Gatwick - evening before flight?

[cat]

We are flying VA so will do the twilight check in but looking at the airport info there doesn’t appear to be that many places to eat and they close pretty early.

We are staying at the Hampton Inn at the Airport and have meet and greet parking booked so will lose the car once we arrive.

Any suggestions on what to do?

We could arrive a bit early and go somewhere local first for something to eat (other than McDs), anything close by?

Looking at the airport map, is Giraffe the best onsite option if we decide to check in and then eat?

Trying not to spend a fortune, as that’s less spending money for the proper bit of the holiday

[Scaramouche]

We are in giraffe now

To be honest we think it’s the best place round here really. We went to Nando’s for lunch - thanks to a drama with OH we had to go into Crawley. It’s only 10 minutes away and there’s a Nando’s, TGI Fridays, Frankie and Bennys, Bella Italia and Pizza Hut by the cineworld.

We had planned to eat dinner in Giraffe as we did previously but after our Nando’s lunch, we’re just having drinks and dessert now!

[Andybear]

When I was there in September I had dinner in Giraffe in the south terminal - it was yummy

[disney332]

3 options at the Hilton South

Giraffe South

Weatherspoons South

Nicholas Culpepper North

3 Options at the Sofitel North

Premier Inn North

Hampton by Hilton North

Limited but ample choice

Disney332

[tspill]

Thyme at the Premier Inn North is pretty good.

[Mr Tom Morrow]

Originally Posted by tspill

Thyme at the Premier Inn North is pretty good.

See more...

Exactly. Very good choices and quite reasonable.

[DisneyDaffodil]

We had the two course meal deal at Thyme at the Premier Inn, which was tasty and excellent value. Great choice of meals, I had the sea bass and DD had the Katsu chicken curry plus we had starters and a drink each all for around £26, this also included a buffet breakfast. It was very busy when we went and I had booked a few days before when we completed online check in for our room, so it may be worth making a reservation

[Hooray4Disney]

We had this dilemma this year. By the time we had done twilight check in and then the hotel, at the Hampton Inn, we arrived at Giraffe at 9.02pm. They refused to seat us as it was gone 9.00pm ...
So, we ate at Wetherspoons ... I was not overly keen at this decision. However, the boys picked this option instead and I have to say, that I was pleasantly surprised. It was quite good and very reasonably priced. Good service and the food was fine.

[Lisbon]

We have also eaten in The Premiere Inn and it was good but if you have a car Crawley is very close with lots of options th eat
Rob

[Kasalic]

We are staying at the Premier Inn North on 2nd January when we go. We are leaving straight from work at 3:30pm, and have parking arranged at Purple Parking. We normally use one of the nearby hotel/parking deals through Holiday Extra's, but none of these were significantly cheaper and the option of dropping bags at Twilight check-in and straight to Hotel appealed. The OH is now panicking because she has realised she will not be able to take make up and hair straighteners on carry on luggage.

I haven't reserved a table for the evening meal, as I figured we'd be able to grab something from the airport if they were too busy.