You might be wondering if it is worth staying at an airport hotel if you have an early flight to catch the next day or a late arrival. However, airport hotels have increased in cost over the last few years, sometimes costing upwards of £100 per night. Premier Inn are a well-known hotel brand in the UK. They offer simple but clean rooms with great amenities.
There are some ways you can reduce the price. I talk about some of these on my YouTube videos, but here is some more advice:
- Book early. If you find a cheaper rate later, you can always cancel and rebook (subject to terms.)
- Compare different sites. Although Premier Inn are always on travel agent sites, they are sometimes for last-minute bookings. Try ZenHotels if you are from outside the UK, that way you can pay in your currency. For those in the UK, try hotels.com – to save even more, go via TopCashback or QuidCo
- Pay with an AmEx for the room and extras – Premier Inn accepts AmEx, so you can earn Avios on every £1 spent. You can get a 6,000 Avios bonus when you use my referral link.
- If you are certain that you will travel, consider an advance non-refundable rate. Be sure to have travel insurance.
The 2 airport Premier Inn Hotels that I have stayed at recently are
Gatwick Airport North Terminal (see photos:)
Heathrow Airport Terminal 4 – rooms are similar or identical to the above.
Both are within walking distance of their respective terminals. No taxis or buses are required. If your flight is not departing from those terminals, it is free to transfer terminals both at Heathrow and Gatwick.
At Heathrow:
To travel from Terminal 2, 3, central bus station or tube station to Terminal 4 – take the Elizabeth line or Picadilly Line. Any Oyster or contactless payment card will open the barriers but be sure to touch in and out or you will be charged. To travel to terminal 5, take the Heathrow Express or Picadilly line. The same instructions apply. Trains and tubes run every 10-15 minutes in the daytime, and more often at peak times. Note that commercial airlines no longer fly from Terminal 1.
To travel between terminals 4 and 5, you will need to change at terminals 2 and 3. Alternatively, a “black cab” will cost around £15.
At Gatwick:
Simply take the monorail between terminals. You can see the monorail from the Premier Inn hotel. It is free, and no ticket is needed. It runs every 5 minutes and takes 2-3 minutes.
The hotels
Both have a Thyme restaurant. The meal deal costs £29.99 per person and includes a 2-course dinner and full breakfast the next morning. Considering that some main dishes at dinner cost around £15, it is good value. It also includes an alcoholic or soft drink with dinner. You can either book this in advance or pay on arrival. If you book via a third party, paying on arrival is normally the only option. However, the price is the same.
Rooms are the same as you would expect from a Premier Inn. The Gatwick North terminal branch has been refurbished, and most rooms include a walk-in shower. As of October 2024, the Heathrow T4 branch had bathtubs. Interestingly, the rooms at Heathrow T4 include a safe, phone and fridge. These are not normally found at Premier Inn hotels. The rooms at Gatwick North Terminal did include a phone, but only premium rooms include a fridge.
However, all rooms have tea, coffee, some toiletries, free room cleaning if you stay more than 1 night (advise reception before 12-noon,) an ironing board and iron, a desk, a sofa or sofa bed, charging points, a mirror, a wardrobe, hairdryer and TV, as well as free Wi-Fi although speeds vary. Personally, if you are going to be streaming content or having video calls, I would say it is worth paying for the Ulitmate WiFi.
Both branches have a branch of “Costa Coffee” on the ground floor, in addition to the Thyme Restaurant. This is great if you just want a snack or drink. This is open 24 hours too.
The main advantage of these hotels is that they are within a 5-10 minutes walk of the airline check-in desks. If you have a long flight ahead of you, this removes the additional stress of travelling to the airport and reduces your overall travel time. If you have a buffet breakfast in the morning, you can eat as much as you like and avoid expensive airport or airline meals.
To continue your trip to Central London, here’s how:
- From Gatwick North Terminal – take the monorail to the South Terminal. Walk out, turn left and you will see the train station. From there, there are frequent trains to London Victoria, London Bridge, Blackfriars, Farringdon, St Pancras/Kings Cross and other London stations. All have connectivity with London Underground. However, Gatwick Airport is not part of London Zones 1-6, meaning you cannot use a Day Travelcard unless it specifically includes Gatwick airport as part of your journey. Buy a train ticket in advance here, and you could also save money as well as being able to pay in your currency. You can either buy a Gatwick Airport single ticket, or purchase a Gatwick airport plus day travelcard for zones 1 to 6, meaning you can travel from Gatwick to Central London and then make unlimited bus a tube journeys for the rest of the day.
- From Heathrow T4 – you have 2 options from the Premier Inn hotel. Exit via the car park, cross the road and you will see a bus stop. From here, a bus will take you to Hatton Cross which is in zone 5 and will save you money. Heathrow terminal tube stations are in zone 6 and peak fares apply 24/7. Therefore, many staff use Hatton Cross as the most you will pay is the Zone 1-5 price cap, and single journeys are off-peak between 9.30am and 4pm and from 7pm until the end of services. From Hatton Cross, take the Picadilly line towards Central London. The journey will be around 45 minutes, depending on which part of London you wish to travel to.
- Alternatively, if your destination is at or near a stop on the Elizabeth Line, you might want to consider using it. You will need to walk down the covered walkway to the check-in desks, then follow the signs for “Underground.” It is slightly more expensive than the tube, but not as expensive as the Heathrow Express. You can use an Oyster or Contactless card. You can use contactless payment cards such as Revolut on the Elizabeth Line, all tube routes, Gatwick airport trains (direct journeys only,) London buses, London trains within zones 1-6, London Overground and the DLR. However, you cannot use it on the Heathrow Express. I wouldn’t generally recommend the Heathrow Express, as it only takes you to Paddington and is expensive. However, if you wish to use it and are from the UK, I would recommend signing up to QuidCo and getting cashback on your advance ticket purchase.
Here is a map of London trains and tubes:
