time. And, of course, there is the plane porn!
Considering the angle of the hotel is quite niche, I'd consider £210 more than reasonable. Especially for London (well, Sussex). Is £60 for that view for an evening too much, considering most of your basic airport offerings aren't far off £150 average?
I'd definitely pay that. And I would imagine this article will make for quite a nice advert. I never knew it existed and now it's a high priority to experience. I remember that very view from the old spectators gallery at Gatwick before such things were dissolved. That was when EasyJet had about two flights a day and Ryanair were operating a 737-200. Nostalgia.
I stayed here in a corner room with my airplane-mad 4 year old and we LOVED it. Such a unique experience to be sleeping above the apron: we watched the planes until they stopped around midnight and then again when they started at 6. We'll be back in January before a 6.30am flight to France.
The view & convenience are amazing.
The price is SHOCKING!
Check yourself into the Hilton, get yourself decent views of arrivals on short finals & save yourself £165 - plus be able to switch your lights on & off at your own free will 😉
PS: @Third Passport - eye spy with my little eye 😀
Not really true to say that the Sofitel Heathrow isn't in the terminal. It is immediately next to Terminal 5 and connected to it directly by a walkway very close to arrivals and departures.