Oh wow.
Are the words I never expect to say when I walk into my Premier Inn bedroom.
Yet these are the words I utter. Yes, I’m as surprised as you are.
I know that Premier Inn is renowned for being a hotel chain offering consistently clean and comfy bedrooms – it regularly claims a podium finish in the annual Which? hotel chain survey, as we report – but here it is, bowling me over.
And for the budget price of £80 (though breakfast is not included with this tariff).
MailOnline Travel Editor Ted Thornhill checks in to Premier Inn Gatwick North (above). He describes it as ‘looking like a Borg spaceship from the Star Trek universe’
Premier Inn Gatwick North is easily accessible from the Gatwick railway station – just hop on the robot shuttle train, reveals Ted. Pictured above is the hotel’s self-check-in area
The property in question? Premier Inn Gatwick North, which I book as an emergency measure to help secure a few hours of sleep before a 6am easyJet flight to Toulon-Hyeres airport in the South of France (the magic airport doorway to Provence, but that’s for another article, another day).
It was either an airport hotel or a 2am taxi from my South London abode.
Taking into account the £20 train fare to Gatwick railway station from London Victoria, both options incur a similar cost – so I opt for an extra two to three hours sleep.
I disembark the train at Gatwick station and hop on the robot shuttle line to the North Terminal.
Ted books the hotel ‘as an emergency measure to help secure a few hours of sleep before a 6am easyJet flight to Toulon-Hyeres airport in the South of France’
Premier Inn regularly claims a podium finish in the annual Which? hotel chain survey. Above is the Premier Inn Gatwick North restaurant
The Premier Inn is right next door, and from the outside doesn’t exactly evoke scenes of a cosy night’s sleep. It looks like a Borg spaceship from the Star Trek universe – a giant foreboding cube.
And inside, while there is no hive mind to combat, there is a slightly worrisome hive of activity.
The place is swarming with guests. Enormous suitcases are being heaved this way and that, the bar is buzzing and there’s a queue for the restaurant.
All good news for the Premier Inn coffers, and while I like a vibrant atmosphere in a hotel, I’ve got a 4am wake-up call programmed into my phone and I fear I’ll be in for a disturbed night. I’m imagining middle-of-the-night shouting and doors slamming and all manner of pre-holiday hoo-ha.
Ted’s room is on the 10th floor of the hotel and cost £80 for the night. He describes it as ‘very clean and comfortable’
Above is the ensuite in Ted’s room, which he says is ‘absolutely spotless’
Happily, this does not come to pass.
I check in via a touch-screen module that spits out a keycard (a breeze, with chirpy staff hovering to assist technophobes) for a room at the top of the building.
Turns out I’ve hit the jackpot.
Not only is my floor 10 chamber very clean and comfortable, as per those Which? surveys we report on, but it comes with (and I say this without fear of overly hyping matters) spectacular views.
Ted describes the view (above) from his room as ‘spectacular’
Ted notes that ‘beyond the hum-drum airport buildings’ beneath his room is ‘the mesmerising West Sussex countryside’ and (to the left), the runway
Ok, below is a vast multi-storey car park and miscellaneous hum-drum airport buildings, but beyond the mesmerising rolling West Sussex countryside and off to the left, the runway.
The last time I checked into an airport hotel I had a view of some broken glass and skip, so this is definitely an upgrade in terms of the vista.
And apart from the Wi-Fi – even the ‘super-fast’ £5 one is crummy – the rest of the set-up is also rather good. The bed is luxurious, there’s an absolutely spotless ensuite with a bath and shower unit, and Premier Inn has added a TV and homely armchair to the inventory.
And – oh wow – it’s whisper quiet.
