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Review: the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport hotel

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This is my review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport hotel.

Rob had sent me to Bordeaux to review the InterContinental Bordeaux – Le Grand Hotel. As I had an early morning flight, the logical conclusion was for me to have a look at the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport the night before.

Hampton Gatwick

It’s so easy to find that I had problems finding it. Let me explain.

I took the train from central London to Gatwick’s south terminal and then the transit to the north terminal. I couldn’t see any signs for the Hampton by Hilton and somehow ended up in the departure area (and decided to have my flight ticket printed as BA was having issues with their app).

When I went back down, I finally saw signs (in between a lot of easyJet orange) pointing towards the end of the easyJet check-in. The hotel website could have simply said ‘follow the orange’.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

Check-in was quick and simple and the staff were friendly.

The room had everything you need when spending just a few hours awake in a hotel:

A bathroom with shower. Toiletries were limited to shampoo, conditioner, shower gel and soap.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

A window facing construction works.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

A kettle and instant coffee – oh how I love instant coffee …..

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

A decent sized TV.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

A desk – I bought a new small laptop for travel reasons so the size was ok.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

And most importantly a comfortable bed.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

The 2 hours I was awake, I spent at the bar.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

I really wanted to eat a salad but ‘unfortunately’ I ordered food after 10pm, was therefore too late for the healthy option and my dinner looked like this:

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

I had to get up at 5:30am – way too early for me to eat breakfast. But did have a look at the breakfast room which looked ok. The red plastic trays however were bothering me a bit …..

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

Continental breakfast is being served from 4am. After 6am you can get proper English breakfast which, judging by the number of serving containers, should not have left you hungry.  Breakfast is FREE at Hampton by Hilton hotels which is a major selling point.

review of the Hampton by Hilton London Gatwick Airport

There was no time for that though.  I decided to have a bite in the ‘BA alternative’ No 1 Traveller lounge instead …. not my greatest idea ever as you will see.

My verdict on the Hampton Gatwick Airport hotel

As a Hilton HHonors redemption you are looking at 30,000 points per night.  Based on Rob’s valuation of 0.3p per point, this is not a bad place to spend them.  A room is typically £100 midweek and £90 at the weekend.

The Hampton by Hilton Gatwick Airport hotel did its job.  It was new, it was clean, the room was an acceptable size and, most importantly, it was an easy walk to and from the north terminal.  I didn’t want to be messing around with shuttle buses at 5.30am and with the Hampton it wasn’t necessary. Job done.

You can read our full series of London airport hotel reviews here.

You can find out more about the hotel, and book, on this page of the Hilton website.

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Category

Airport Hotel Reviews (London), Hilton Honors

Comments (49)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Anon says:
    19 Mar19 March 08:48

    Used it for a stay prior to Virgin Upper Class to MCO in Nov, Thought it was pretty decent too, but would prefer exec lounge access over at the Hilton if I was arriving for late afternoon or early eve…

  • James says:
    19 Mar19 March 09:01

    Morning

    I have lots of Hilton IHG and club Carlson hotel points if I want to jump on a plane next week somewhere with a direct flight and use some to lay by a hotel with a good pool and facilities where would people recommended ?

    • pauldb says:
      19 Mar19 March 14:47

      Are you talking short haul: most of the Med, Canaries, Marrakech looks mixed next week. Maybe Antalya or all the way to Sharm? If longhaul I guess Dubai/Abu Dhabi or Muscat for somewhere a little more unusual.

  • Fenny says:
    19 Mar19 March 09:06

    I stayed there 2 years ago. Apparently, I paid £67.15 on an advance rate. Arrived about 5.30 (just in time to watch the end of extra time in the Cup Final), checked in to the hotel, checked my luggage in for my flight the next morning and had an excellent night’s sleep, good breakfast and leisurely stroll to my flight the next day.

  • dicksbits says:
    19 Mar19 March 09:08

    I used it last April and thought it somewhere between a Travelodge and a Premier Inn, with a tiny bit more style. I didn’t like the sliding door on the bathroom. The slightest movement and ran on it’s rails the full length with a THUD. Not what you want to do in the middle of the night and waken your partner. I wasn’t enamoured enough to stay there again unless the price is right. Since then it hasn’t been. I paid £85.

  • Ian says:
    19 Mar19 March 09:11

    Disagree with part of the report. Not sure burning 30,000 points here is good.

    Not worth it for the price charged.

    Would need to be £150+ before it became good, especially as you need to take into account the lost earning potential as well.

    I would only use points at Corby or Newport for Hamptons in the UK.

    Best option would be points + money and ensure you charge something to the room.

    • Chris says:
      19 Mar19 March 10:17

      You don’t get points on incidentals at Hampton unfortunately IIRC.

      • Raffles says:
        19 Mar19 March 10:37

        Was wondering why I hadn’t received any points for that pizza!

        • Ian says:
          19 Mar19 March 12:58

          No – but you will get Diamond bonuses

          Well – I always have.

          Maybe I was lucky.

  • mark2 says:
    19 Mar19 March 09:49

    OT but Hilton
    I am Hilton Diamond until 03/17.
    If I do a Gold Challenge this year will that make me Gold until 03/18 in the panel’s experience please? Also if I stay three nights then my wife books one night then I book another night is that two stays for me or one?

    • Brian says:
      19 Mar19 March 10:14

      I can’t imagine that Hilton would offer a Gold Challenge to somebody who is already Diamond! But you can always try. But why not wait until 3/17 and then do it? You’d probably get the status till 2019.

    • Guesswho2000 says:
      19 Mar19 March 14:07

      Yes, I’d expect so. In my experience the “gold challenge” (assuming you’re referring to one of those offers where you sign up online, 3/4 stays in 90 days=gold) will work while you’re a gold.

      As for waiting until 3/17 (actually, 4/17) to do it – yes, you’d get Gold until 3/19 (probably), but those stays would be at whatever level you drop to in the meantime, so whether that’s worth it will need considering (in a Hampton, probably, in a DT, Hilton, WA or Conrad, I’d prefer to do the stays with Gold/Diamond status).

      • mark2 says:
        19 Mar19 March 16:54

        Thanks guys; I have three stays booked in September so will probably give it a try.

  • Alan says:
    19 Mar19 March 10:05

    Nice review – shame that, as an airport hotel, they didn’t start serving breakfast earlier though. Some airport properties offer a ‘grab bag’ breakfast for early departures which can be quite good – in fact in the USA many Hampton properties offer them as a standard alternative, even non-airport ones.

    • Raffles says:
      19 Mar19 March 10:37

      Hampton does start fairly early – the continental stuff is early, it is only the cooked breakfast that doesn’t appear until 6am.

  • What's the Point says:
    19 Mar19 March 10:05

    By warned – if you are parking in the hotel car park for one night (no parking package deal) its an eye watering £20!

    • Gavin says:
      19 Mar19 March 11:02

      Double the cost of Holiday Inn!

      • Rob says:
        19 Mar19 March 11:15

        Frankly, I’d pay the extra for the free breakfast and the ability to walk straight into the terminal. Not been in the HI so cannot comment on quality comparison.

    • Ian says:
      19 Mar19 March 12:59

      Quite cheap compared to some hotels in the USA!

      • Kipto says:
        19 Mar19 March 21:00

        Exactly. Looking at some hotels for my upcoming trip to California. $50 for continental breakfast for one person ! Needless to say won’t be partaking. and don’t get me started on ” resort fees”

    • pauldb says:
      19 Mar19 March 14:29

      I’m trying to work out under what circumstances you’d park at an airport hotel for 1 night? Certainly they’d be a better suited option available with very little hassle.

      • signol says:
        19 Mar19 March 20:39

        I have before, when working nearby. Our Dorking office doesn’t have many nice hotels nearby, so the Hilton it was.

    • Doodles says:
      19 Mar19 March 22:51

      Overnight parking is now £40.

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