Gatwick to a Mayfair Hotel: Choosing the Way In

Thirty miles south, and why the route matters

Gatwick lies in West Sussex, about thirty miles south of Mayfair, and unlike Heathrow it has no motorway running straight into the West End. Every route in involves either a train into one of the London terminals or a long drive through the southern suburbs. Which is better depends on three things: the time of day, the amount of luggage and whether you would rather sit in one vehicle or change once.

The airport has two terminals, North and South, joined by a free automated shuttle that takes a couple of minutes. The railway station sits at the South Terminal. Travellers arriving at the North Terminal who plan to take the train should allow for the shuttle ride and the walk before the first departure.

For anyone who lands at Heathrow instead, the equivalent note is in our briefing on the Heathrow arrival. The logic is similar; the roads and rails are not.

By train to Victoria, then one stop

The Gatwick Express runs non stop to London Victoria in roughly half an hour, and Southern trains cover the same line with a few more stops. Victoria is the natural terminus for Mayfair because the final leg is so short.

From Victoria, the Victoria line reaches Green Park in a single stop, which puts you on Piccadilly with the arcaded hotel on one side and the park on the other. With luggage, the taxi rank outside the station is usually the better choice, and a black cab to a Park Lane or Berkeley Square hotel is a short ride once it clears the traffic around the station and Buckingham Palace Road.

For a traveller with one bag, arriving mid afternoon, this is often the quickest door to door route of all, and the most predictable.

By Thameslink and the Elizabeth line

Thameslink trains from Gatwick run north through London Bridge, Blackfriars and Farringdon. At Farringdon, the Elizabeth line runs west to Bond Street in a few stops, arriving on the north side of Mayfair within a short walk of Grosvenor Square and Brook Street.

It involves a change and more walking underground than the Victoria route, so it suits a light traveller rather than someone with a suit carrier and two cases. It is, however, a useful fallback when the Victoria line is disrupted, and it delivers you to the quieter end of W1 rather than the bustle of Piccadilly.

By car through south London

A car from Gatwick takes the M23 north and then the A23 through Croydon, Streatham and Brixton, crossing the river at Vauxhall or Westminster before the final run up Park Lane. There is no fast section once the motorway ends. Allow at least an hour and a half at most times of day, and considerably more on a Friday evening or in heavy rain.

The car wins on comfort rather than speed. You sit once, the luggage goes in the boot, calls can be made in private, and the driver delivers you to the hotel door rather than a station entrance. After a long flight, that often matters more than twenty minutes either way.

Black cabs wait at the airport rank, but a pre booked car is the more predictable choice, since the fare is agreed in advance and the driver is already tracking the flight.

A chauffeur waiting at arrivals

A chauffeur service meets the flight in the arrivals hall with a name board, watches the landing time rather than the timetable, and waits while immigration and baggage take their course. Tell the service which terminal you are using, North or South, since the meeting points are in different buildings and a driver in the wrong one helps nobody.

Ask for the car to be waiting a short walk from the terminal exit rather than circling. And if a companion is travelling in with you, mention it when booking the car so the vehicle is the right size for two people and their bags.

Timing the evening around the landing

The safest plan is to reach the hotel first, check in, change, and let the evening begin there. Set the start at least two and a half hours after the scheduled landing if you are coming by car, a little less by train on a quiet afternoon. A delayed flight then eats into the buffer, not the booking.

Some guests prefer company from the moment they land. That is written as a travel and airport companion booking: she meets you at the airport, travels in with you, and the evening continues in Mayfair. An airport booking of this kind runs to three hours at the least, the ride into town is part of that time, and the whole thing is written as a single figure.

Liana, who never travels without a paperback, is an easy companion for a long car ride, and Vanessa is often suggested for a first booking that begins in an arrivals hall. Both appear in the late twenties file of the portfolio.

Booking a Gatwick arrival

Send the flight number, the terminal, the scheduled landing time and the hotel. The reply confirms the companion, the meeting point and the figure, taken from the published rates: £700 for three hours, £900 for a four hour dinner date, or £1,800 overnight if the arrival is late and the evening is likely to run on.

If the flight is delayed, write as soon as you know. Moving the start later that evening is rarely a problem, and the earlier the message, the simpler the change.