My Stay at the Yotel in Gatwick Airport, London, England

Imagine having a 24 hour transit in Gatwick Airport and wondering what to do. Well, actually, this is the type of thing I should have been doing for years. Relaxing. Here at the Yotel in Gatwick Airport in 2015, was the first ever time for me to stay in an airport hotel.

In 2015, I have visited the four main airports in London in England (Luton, Stansted, Heathrow and Gatwick), but I normally just get buses, trains or tubes out to them, fly in and out and that’s it. I had a stop over in Gatwick recently and decided for the first time ever to actually stay overnight in a hotel airport! The Yotel at Gatwick exceeds all expectations as it is a modern, cosy, clean state of the art compact hotel specially designed for travellers to get some rest in between flights. The specially designed cabins are where luxury meets practicality.

As well as the relaxed nature of the Yotel and the fact that it is coloured a soothing purple, here are some of my favourite things about my stay here.

1.Ideal Location
Straight off my flight, I found the Yotel immediately in the South Terminal in Gatwick. It’s simply a perfect location for a transit experience. Yes, it’s inside the airport and there are shops, cafes, bars, ATMs and tourist information all within a 2 minute walk.

2.Cosy and Compact
As you can tell from the photos, the Yotel is very compact. Each room is like a cosy pod, well designed to maximise space. Making sure your compact room has everything you need for a short stay.

3.The Reclining Bed
Quirky features like this are hard to beat for the traveller. A bed which is not only comfy but reclines so it can become a seat as well as a bed. Just press the button!

4.Local Pub
Gatwick is a 24 hour airport with flights coming and going from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and the Americas. This means the terminal has a few bars, restaurants and cafes. To my surprise, I had a “local pub” for the night, 2 minutes walk from my room.

I headed to the JD Wetherspoons pub called The Beehive for an English Christmas Ale. The pub has well priced meals and also free WiFi.

5.Free WiFi
When I got to my room, I turned on the lights, lay in the bed with the TV on and relaxed with a cup of coffee. Then it was WiFi time and it’s fast and secure here. You have a desk which folds up and a chair. The Yotel is impeccably designed to suit modern travellers, and well…bloggers and writers.

6.Free Tea and Coffee 24/7
As a bonus and to help you relax and recharge, free tea and coffee is provided 24/7.

7.Onward flights
The advantage as well is of course that you won’t miss your flight or need to rush to the airport, as you are already in it. Realistically you could check into your flight and get your luggage label and boarding pass and still have 2 hours 59 minutes before the flight leaves, so could return to your room. Amazing idea, but just make sure not to get too cosy.

Overall, if you are transiting in Gatwick in London for a day or two, the Yotel is just perfect. You can even go into London or Crawley and back without having to cart your luggage around. I spent an afternoon in Crawley, which is only £2.20 to get to on the local bus, which takes around 15-20 minutes.

Yotel is a modern chain of hotels and they also have hotels in New York, Heathrow and Amsterdam Schipol. So I look forward to another stay sometime in one of the other venues.

Here is a video I made on my visit to the Yotel in Gatwick Airport in London, England. I stayed in room 9 and I loved it: