Having tried the overpriced Hilton on previous overnight stays near Gatwick we decided to give the Ibis at £61 a night a try.

We found the desk staff (all French!) very helpfull, they even let me use their computer to check-in for our flight the next day.

The room was clean, a little compact but fine for a "one night " stay and although the "modular bathroom" was small it served the purpose very well.

All in all very good value for the money, and we will certainly use the Ibis again for any future Gatwick stays.

We only used the bar / cafe for drinks, prefering to go the short distance to Crawley for our evening meal.
Tip:- If you like Chinese food try the Fortune Villa in Crawley High Street. It was the best Chinese I have tasted in a long while!!.

Having read the reviews regarding the hotel bus we took a taxi from North Terminal for about £ 10. About the same price as the bus and more convenient.

David Brown
Javea Spain

We spent one night there before a morning flight. We wanted a smoking room with wi-fi. The lobby said smoking rooms were on the 5th floor and we couldn't get wi-fi there. Turned out in-room wi-fi was expensive so we wouldn't have used it anyway. There were computers available in lobby for 9 pence a minute - a bit pricey in our opinion. Bed was hard and a bit lumpy. The bathroom was a strange modern modular unit - felt like a large airplane toilet with shower. Shuttle charge to Gatwick was GBP 4.5 each. We had a car and paid 5 GBP to park for the night. (If the shuttle had been free or cheaper, we probably would have turned the car in the night before our flight.) The room had very little space for our luggage - which we lined up on the floor against the wall at the foot of the bed. Since we kept the window open to air out the smoke, we heard a lot of traffic all night. The good news is the price was right (66 GBP, including car park) and it is only a few minutes from airport. All in all, the hotel was just "okay." I'd rather stay somewhere else next time.

For a budget hotel before an early morning flight this did the job. I had stayed in the Travellodge at Gatwick also and this is a better standard.

The big shower was a great bonus.

We stayed here for two nights – one late May and the other in early June, both before and after a two-week holiday.

At Gatwick, there is a courtesy phone from which many hotels can be called regarding shuttle buses, etc. The first night we called and we were told the next bus would be there about 20 minutes later, which it was (give or take 5 minutes). The journey from the airport to the hotel is free, while there’s a charge of £4.50 per passenger for the return journey (it’s safest to book this at reception, as the bus can easily be full, especially at busy times).

The second night, we arrived back in Gatwick at around 21:30 and I called the hotel to find out the times of buses, as I wanted to eat something in the airport before going to the hotel. They said to ring them once I was ready and that they’d send the bus right away. We rang back later, only to be told this time that the buses had stopped running (at 23:00 apparently).. However, we jumped in a taxi (£11) and the reception staff reimbursed us the taxi fare without a problem.

Check-in and check-out were a little bit slow, but not too bad. Staff were friendly, so no complaints there.

The first room we had was on the fifth floor at the back of the hotel with great views over the local countryside. The second room was on the second floor with a great view of a busy road. If booking, request a room on a higher floor at the back of the hotel, if these little things matter to you.

Both rooms (and the bathrooms) were more-or-less identical, both spotlessly clean and modern, with Satellite TV,. It was our first time staying in an Ibis and we were totally satisfied and will certainly think about Ibis again.

There was a small bar and restaurant in the lobby area, and although we didn’t try the food it didn’t look bad. There are also snacks available 24 hours a day.

Other reviews mentioned a lot of noise from people coming and going for flights at all hours, but this never kept me awake.

Crawley town centre is only a 20-25 minute stroll from the hotel, and was a nice, picturesque town with a lot of historic buildings still in use. Cinemas, lots of chain food outlets (KFC, McD’s, Domino’s, Pizza Hut, etc.) are all easy to find.

Overall, we felt we made a good choice with this hotel as the price was as low as we could find for the area, the rooms were clean and the town was nearby.