Why I stayed at the ariport before our Big Trip with Premier Inn
Wednesday, 30 January 2019
![]() |
Not at the hotel, but I hardly took any photos |
If you're going on the Holiday of a Lifetime, I'm a firm believer that your holiday officially starts the second your Out of Office switches on and not just when you get on the plane. It makes everything feel more exciting because it's holiday then and now, rather than holiday tomorrow, or holiday at the weekend.
For our Big Holiday to New Zealand last year, we managed to get an absolute steal on flights from Jack's Flight Club, that were even cheaper if we flew from Manchester instead of London. What with it not exactly being a local airport, Gary and I decided (well, mostly I decided) that we should stay at the airport the night before we fly.
I'm a bit of a panicker before big things and always imagine the worst case scenario.
- What if the trains are cancelled and we don't make it to the airport?
- What if there are delays and there's no time to get from the station to the airport?
- What if we oversleep and miss the train?
- What if we fall asleep on the train and wake up in Glasgow?
Welcome to what it's like in my brain...
Also, I did feel like continuing my 30th Birthday celebrations a little bit longer and a stay in a hotel seemed like a fabulous idea. Big thumbs up to Gary too for getting us First Class train tickets for a grand total of £60 for both of us. A little bit of extra comfort AND Wi-Fi.
If you didn't know, I'm a mega Premier Inn faingirl (and no, this post isn't sponsored by Premier Inn, just genuine love). After researching hotels at the airport, we realised that the Premier Inn was the best value for quality. I mean, we didn't want to spend hundreds of pounds for just one night, but at the same time we didn't want to end up staying somewhere uncomfortable or grotty. Treat yo' self... but cheap.
After experiencing trying to get to Heathrow on the Tube in the past, I definitely don't want to go through nonsense like that again. It takes way longer than you think it would and no one wants to be weighed down by all the luggage when you're travelling from one end of London to another. It's a pain in the arse and other passengers will tut and hate you.
The journey from the train station was surprisingly easy. Faster than I thought and with the friendliest driver known to man (how you know you're in the North). This made my stupid brain calm down because the whole 'what if we couldn't check in because we were too late?' thing was chucked out of the window. It was all chill and completely hassle free. Amazing after the stressful Must Finish Everything day at work I had!
Staying at the airport, was genuinely one of the best decisions I have made on a long time. There's no better feeling than waking up completely refreshed (thank you, Good Night Guarantee), with my favourite beds known to man. Seriously, I will own one eventually.
A bubble bath before bed, a cup of tea and the typical Family Guy in bed ensured we were totally relaxed and completely stress free because you know the airport is two minutes away. Typically this meant we turned up WAY before check in happened as a result. But something had to go 'wrong' didn't it?