Hotel at Gatwick

I can't recommend a hotel, but I can recommenced not staying in Gatwick "for a few days". People only ever stay in Gatwick overnight if they have an early departure or a late arrival. There is nothing at Gatwick except the airport.
Gatwick has good rail connections to London and many places on the south coast.
Apart from the first / last night you can stay in Brighton, Lewes, Arundel, Chichester, Portsmouth and many more places with lots to see and easy connections to Gatwick.

Thank you!. We were planning on travelling from Gatwick to London by train for the first day and taking a bus to a local town on the second day. Our flight leaves early the third day.

taking a bus to a local town on the second day

Not a bus, a train.
I suggest you look at this map of train lines in South-east England: https://www.nationalrail.co.uk/London_South_East_expanded-0919.pdf
The light yellow area in the centre is London. This map DOES NOT show all rail lines in London (that is another map), it shows all lines in the surrounding orange area (not to scale).
Gatwick is half way between London and the South Coast, square G6.
As you can see, Gatwick is a hub with lots of connections to the south: Brighton, Lewes, Arundel, Chichester, Portsmouth plus others.
I suggest you read a guide book for southern England, and compare it with this map.

I haven't answered your hotel question, hopefully I have been of some help.

You don’t say where you are coming from. I assume somewhere in Europe and you are flying home from Gatwick. Anything more than an overnight at Gatwick is a waste of time. Even then, unless I were flying in late and out early the next morning I’d opt to stay in London. So much to see and do.

Thank you all, for the great information!

We have the Sofitel booked at Gatwick but there is also a Hilton. We have a very late arrival. Both hotels were reasonable compared to prices at Heathrow.

Thank you!

I have stayed at the Sofitel and the Premier Inn at Gatwick. Both are virtually next to the North Terminal.

It is the only Premier Inn I would not go back to. I have stayed at the Sofitel twice and wouldn't hesitate to stay there again.

Thank you very much!

I've stayed at The Sofitel, the hotel is connected to the North Terminal via a short covered walkway. It's a nice hotel but pricey for an airport one however you're paying for convenience of location. It is not as nice as the one at Heathrow but preferable to the Premier Inn (unless you're on a tight budget).

If I'm flying early from Gatwick then I typically stay overnight and will often take the train direct from Portsmouth to the South Terminal and then a brief ride on the airport shuttle to the North Terminal and straight to the hotel lobby.

ChrisF has provided some good examples of where to visit, I can't think of any towns local to Gatwick via bus that would be of any particular interest.

Thank you for your info.

We stayed at the Hampton by Hilton last Fall. Good price, free breakfast and connected to the terminal.

Thank you for your information.

The Corner House Hotel Guest House, is five minutes from Gatwick and the provide free transportation to and from the hotel.

Update. We were very disappointed, actually angry, with our experience at Sofitel LGW and we love Sofitel’s. The room was run down, mattress was lumpy and old, furniture run down. But the worst thing was that they never made the requested wake up call after we have made two requests for one.

I honestly didn’t think hotels did wake up calls these days.

I know, not everyone has a smartphone. Maybe I wasn’t looking but I stayed in about 25 hotels in the USA and Europe and I didn’t notice any wake up call instructions. In fact, I can only remember one hotel that even had a radio/alarm clock and you could tell it was in serious need of a refurbishment.

I honestly didn’t think hotels did wake up calls these days.

They do. You won't find instructions because you simply ring reception and tell them what you want. Unfortunately in Suki's case this request went unheeded.

Ah ok. I wonder if the person at the front desk honestly had no clue and forgot to mention it to the person who took over for the overnight shift.

I remember it was common for hotel phones to have an automated wake up call feature in the late 1990s/early 2000s. But, I’d guess a place like a Sofitel probably still had humans doing them.

It's all automated, including Sofitel, clearly someone forgot/couldn't be bothered to set it up.

We have stayed numerous time at the Hampton Inn which is attached directly to the North terminal of the airport. The rooms are good size and always very nice and clean. The North terminal is where Easy Jet and Virgin Atlantic flight check-in counters are located. There is also a good pub-style restaurant close by in the terminal.

Joe in Orlando

Thank you. We appreciate everyone who has added comments for our hotel stay!