Sofitel London Gatwick

Beautiful, clean hotel but inconvenient at this time.

The monorail connection between terminals closed at the end of September for repairs which will take a year. The walkway from the hotel to the terminal is also closed for renovation. Therefore, to reach the terminal one has to take the elevator down to the ground floor, go through the car park, cross the road and then take another elevator up two flights to reach the shuttle bus for the south terminal. There were a good number of buses for the transfer, but a lot of up and down walking with luggage. However, on a trial basis, the hotel is providing a bus, costing two pounds from the front door of the hotel to the south terminal which was very convenient. One must make a reservation at the desk. Secondly, many English hotels do not provide a wash cloth. It is like taking your own tooth brush. This hotel did not provide a face cloth but I always carry my own. Everything else was perfect: comfortable, clean room.

Good hotel-terrible food

The hotel is nice and it is very convenient. There is no reason related to amenities as to why anyone should not stay in this hotel. If you need food late in the evening though, please do not order room service. The food is simply unacceptable. We had 2 double-decker sandwiches (chicken and roast beef) and they were disgusting. The white bread looked like a mop sponge and the taste was terrible. The fruit plate we got was from probably from an old expired can. Put it simply, I would never order food in that place again.

Guest did not leave a comment.

Convenient but poor service

When we called to request an ice bucket the person on the phone laughed at us and said we could come to the lobby bar if we wanted ice. The ice machine on our floor was not working in any case, and neither was one of the two elevators. This caused steady backups. When we went down to breakfast the morning we left, the only option was over $30 apiece for a buffet. Although the bed was comfortable, our overall experience was very disappointing. When we reported our experience in response to a cheery, "How was you visit?", the desk clerk became very cold and distant.

Zero service Zero Maintenance

The first room they put me in had non-functioning air conditioning and a broken CRT TV. The second room was much better but it took the better part of an hour for them to move me. At no time did anyone appologise or offer any kind of restitution. Extremely dissapointed

Value for nthe hjigh cost?

The location is the best feature. Otherwise it is typical of it's type. The thing that really upset me was that even though they are charging a prewmium rate for an average hotel, they stick it to you by charging totally rip off rates for internet access, which all business travellers need, and not everyone has access to with cell phones etc. In the USA and most of the civilized world, all big chains offer this as an incentive to the business traveller, as a complimentary feature. It's great PR. This hotels idea of getting every penny out of the guest, I am afraid, is pervasive amongst UK hotel chains, and typifies the UK's narrow minded attitude to customer service. Just another reason I am happy I emigrated several years ago. The country is clueless in custmer service. Tried getting a meal in a pub lately, or a restaurant.? Hopeless. I would stay away from this place in future, and put up with the hassle of a short shuttle ride, if I got the service I was paying for....Of course, the staff I spoke with could care less. Attitude again.