There are a million reasons why you should stay at the airport the night before your flight. Train delayed. The train broke down. The taxi didn’t turn up. The taxi broke down. The car won’t start. All of these things have happened to me before an early morning flight. Despite all of these dramas, I have never missed a flight. Ok, it happened once in Switzerland but I’m not ready to talk about that yet.
Early morning flights are full of the excitement of going on holiday and despite ‘never’ missing a flight, I still can’t get fully excited because I worry about all the things that could go wrong before a flight. But now that I’ve stayed in the airport the night before, I’m a pre-flight worrier no more.
Forget being next to the airport, Bloc Hotel is right in the centre of the south terminal of Gatwick Airport. If you value good sleep and an excitement-building start to your trip, I’d go for a room that has a view of the runway. Hours waiting for a flight can be lost watching plane after plane land or take off, seemingly 24 hours a day. Don’t worry though, there is no chance any of the jets will disturb your sleep. The windows are super thick and the soundproofing is top notch. You can even set your lighting to purple so that window reflections don’t get in the way of your viewing experience. Proof the folks at Bloc Hotel have thought of everything.
The rooms offer all the treats you could need. We stayed in a VIP room with a runway view, double bed, tea/coffee machine, bathroom, and TV but there are lots of room options to upgrade or reduce costs.
Our room was cosy but had plenty of room for two big lads to have a good night’s sleep and get ready in the morning. There’s a desk for those last-minute bits of work you must get done before your flight. A warning though, getting the out-of-office on and slamming the laptop shut might take a tad longer if the planes catch your eye.
Rooms are fully air-conditioned so you can get things just right for you. The temp and the lighting can be controlled from a website on your phone or a panel on the wall. You don’t even have to talk to anyone when you arrive as you can check in and go straight to your room just using your phone. It works like magic. Honestly, what a time to be alive. We chose to check in through the reception and scored a win as they handed us 2 security fast-track passes (the entrance to which is right next to the hotel reception) – resulting in one of the quickest-ever airport security visits. Another great reason why you should stay at the airport before your flight.
Despite the excitement of the impending trip, you’re sure to get a good night’s sleep on the comfy beds. I was up bright and early to enjoy the lovely rainfall shower – I could have stayed in there for ages, but we had a flight to catch!
If you want a worry-free night before a big flight the next day, Bloc Hotels come highly recommended by me. They’re worry-free, high-tech, dreamy rooms that almost guarantee you won’t miss your flight – unless you get lost in duty-free.
