Our Premier choice from now on

A little while ago, I wrote a piece on airport hotels. As far as I knew at that point, the only hotels at Gatwick where you could walk from your room to the airport itself were the Hilton and the Sofitel. If you look on any of the airport parking/hotel websites (we always use Holiday Extras), you'll see there is an abundance of hotels offering airport parking packages. The problem with these hotels is that they're all five to ten minutes away at least, and you need to get a shuttle bus to take you to the airport in the morning. This is a major problem if you have a particularly early flight, as most shuttles don't start until 4am at the earliest. That aside, the last thing you want to do when you've got two kids, four cases and eyebags the size of hand luggage from being up so early is try and squeeze everyone and everything onto a tiny, packed minibus. Those twenty minutes or so would be far better spent fast asleep than rushing, waiting around, hefting cases and trying to balance on the journey to the airport. Hence we've always opted for the on-site hotels for pure convenience. There are two main problems with the Hilton and the Sofitel, though. The first is the extortionate price. The second is fitting us all in the one room. We splashed out on a family room at the Hilton last time, which was lovely (see Airport hotel - heaven or hell?) but really expensive. Our usual option saw us sneaking one child in and squishing them into our bed with us - not a great recipe for a good night's sleep for anyone. The other option would be adjoining rooms - even more extortionate. Now I'm pretty tight with money when it comes to anything except holidays, but I still think it's worth spending out to make the start of your holiday smooth rather than stressful. However, it's hard to get the thought out of the back of my mind that the money we've just spent on convenience could have got us several meals out, with ice creams to boot. So imagine how excited I was when, on our way back from the airport in October, I noticed a Premier Inn. How long had it been there? I'd never noticed it before, but there it was, standing tall and proud, just next to the North Terminal. It looked like an easy walk from there to the airport itself - not under cover, maybe, but that was a minor issue. So, next time we were due to head to Gatwick, after balking at the usual prices of the Hilton and Sofitel, I decided to check out the Premier Inn - best decision ever. It was around half the price of what we usually paid (and that's forgetting the extra expense of a family room at the Hilton), and we managed to get a valet parking deal included that meant we only had to walk to the on-airport short-stay car park, rather than the usual shuttle bus to one of the long-stay parking areas. As with all Premier Inns, the room slept four, so we didn't have to worry about sneaking in a child, or everyone squishing into one bed. It was hard to find when we got there - we came out of the car park and had no idea which way to go. Unfortunately, we chose the wrong direction and walked for a fair old way before deciding to turn back. Once we'd found it, however, it really was only a very short walk between the hotel and the airport or car park, and it's probably no further away than either the Hilton or the Sofitel. The rooms themselves were typical Premier Inn - not quite as 'posh' as the H or S, but clean and comfortable, with everything you need. The check-in was a little odd, as it was done through a computer, but it was pretty straightforward - it simply printed your keys out for you. I can't comment on the food - the restaurant was packed in the evening, but it was easy enough just to walk into the airport and eat there instead. So, all in all, it seems like a bit of a no-brainer - all of the convenience for half the price. It will be Premier Inn all the way for us now - I just wish I'd noticed it sooner!