Where to stay before departing from Gatwick?

If you want a hotel with a shuttle to the airport then you'll need to be in the area surrounding Gatwick which your post suggests you don't want. If you want to stay in an attractive village you'll have to make your own way to the airport.

Dorking is a nice Surrey town with great countryside around and you can get a direct train from Dorking Deepdene to Gatwick in 25mins.

Thank you for suggesting Dorkin. Will look into that.

If the family have never been to a vineyard before Denbies vineyard makes a nice trip.

Dorking is a London commuter town surrounded by some nice countryside, which is easiest to access by car and many of the trains involve a change to reach Gatwick.

Alternatives with direct train access include Horsham (also a pretty London commuter town) or Lewes, which would be my choice. Lewes has some interesting historical attractions such as Anne of Cleves House and the Castle and is within easy reach of the South Downs and some of the most attractive villages in the south of England, including Alfriston, Jevington, Rottingdean and Rodmell. It’s about 30 minutes by direct train to Gatwick.

Lewes was well-recommended here, and I had a look around on Street View. Found it quite appealing! That would be our choice, although in the end we decided against flying through Gatwick.

One mans commuter town is another's retirement dream!
https://www.discoverdorking.com/

Sorry about the typo. Corrected now.

The Corner House Hotel, it’s five minutes from the airport and they provide free transportation to the airport.

Thanks again for all the suggestions.