Random Fun Sleeps: BLOC Gatwick Airport, England

Characteristic purple neon window lights!

Random Tyke Rank: 10/10

Clean: 10

Convenient: 10

Comfortable: 10

Check-in/out; booking: 10

Fun Factor: 10

BLOC guests can control the room without getting out of bed, just as well, since the bed takes up most of the space. Then again, beds are huge and comfy, so there’s not much reason to get up.

Cubic decor

BLOC lives up to its super-cool pitch per the surfer dudes on their ads. It’s just an elevator ride to your room, on the England side of check-in, at Gatwick’s South Terminal. Signage inside is iffy and one risks wandering the corridors beyond bedtime in search of that elusive right turn, but once you’re installed, the cabin-like, cubic rooms are quiet, stylish, and super-modern, if a little short on space.

The en suite bathrooms feature “zen showers” which pour with rain or massage your back at the flip of the tap; it sprays all over the bathroom, but you're not mopping up, so who cares? 

Corner room

BLOC offers different bed configurations for singles, couples, and families. Lowest priced pods are windowless; corner suites have space and panoramic runway views, and the best way to get a great room is via their creative upgrade scheme – sign up for their pre-arrival email upgrade gamble, and if the room’s available at check in you get a deluxe space for far less than regular price.

I wouldn’t stay anywhere else at Gatwick – why wait for shuttle buses – and with the fast train direct into Victoria, if you do make it out of bed, it’s worth considering as decent London accommodation for a couple of days, not just as an airport stopover.

Insider tips:

• Customer Service is superb, check-in speedy, and BLOC made good on their promise to match a lower price I found online with a booking service.
• You can book rooms for days or nights, but not by the hour.
• Victoria Station and Gatwick have left luggage.

Fun sleeps should ensure good sleep as well as fun, and BLOC Gatwick Airport does that with style.

Getting there: BLOC Gatwick is at check in at South Terminal, Gatwick Airport. It’s accessible by the Gatwick Express from Victoria Station, or the Heathrow-Gatwick transfer bus and other buses from central London. Note that there is no tube to Gatwick airport.

Price Range: Around 100 British pounds per night or day.