We stayed here the night before flying out from Gatwick and I do think it is the best hotel we have stayed at near the airport. We booked the service where you leave your car at the hotel then they bring it to the airport when you land, and this was excellent. It all went very smoothly and our car turned up quickly, certainly a lot easier than getting a shuttle bus back to the hotel after a long flight. The hotel itself was of a very high standard. We booked one double and one family room and both were immaculately clean and well presented. The family room was huge, with a separate walk-in shower and a separate toilet. Everything was modern, clean and well-kept. We did not eat in the restaurant so cannot comment on that. It is only a five minute walk into town, where there are plenty of restaurants so this is possibly a better option. In all, I would highly recommend this hotel as a good base for leaving from Gatwick.

Booked with Reserve travel.com. They said free parking for up to 3 days - not so Cost ?10 a day. They gave me a prepaid voucher to show the hotel. - It was not prepaid - had to pay the hotel direct. They said included full breakfast - not so ?11.95 each. Then the hotel - rooms great - ordered some extras - did not know how much they were until credit card statement came through - the hotel neither invoiced me or asked for my authorisation for the items on my card. Hotel blamed agent but wanted to compensate me by offerring a room at more than I paid the first time! They would not refund my parking, they still have not invoiced me for the items I purchased, the manager is too busy (or is that arrogant) to speak to me directly even when one of her managers asked her to contact me. This hotel chain has lost my business - I have never had a problem booking through large hotel broking websites - until now - so is it the hotel or the agent - I think the Hotel.

I stayed here before flyng out from Gatwick and also on my return. In both cases I was delighted with the peaceful,quiet spaciousness of the place - the public areas and the rooms. There was no noise at all from outside,from the corridors or from other rooms - I felt cocooned and had a very good night's sleep in each case. The rooms are well designed - and reception ask if you are a first -time guest, in which case you are given a sheet of instructuions to help you. But in fact the rooms are well equipped, the air-conditioning and heating blissfully simple. The only drawback is that the hotel's shuttle bus runs only once an hour and has to be booked - you can ring from the airport courtesy bus stop. But both times I had just missed the bus and rather than wait for the next,I took the train. This is very easy - trains are accessed from terminal 2 and it is just two stops to Crawley. As mentioned elsewhere the hotel has its own entrance at the end (the very end!) of platform 2 in Crawley.

We stayed for one night at the Arora prior to an early morning Sunday departure from Gatwick. We booked it several months ahead and got the room for ?40 which included a full eat-as-much-as-you-like hot and cold breakfast. The hotel is very respectable, clean and tidy. Spacious room. We had a snack at the restaurant within which was a little pricey but within 10 minutes walk is Crawley town centre. Entry to the rooms and lift is by electronic swipe card. Rooms have irons/trouser press/tea and coffee making facilities. What is a good feature of the hotel is that there is direct access to Crawley train station from the reception desk along a corridor and with heavy luggage this saves what would be a 15 minute round walk to the platform. One of the staff have to be informed so that they can swipe you through the gate. The breakfast was excellent and is much cheaper and better value for money than if you were to buy a meal at Gatwick. I used to spend ?16 a head to go to the lounge at Gatwick for three hours prior to flying but they only served drinks, cake, peanuts and crisps. For ?40 you can get the room and the full breakfast. The train takes about 10 minutes to Gatwick and costs ?2.50 single. All in all, well worth a stay especially if you have to be at the airport in the early hours. Takes the hassle out of sitting in M23 traffic as well. A good start to a holiday abroad.

This hotel enjoys excellent reviews, which is why I chose it in favour of the on site hotel at Gatwick, a mistake I won't make again! The room was excellent, couldn't fault a thing there and the pub bar was great, especially the happy hour prices & friendly staff. Nice outdoor terrace to sit, very clean and smart hotel. The problems - The Italian Restaurant, had an evening meal, absolute rip off, starters were acceptable, but main, my husband thought he would have a holiday treat and had the lamb costing ?19, consisted of 2 tiny lamy cutlet chops and 4 very chunky chips, with a drizzle of some sauce, couldn't believe it, was waiting for a bowl of veg or something, but no that was it!! I had a tasteless bowl of spaghetti. Very expensive meal, that left you hungry! We didn't complain as we were just starting our hols and didn't want the hastle, cheeky devils put a 10% service charge on bill as well!! If it was only the restaurant, I would have returned to this hotel and ate out, but, Next problem the shuttle bus, booked park & fly, going was ok, had to go hour early, but ok, but coming home, well I had to phone hotel 4 times, we stood waiting way over an hour, constantly watching for the bus, it was hopeless, we wanted to give up and get a taxi, but they kept insisting they had sent him to get us, so we had to wait, then when we got back, they had the cheek to ask for payment for the shuttle, it is supposed to be complimentary for park & fly guests!! Problems aside it is a nice hotel, immaculate, clean & modern and Crawley was quite a nice little town, but next time I will stay on site at Gatwick at the Sofitel to avoid the shuttle bus problems.