Travelodge Gatwick Central, next to north terminal

[ChrisS]

The Travelodge Gatwick Central, formerly the Mercure Hotel, which is located right next to Gatwick North Terminal, is currently undergoing a full refurbishment and is supposed to be finished by December. Unfortunately at the moment there are problems if you look at the reviews on Trip Adviser - no, or limited channel, tv, not too clean, lumpy beds and noisy building work going on between 7.30am and 6pm. I did ring them today to ask when their refurbishment was due to be finished and could hear noisy works in the background. We are travelling on the 5th Jan and I think we will take the chance and book it tho as we have to be up very early for our 9.10am Delta flight from the North Terminal so any continued building works are not a concern for us. I think it will be worth staying at once the refurbishments are finished and hope it is available on their next £10 room deal. If not then £19 is a great price for a newly refurbished hotel.

For all those who travel to Gatwick, and stay overnight in a hotel without free shuttle, check out the excellent Metrobus public service. The Service 100 covers the majority of the well known hotels at a cost of £1.80 per journey (free, between 9am to 11pm, if you have a bus pass). The 100 picks up directly outside the Travelodge Central on Povey Cross Road and is at the North Terminal within a couple of minutes before moving onto the South terminal.

WARNING - the hotel shuttle bus apparently goes all over the place. We also looked into the Premier Inn at Lowfield Heath and Manor Royal (both serviced by the 100) and I was advised that the 5 minute 100 bus journey to these PI's using the hotel shuttle bus can become 50 minutes depending on the amount of hotels they call in at. I would guess the shuttle bus has a route 'just in case' there are pax waiting to be picked up. So, I strongly recommend the Metrobus instead especially as it stops right outside the PI's entrances.

Currently the newly built Premier Inn at Manor Royal is No 1 of 26 Crawley hotels - excellent reviews also worth reading at Trip Advisor.

[Guest]

We have one night booked here for September on the Travelodge £10 offer. I rang them to ask about transfers to North Terminal and was told that the bus stops right outside. I was also told that the building work is finished and it had only 'reopened' a week before (I called on June 9th).

We won't be able to report back on the bus as we are now using Parkatmyhouse and the park space owners are going to come and transfer us over to the North Terminal as part of the all inclusive parking cost However I shall make sure I report back on how we found the Travelodge after we return from our holiday!

Diane x

[SyR]

We're staying there next week. It's very cheap and we only plan to sleep there so the building work won't be a problem When we booked it warned that there was building work going on 7:30am and 6:30pm. We are doing the earlybird check in the night before so are considering walking to the airport. Otherwise we'll take a taxi.

[Guest]

I cant see how the public service bus can pick up directly outside the new Travelodge You have to walk through the Moat house entrance to get to the main road, then you would have to catch the bus at the other side of a VERY busy road.
The only buses ive seen come through the entrance are the shuttles that pick up from both Moat House and what used to be the Mercure. Im not sure if they are still sharing a shuttle now its Travelodge?

SyR, i wouldnt recommend walking. Its VERY close to the south terminal, but also an extremely busy road and im not sure there are paths all the way either... you could always jump the fence and be on the runway though, cut out all that security mumbo jumbo

[MarionG]

We are going to Kos in September with friends and my very lovely friend used some of her air miles to book us all an overnight stay at the Mercure hotel. She had a phone call about a month ago to say it had changed (obviously to the Travelodge) and they were changing us to the SOFITEL!

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by janny

I cant see how the public service bus can pick up directly outside the new Travelodge You have to walk through the Moat house entrance to get to the main road, then you would have to catch the bus at the other side of a VERY busy road.
The only buses ive seen come through the entrance are the shuttles that pick up from both Moat House and what used to be the Mercure. Im not sure if they are still sharing a shuttle now its Travelodge?

SyR, i wouldnt recommend walking. Its VERY close to the south terminal, but also an extremely busy road and im not sure there are paths all the way either... you could always jump the fence and be on the runway though, cut out all that security mumbo jumbo

See more...

Hi Janny,

You get the Metrobus 100 bus on Povey Cross Road. The Metrobus runs around the perimiter road, not up the A23. Take a peek on the Google map and put Povey Cross Road, Horley into the search bar. You can then zoom down with the orange man(!) to road level where you can see the Best Western Gatwick Moat House. The Travelodge is, apparently, in the same area and you can see it's just a stroll up to Povey Cross Road. There is still the shuttle bus option for those who prefer to be picked up at the door though. I only mentioned the Metrobus as an alternative due to the length of time it apparently takes on the shuttle bus as it seems it services a lot of hotels. It would be handy to know if the shuttle bus goes straight to the North terminal after picking up at The Moat House and Travelodge.

SyR - I agree with Janny, you will see on the Google map that walking to the airport is really not easy.

Diane - would really appreciate an update on the Travelodge after you have been. I tend to feel the same as most - it's cheap for a means to an end which is boarding that aircraft the following day! I rang the Travelodge, yesterday, 4th July, and they said they still had building work ongoing (I could hear it!) and would have until December. The lady said they are refurbishing one floor at a time. I did read somewhere that Travelodge have only just bought the building and refurbishment didn't start until June.

I just wanted to give folks the heads-up on continuing works on the Travelodge and a possible alternative to the shuttle.

[SyR]

I've already taken a thorough look at the route using google streetview. From the hotel to the North Terminal the route looks fairly easy with paths or wide grass verges next to the road. The only dodgy part is where the main road passes over a stream so there are railings next to the road. It's only about 900m walk from the hotel to the airport. It seems silly to take a taxi or bus for such a short journey, especially if the weather is nice and we have no luggage.

We are taking a taxi to the hotel so if it looks dodgy or it's raining then we'll take a bus or taxi instead. I assume the number 100 bus takes the 'back gate' into the airport over the little bridge? This seems like a much quicker route than the shuttles that go along the main road.

[jacksonbarry1]

Hi ya i stayed there last september its about 150 yds to terminal entrance a very easy walk 20ft wide grass verge for 90 yards 60 yards of pavement and 2 slip roads to cross.

[ChrisS]

Originally Posted by SyR

I've already taken a thorough look at the route using google streetview. From the hotel to the North Terminal the route looks fairly easy with paths or wide grass verges next to the road. The only dodgy part is where the main road passes over a stream so there are railings next to the road. It's only about 900m walk from the hotel to the airport. It seems silly to take a taxi or bus for such a short journey, especially if the weather is nice and we have no luggage.

We are taking a taxi to the hotel so if it looks dodgy or it's raining then we'll take a bus or taxi instead. I assume the number 100 bus takes the 'back gate' into the airport over the little bridge? This seems like a much quicker route than the shuttles that go along the main road.

See more...

Yes SyR - the 100 goes through the back gate as you say. I had the route for the 100 and begger me if I can't find it now - duh! I'm going to take a peek at the route you mention for walking out of interest - based on last winter there's no way I'm doing that walk on the 5th Jan at 5.30am. I want to check in early so we can enjoy a leisurely breakfast and relax in the No.1 lounge before our Delta flight... now, how to entertain myself with no seatback tv's on Delta's 767-300ER... knitting, crochet, reading, sleeping, mile high club... oh, choices, choices

[Guest]

Originally Posted by ChrisS

Hi Janny,

You get the Metrobus 100 bus on Povey Cross Road. The Metrobus runs around the perimiter road, not up the A23. Take a peek on the Google map and put Povey Cross Road, Horley into the search bar. You can then zoom down with the orange man(!) to road level where you can see the Best Western Gatwick Moat House. The Travelodge is, apparently, in the same area and you can see it's just a stroll up to Povey Cross Road. There is still the shuttle bus option for those who prefer to be picked up at the door though. I only mentioned the Metrobus as an alternative due to the length of time it apparently takes on the shuttle bus as it seems it services a lot of hotels. It would be handy to know if the shuttle bus goes straight to the North terminal after picking up at The Moat House and Travelodge.

See more...

LOL, i still cant get my head around that. Surely to go round the perimeter road you would still have to cross the main road to catch a bus back to the airport.
We have stopped at BWMH a few times so i know my bearings quite well. My thinking tells me the bus FROM the airport would drop outside the hotel, but the bus back would be across the road?

I dont know about now that its a Travelodge, but when it was the Mercure, and before that the Rennaisance, the shuttle bus only dropped and collected from there and the BWMH. 5 minutes or so to the North terminal, a few minutes more to the South.
HOWEVER, the buses can get extremely busy, so my advice would be to catch the one before the one you really want just in case!