Renaissance hotel, London Gatwick
 

Has anyone used this airport hotel? Is the restaurant any good? Rooms etc?

anyone?

Fiona,

Although I haven't stayed at this hotel, I thought I'd do a little digging for you. There's one review of this hotel on the Tripadvisor website and the reviewer liked it alot.

follow this link -

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...y_England.html

Susan

Susan
Thanks for going to all that bother!

We stayed there last December. The rooms were small and we had to take two but they were interconnecting.An advantage was the pool but having checked the opening times on the door of the leisure suite and gone to get our cozzies it then closed some hours early and before we could get in .They said that there were new hours and they hadn't bothered to change the times billed on the door!In fact I wondered if they've changed them by now.
The airport shuttle worked well early morning.

I had always stayed at the Gatwick Hilton on the night before my flight home , but last year the Hilton was booked up so I stayed at the Renaissance .
I have reservations to stay there again this year.
Check in was efficient. There is express check out.
The room had a mini fridge, in-room coffee/tea, and cable TV.
The bathroom was large with plenty of towels, hot water, and bath products.
I had dinner in the main restaurant ; I don't recall the menu, but I had no complaint with the food or the service.
The airport shuttle picks up at the Renaissance first and then at another nearby hotel. The cost of the shuttle last year was £ 1.

This hotel does not advertise it (and you can't book through starwood's site)--but they have 5 large "family rooms". You have to book by calling the hotel directly. We stayed there on 11/28/03. Room consisted of 2 rooms--1 with a large bed and the other with 2 singles. Perfect for our family of 4. Hotel is nice enough for us--as we were using it for a single night only--before heading out the next morning. Family rooms are on the Club Floor--which is non-smoking--which is great for non-smokers! Only bad thing was the poor water pressure in the shower (single bathroom was fine, but the shower, sink and toilet suffered from anemic pressure, at best). Paid 101GBP for room, which included breakfast for 2 (have to pay for your other 2 guests...kids are charged at 6.25GBP for breakfast). Ate dinner at the less formal cafe, which was very good. Young Indian waiter was very helpful with preparing "plain" pasta (off menu) for our picky kids. Indian Chicken Masala dish as surprisingly good for hotel cafe food. They also have a pool and sauna here...but didn't use them. They offer convenient shuttle service to the airport terminals. Staff is very attentive and helpful.

I have stayed at the Renaissance numerous times so that I do not have to leave London at dawn to catch my noon flight to the states. Stayed there in late October, in fact, for 58 GBPs inc. tax, but not breakfast. By going to the Marriott (www.marriott.com)site one can usually find good prices.
Within walking distance (through a church cemetery) is an old pub worth visiting for dinner--Ye Olde Six Belles.
We usually pick up breakfast at Gatwick once we've gone through the VAT refund process, and save ourselves lots of time and money.

Last year I stayed at Le Meridien at Gatwick. It is ATTACHED to the airport so you can walk (with a trolley for your luggage) rather than hassle with a shuttle (many don't start running til 7 or 8 am & our flight was earlier) or cab. I booked the room on lastminute.com for 70GBP for a double (usual price is 170!) Room was great. We didn't eat at the hotel.