Tomorrow we have an earlyish flight to Lefkosa, Cyprus.  In fact our flight is not until 1025 and normally this would mean leaving the house between 7 and 730 in order to get to London Gatwick in time for a 2 hour check in window.  However, at the moment there are large roadworks on the M20, the M26 and the M23 and this has increased the journey time to over 2 hours.  So, in order to avoid a really early start and a lot of stress, we are staying the night at Gatwick at the Courtyard by Marriott, South Terminal.

Taking a few things out for the house this time: a new electric saw/hedge cutter to supplement our petrol one.  A Nespresso coffee machine – we have a spare now – to add to the kitchen equipment.  We already have a big electric Pavoni espresso/cappuccino machine in the kitchen but it is a bit complicated to use – it’s a scaled down version of the professional machines you see in coffee shops.  So, the pod machine will be a useful addition.  The only problem is that last time we looked, you could not buy coffee pods in the north.  You can get them in the south in supermarkets but not in the north.  So, we have bought some of the refillable pods to leave out there so that guests can buy ground coffee, put it into the pods and use the new machine.  Will be interesting to give it a try.  We have so many different coffee options: drip machine, cafetiere, stove top espresso makers, the Pavoni, the new Nespresso and of course…. the kettle!!!

As it happened, traffic was pretty light and we made it in just over an hour.  We checked in, got the luggage to the room and then Bob took the car to the airport for our Meet and Greet parking.  We got a really good deal this time.

So… a nice dinner in the hotel and an early night.  Can definitely recommend the Courtyard.  Tomorrow we are going to take the hotel shuttle to the terminal (£3 every 20 minutes from 4am.  You can walk it in 15 minutes (Bob did on the way back from cropping the car off) but we’ve got luggage and its just not worth the effort.