Life's a journey, enjoy the flight - from anywhere!!

When we booked our Caribbean twin-centre trip we decided that, logistically, it would make more sense to travel on a direct flight out of London Gatwick. It didn't fill me with excitement - conjuring up images of a tired & run-down airport hotel where you might, if you are lucky get a poor white wine & a sleepless night, I was more than pleasantly surprised on arrival. After a 4-hour drive from Manchester, on which we had been reasonably lucky with the traffic, we arrived at the Holiday Inn Worth near Gatwick. Walking through those front doors the lobby was spacious & bright. Reception desks to the left & the bar/restaurant area to the right.

It was evening & there were some families already mulling around, some of whom it was clear were trying to tire out the kids before their morning flights. I always love a place where families & kids can feel at home, as a mum who has travelled with my 2 girls a fair bit, this is always an important factor. So far - so good!

Check in was smooth, & we were soon in our room. With 2 large doubles this place would comfortably sleep a family of 4. Loads of floor space, tea/coffee making facilities, Large TV & the bathroom was great too! We popped in our bags, unpacked a few things we would need in the morning & then headed down to see what the options were for some food & a tipple to start our holiday the right way. The restaurant was still bust & reasonably priced, so we placed our order for food & drinks. Clinking our glassed we tucked in & whilst this wasn’t a gourmet restaurant it was way better than I had expected. The service was second to none too. After a bite to eat we headed to the room where we had a bottle of wine waiting & had a few glasses while we relaxed.

In the morning the hotel took our car key & ordered us a cab to Gatwick South Terminal where we checked in for our flight to St Lucia. Even with all my industry experience, like many people I find departure day stressful & this time we didn’t just have departure day at the airport but a whole other evening pre-departure too. I still check if I have my passport a thousand times, panic that I am down a bag, have I packed everything – all the usual stuff!

This time though, our stay at Holiday Inn Worth had me completely relaxed & our departure from Gatwick went as smooth as the evening before had!

We had booked 1-night hotel with 14 days parking so when we got back, we simply took a cab back to the hotel & collected our car for the drive home. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the time to stay another night, but I would recommend that you factor this in as it helps to have that rest time before the drive home.

This isn’t the first time I have departed from a London departure airport, having flown from here in a work capacity. But this was my first leisure holiday in this context & I have to say I would hands-down do it again, no question. Direct long haul routes from Manchester are limited. I think we all hope this expands as the industry; airports & airlines move into 2024 and beyond.

But why give up the opportunity to experience so many unique & amazing destinations are easily accessible from London airports.

Claire.xx