I visited a Gatwick guest house's new premium room — and it changed how I see pre-flight stays

Fortunately, living near Gatwick, I don’t have that problem very often, but speaking to family members and friends, they can struggle with it and it can be a dull night in a dull room just waiting to get up and do the exciting part – getting on a plane and travelling to sunnier climbs.

But if you are looking for something a bit different – and fun – you could do a lot worse than stay in Gatwick Turret guest house’s new premium ‘Air Turret’ room.

The ground floor family room has been renovated by manager Rai Bhanot, who took over the the running of the guest house from his parents Ram and Anj, who had run the establishment for 25 years. Ram and Anji continue to help out.

Rai wanted to introduce a more premium feel to rooms and started with the renovation front facing room – and he has given it a fun, light feel and made it relevant for people travelling from Gatwick – which is where the majority of their custom comes from.

I went along to have a look at the room to see what Rai had done and give it my verdict.

The room has a fantastic feel to it – light, contemporary and very spacious. Whether it’s a couple or a family, it’s suitable and flexible. There is one double bed and two armchair sofa beds. And if you have kids, it’s perfect and Rai has introduced something for the younger members.

I remember staying in a hotel the night before going away and I remember it was a bit of an anti-climax because you thought you were going on holiday, but no, you have to stay in this dingy B&B beforehand and it sort of took the win out of your excitement.

But if you stay in this Premium room, Rai explained: “The number one thing that we wanted to do is make sure that it's a lot of interaction with our guests, make it fun, exciting, especially for the kids. You know as parents, keeping kids occupied, keeping them entertained can be hard work, so we wanted to create these new passports and stickers and loads of fun and games for them to come here and enjoy themselves.

“And for the family, it creates a more of a better atmosphere and then rather than just coming into a hotel or guesthouse where they just come check in, check out.”

And Rai’s right, he has captured the tone and atmosphere perfectly with this room. Little touches like the pouch on the back of the door with an information sheet in, just like the back of an airport seat, the map of the world on the wall, the head rests on the bed and the armchairs with the logo on, making it look like an airplane seat. I can imagine staying in the room as a youngster and getting genuinely excited about a holiday.

With the passports for the kids, they can get them stamped as if they had entered a new country and there is airport bingo on the back to keep the little ones entertained in the airport.

It another lovely little touch that elevates this room above the normal accommodation you get. There is also funky lights and a beautiful bathroom with a bluetooth mirror so you can play your music as you get freshened up.

So what gave Rai the inspiration? “Part of this transition of me taking over the guesthouse I wanted to introduce more of a premium feel to the rooms and renovate. So this was our first challenge and it's a great concept.

"It's a family-run business, my parents bought this 25 years ago and we're based in Horley which is about one mile from Gatwick South and North Terminals, so it's got wonderful little touches like you get on the back of a airport seat with the instructions in, safety instructions and that.”

And has anyone tried the room out yet? Rai said: “We had our first guest staying here this week and it was so nice, it was so engaging, they were lovely. We got to know the two young kids, Lily and Logan. They played with the passports, they're running around playing games in the lounge and it was really fun.”

So will more rooms at the Gatwick Turret be refurbished into a premium room like this one? “Some of our rooms are obviously for backpackers and such but most of the rooms we want to make them premium, we want to make it engaging and hopefully we can succeed with that. We also got planning which has been granted from the council to build an extra 10 rooms around the back.

"Hopefully it'll be a 20 bedroom enterprise. We're not looking to do that right now, we want to make sure that we introduce our new concept, make sure it works thoroughly well, we engage with it and then obviously in the future we can actually grow."

If you fancy seeing what the Gatwick Turret is all about, visit www.gatwickturret.com.