Copthorne Hotel Gatwick

        Had a great stay at the Copthorne. Very comfortable and clean room with free soft drinks and water in the mini bar and reasonably priced food and drinks readily available in the hotel. Although we didn't make use of the leisure facilities they looked good. However the best thing about the hotel is the staff - very friendly and hospitable. We had complimentary teas and coffees whilst waiting for our transfer to the airport in the early hours and again on arrival at 01.30 - very much appreciated! Would definately use this hotel over others at Gatwick we've previously stayed with.

        On our return we just missed the bus (in fact my wife saw him leave as she approached and is sure he was a couple of minutes early) and had an hour and 20 minute wait for the next one. We had been told to go to the car park when we got back but there was no one there and no instructions - generally there was a lack of information. We went to the hotel and were told where our car was but were not given any means of exiting car park. We were let out when we called from the barrier - this doesn't seem very secure, we could have been anyone.

        Apart from the leisure facilities this was a great hotel. You have to walk through a pitch black area to get to leisure part, you then have to walk through the bar to get into the facilities and we wern't told by the reception to take a towel with us and had to go all the way back over to main hotel to get towels. When we got into changing room, we realised that the receptionist in the gym should have given us a pad lock?! for the locker which she hadn't. We gave up in the end, got dressed and went to the bar! Very disappointing for a hotel of this standard. the hotel itself though was lovely.

        You would never believe that you were so close to an International Airport. The Copthorne has a wonderful atmosphere and is set in a scenic woodland area . The staff are very friendly and helpful and the restaurants are outstanding, there is even a pub built in to the hotel which also serves food.The Copthorne Hotel is a perfect place to relax before or after your travel, I would not stay anywhere else.

        Generally an excellent pre-flight hotel, only let down by frequency of return bus service from airport. Other major good factor was vehicle remained on site with only 0.3 of a mile put on the clock, unlike some other local hotels where you never know where your vehicle has been or who has driven it.

        Cleanliness - the bathroom wasn't paricularly clean but that could be a one-off. A 4 star hotel with no AC in the bedrooms is pretty poor!

        We discovered on arrival at the airport that the transfers only go every 50 minutes and the bus journey takes 25 minutes to the hotel. So, having just missed one bus it took us 75 minutes to even reach the hotel. We had booked a double room and were given a tiny twin room which was so utterly different from the photograph on the website that we thought we had gone to the wrong hotel! Luckily when we asked for a double we were moved to a bigger room which did have a double bed (but still nothing like the photograph). We asked about transfers to the airport for our flight the following morning. The buses only went hourly at that time meaning that we would either be far too early or far too late for our flight. The reception staff therefore booked us a taxi. However, the taxi only arrived 30 minutes late after my husband had asked at reception 3 times where our taxi was. The whole experience was extremely stressful and I would advised no one to use this hotel if they are wishing to have a relaxing night between flights.

        I found the hotel to be very pleasant, the ground relaxing and the English style of it agreeable. My daughter and her friend were staying there and they said they greatly enjoyed the evening, the room was comfortable and they would stay there again if needing to be overnight.