Car Parking Information For Gatwick Hilton

[CHRIS FRANKLIN]

I have booked the Hilton at the south terminal for our trip to WDW in October and have a few questions. I have called the hotel and ABC direct but although both polite were not very helpful.

The only time we have stayed at the airport [on site] was in 2002 and we stayed at Le Meridian, which was a great hotel but the car parking was a pain.

One of my questions concerns car parking, as I am confused as to what we have to do. Firstly do we park up at the long term car park on arrival at the hotel or is there parking overnight close to the hotel which allows you to have access to your car in the morning to dump your night bag etc that you may not want to take to WDW? We are travelling with Delta on a 9am flight so no twilight check in so travelling to and from the car and back to the hotel if miles away is not a viable choice. If that is the case no problem we will have to take our overnight stuff in the suitcases, but it would be good to know beforehand.

My second car parking question is on my receipt from ABC it says I take it to the long term car park leave the keys and it will be parked for me but when we stayed at Le Meridian we self parked. is this the case?

Also does anyone know how the rooms compare to Le Meridian?

Any input would be great.

 

[SEVANS2208]

We stayed at the Hilton in 2003 so bear in mind things could have changed by now! However, when we went we left our car outside the hotel to check in, at the Hilton's check in desk the give you your car parking voucher and you have to drive to the long stay car park (hubby did this so I'm not exactly sure where it is!), they park the car and then you get the shuttle back to the terminal and do the short walk back to the hotel. You CANNOT get back to your car though the next morning.

After your holiday you have to get a bus back to the car park - we cheated a bit though! I took the kids and cases and waited outside the Hilton while hubby jumped on the bus to get the car - it saved having to get 4 people and 3 cases on the bus.

The Hilton does have it's own car park so perhaps this system only applies during peak season - sorry, I'm not too sure.

 

[mandymouse]

If you have booked through Holiday Extras the parking is in the Summer Special long term car park which is near the North Terminal. We've used this service several times, you leave your car by reception, leave your keys when you check-in with them and then they park your car for you, then you'll get the free shuttle bus over to the South Terminal. For our holiday this year, I've booked a family room only through Holiday Extras and seperately booked my car parking with Parking Express (which is over the road from the Hilton), it has worked out a lot more expensive, but as we will not be arriving to Gatwick till quite late, I couldn't be bothered with the hassle. This way we can park there, and walk over to our hotel and then leave our overnight bag in the car the next morning. The cost of the Hilton was about £117 and the parking was £133 (for 19 nights).

mandymouse

 

[CHRIS FRANKLIN]

Thanks

This is helpful as we will only take stuff to either throw away or put into the suitcase, so used to staying at the Holiday Inn or Ramada where we have access to the car, hopefully just being able to walk into the terminal next day to get the shuttle to the North will make up for it!! Just makes me laugh when we flew from the south we stayed at the north but hotel rates dictate.

 

[UKPhil]

Chris,

Check out this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=714081

This has all changed in the past year and I had similar questions myself. What I did in the end was rebook. I've booked just the Hilton then arranged my car parking seperately (just like mandymouse says above) as I didn't want the hassle of having to fetch the car from the North terminal on return.

 

[RachaelAitken]

We stayed at the Gatwick Hilton last October, we had booked a family room via holiday extras.
We were very impressed with the size of the room..more like a suite. The other advantage of this Hotel is hat you can walk through to the terminal to eat the night before and its quick to get there on departure day.
Everyone seems to have different parking experiences. We went the same time of year you are going and we were asked to park in their carpark opposite the Hotel. We were allowed to return whenever we wanted and kept our own car keys. The receptionist told us they only use the other car park if very busy mostly just the summer months and xmas period.When we arrived back jaded and jet lagged the car was easy to get to as we just walked through the linkway back to the hotel.
If you do have a night flight its interesting to note the Hilton do have day rooms to reserve so you can catch up on some sleep before heading home. We so wished we had done this and ended up having to stop at a travel inn as we underestimated just how exhausted we would be!!
Hope this helps.Rachael