Enjoying Wanderlust at ibis Styles Gatwick airport

ibis Styles Gatwick buffet area

For those with early morning flights, there are plenty of hotels to choose from at Gatwick Airport, writes Nick Mosley.

I know it can be tempting to pay for long-stay parking or pre-book a taxi but in my experience those options to end up as false economies. Why on earth would you want to get up at the crack of dawn at home when you could actually be at the airport enjoying a few extra hours of zzzzs and a spot of unhurried breakfast before your flight? Never mind the hassle of half asleep kids and tetchy partners…

Over the years, I’ve stayed at pretty much every property at Gatwick, from the huge luxury Hilton and Sofitel hotels through to mid-market Premier Inn and Hampton by Hilton, alongside the basic, bijou but perfectly comfortable Yotel and Bloc.

With a frighteningly early flight to Barbados, I decided to head to the Ibis Styles hotel at Gatwick that I’d first visited when the doors swung open following a £14 million refurbishment back in May 2024.

Located just outside the airport perimeter, unlike some properties, its not really walkable from the terminals but there is a very regular hotel shuttle bus or a short-hop Uber journey away. We paid about £18 for our Uber, most of which no doubt ended up in Gatwick’s pocket due to their insanely expensive £10 drop-off fee which – in my opinion – is nothing short of airport robbery.

Ibis Styles is part of the Accor global family of properties that includes everything from 5* Sofitel resorts down to the most simple Ibis Basic that you’ll increasingly find across Europe.

Ibis Styles comfortably sits in the three to three-and-a-half star bracket with each design-led property serving up its own identity based on its locale. So it’ll come as no surprise that the Gatwick location’s decor is inspired by the world of travel, with a fun retro nod to European road trips anchored by a wonderfully whimsical Fiat 500 car in the breakfast buffet area.

ibis Styles Gatwick bar and lounge

The focal point of the open plan lobby lounge and Wanderlust restaurant is the central island that acts as both reception and well-stocked bar. Drinks are decently priced with house wine by the glass starting at around £6 or a bottle to share from £22.50 or thereabouts.

The food menu at Wanderlust is very accessible and has something to suit everyone’s taste. Although there are plenty of international flavours to be had – Japanese miso ramen, Thai red curry, Italian pizza and pasta – there’s also plenty of British classics including burgers, steak and chips, chicken and mushroom pie, sausage and mash, and fish and chips. It’s a reliable, well-cooked and presented menu with the vast majority of mains in the £12-16 bracket.

As we’d already shovelled down a rather hefty pub lunch earlier that day, we vaguely shared a couple of the light bite plates that are priced at £6-7. My partner loves his meat so crispy crumb black pudding ‘bon bons’ for him with a hearty dollop of HP Sauce were wolfed down. I took the retro route with a very tasty prawn cocktail with classic Marie Rose sauce served on crisp lettuce that more than ticked my box with a glass – okay, two glasses – of the aforementioned house white wine.

And so to bed, with the joy of a 5am rise. Rooms are contemporary and spacious with everything you need for a restful one night stay.

There’s a good spread of room configurations that will suit everyone from a solo business traveller through to family groups, plus accessible rooms for guests with disabilities. It was a standard double for us, but families will definitely appreciate rooms that have two double beds and also inter-joining doors.

ibis Styles Gatwick standard king double room

Crisp white linens, a medium-to-slightly-firm mattress, fluffy pillows – with extra pillows in the wardrobe – and joy-of-joy the standard room features a king bed rather than queen that you find in some many entry level hotel rooms. Following a bit of telly on the massive flatscreen it was off the land of nod before being rudely awaken many hours before the sun would make an appearance.

After an invigorating blast of hot water – and Beyoncé – in the large walk-in shower, it was down for breakfast. We were a bit early in the day for the full help-your-self hot buffet breakfast – it starts at 6am on weekdays and 7am on weekends – so we picked up a continental grab-and-go breakfast of coffee and pastries before jumping in an Uber to Gatwick North terminal.

Prices for this property are very fluid so depending on the night – and whether you book directly or via one of the many hotel booking sites – I’d say you’re looking at around £60-90 for a room which is fantastic value for an airport hotel, even when factoring in a taxi, Uber or the airport shuttle bus.

If you’re travelling from Gatwick this year then take it easy on yourself and start your trip refreshed by a stay at Ibis Styles; it has everything needed for a quiet, peaceful and restorative night before that flight.

Ibis Styles London Gatwick Airport, London Road, County Oak, Gatwick RH10 9GY

01293 590 300 • www.all.accor.com