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The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon), Crawley
Gatwick Airport
Postal town: Crawley
RH6 0PJ
Pub Type
J D WetherspoonReviews (Current Rating Average: 4 of 10) see review guidelines
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Just a quick pint, then I'm off left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
One of the better airport 'spoons, although having fewer tables than customers in the rather cramped main seating / dining area in front of the bar counter means there is usually a queue. However, there is also additional seating in an upstairs area (that used to have a view across the airport but this is sadly now blocked by a wing of extra aircraft gates), but you have to ask before you go up there. Surprisingly, on this visit I found four Twickenham real ales among the eight handpump in addition to Doom Bar.
On 18th August 2022
- rating: 6
[User has posted 8086 recommendations about 8086 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Blue Scrumpy left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
Very busy airside bar in Gatwick's North Terminal. The main bar area is separated from a much larger seating area by a walkway. I bypassed the main seating area to take a look at the pumpclips at the bar to see if I fancied a drink whilst waiting for a flight.
The usual Sharp's Doom Bar & Ruddles Best were on, along with 3 guest beers which appeared to be part of a Wetherspoon's festival. The 3 were Twickenham Autumn Red, Hogs Back Citrus & Hook Norton Off the Hook.
Returning to a podium at the entrance to the main seating area, we had to wait a few minutes to be seated and were led to a high table towards the edge of the bar area.
We were informed that ordering was by the app. Although I later saw others ordering at the bar, which I wish I had done. My first choice was the Citrus, which tasted nothing of the sort. I then ordered the Off the Hook, which looked and tasted exactly the same. I'm almost 100% sure that I ended up with 2 halves of the Hook Norton beer.
A fairly soulless place where the staff clearly get the orders wrong and drinks are overpriced for the captive audience. 3 guest beers was a good sign, but unfortunately the positives ended there.
On 31st October 2021
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2452 recommendations about 2451 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Steve C left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
I have been through the North Terminal a few times recently and I am yet to see the end of the bar queue finish within the Red Lion’s boundary, which is marked by an unmissable neon sign. Thankfully the staff are switched on so the wait is no longer than five minutes. The bar is stocked with standard and premium keg products and I counted five cask ale hand pumps. The usual JDW food menu is in place, but unsurprisingly the prices are inflated compared to the high street. The atmosphere is non-existent, but people don’t generally go to the airport to have a few beers. I suppose I’ve been in worse.
On 10th July 2017
- rating: 4
[User has posted 5233 recommendations about 5201 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Quinno _ left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
North Terminal Spoons beyond public entry. Brilliantly gaudy signage greets you, a jumbo RED LION to be seen from the far end of the walkway. The bar upper is tile and wood with barrel ends jutting out. Cafe bar stylings in terms of furniture and decor. There is far too much seating squashed in making it a nightmare to get back and forth as people and their baggage get in the way. Also a large part of the place basically spills out onto the original concourse, so there’s little to no atmosphere. Five ales on from staid nationals - Pride, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Hobgoblin, Doom Bar and Pedigree. Expensive by JDW standards, the Deuchars was £3.80 before discount and the Pride £4.20. Both of them were under-par, the Deuchars especially so, tasting of old tin cans. I didn’t, at least, encounter the appalling staff service levels that other reviews seem to have been blighted by. I have to admit I’d think twice before using this one again. At least it’s not Southampton airport bar, I suppose.
On 1st November 2016
- rating: 3
[User has posted 5072 recommendations about 5055 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Pub SignMan left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
This is a Wetherspoons pub located airside in Gatwick Airport's North Terminal. Like most of Wetherspoons' airport venues, this place has an open plan feel, with blurred boundaries that result in people spreading out beyond the confines of the bar area and generally getting in everyone's way. The pub has been given a bright, modern café style look, with distressed floorboards through most of the bar area which also appear on the bar counter and some of the walls. The servery is to the rear, with a high windowed bar back with white tiles above and a large shelving system which holds various seemingly random glass, pottery and copper artefacts. The seating in the main bar area is predominantly high padded metal stools around small high tables, although some short padded bench booths can be found around parts of the perimeter. There is a large LED light display above the entrance that certainly makes the pub easy to spot from across the terminal building and should the bar area get too cramped, there is an overspill area across the walkway out front, which has some comfier seating and a few potted plants to liven things up a little.
I never really expect much when drinking in an airport bar, but I do expect some degree of competence from the staff, so it was a shame to see utter chaos at the bar, with staff selecting customers at random and an impromptu queue system forming at one end, provoking arguments between clued up pub goers and bemused travellers. I somehow managed to get served in amongst all this madness, but I was treated to an almost comical go-slow performance from the barmaid and easily the grumpiest service I've seen this year. I came away with a half of the Brewster's Et Citra Et Citra which was flat and slightly hazy but the prospect of having to head back to the bar was too much to bear, so I quietly struggled through it, cheering myself up with thoughts of my impending holiday.
A really dire experience then, and one which really didn't need to be so bad. The bar area is actually quite nicely set out and looks a lot better than many other airport bars I've found myself in, but the poor beer and staff attitude is unacceptable and if this is the best Wetherspoons can come up with, I'd rather go without the traditional 'last pint of ale' before flying out of here in the future.
On 28th November 2015
- rating: 2
[User has posted 3114 recommendations about 3114 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
john mcgraw left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
This pub is for airline passengers only.
On 1st August 2015
- no rating submitted
[User has posted 2044 recommendations about 2025 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
E TA left this review about The Red Lion (JD Wetherspoon)
An over-busy, under-staffed airport bar in the Departures Lounge with a non-ale serving annex at Gate 105. It's garish and bright, but there is a window where you can sit and watch the runway, and there is a flightboard in the bar. Four handpumps on the bar, but only two ales on and the staff didn't understand the idea of turning or removing the clips. I opted for a pint of Hobgoblin which was much too cold, well past its best and frankly not enjoyable. Have your FILO pint landside before flying, and avoid the cooked breakfast if you don't like poorly prepared food.
On 8th September 2014
- rating: 4
[User has posted 3281 recommendations about 3246 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Rex Rattus left this review about The Red Lion
This one is easy to find – it’s on the same level as you exit the security area. Look over to the right and the red neon “Red Lion” sign gives a big clue as to where it is. When I was in there the other day there were four ales on, with nothing to get too excited about. I recall there being London Pride, Abbot and a couple of others. This is a smallish bar on the side of the building thus affording some views over the airport. There really is nothing special about it, except that it is the best bet if airside at Gatwick North to get a decent pint. I’m sure that I’ll end up back in here at some time.
On 9th October 2012
- rating: 5
[User has posted 2606 recommendations about 2520 pubs]
Please Note: This review is over a year old.
Old Blue left this review about The Red Lion
I remember this as one of the better small airport JDWs, although they do seem to have hiked up their airport prices since I last went to one. It offers four ales plus the usual other selection. Yesterday, however, I was served an undrinkable pint of Spitfire, and on taking it back was told that the Pride and Red Lion Ale were both off, leaving me with no choice but Abbot. This didn't strike me as a great choice, particularly given that on hearing I was not happy with the beer, the chap next to me had just asked if I was on the Abbot, as he was nursing a bad pint of that. I did risk an Abbot, and as it was drinkable but not great, on balance am just about glad I did that rather than asking for a refund, but that might have more to do with it being my last chance to have a real ale for a week than anything else. The staff didn't particularly seem to care much about the place either. I do hope yesterday's experience was an aberration and not now the norm.
On 31st July 2011
- rating: 2
[User has posted 271 recommendations about 270 pubs]