First Impressions
We visited Alton Towersduring the Easter school holidays, and as we pulled up in the car park outside Alton Towers Hotel, my two sons, Odhran, 9, and Reuben, 6, were excited by the sense of impending adventure. The facade of the hotel is inviting, and directly in front of the entrance, there's a lovely big water fountain, featuring a magical flying car, laden with canons and suitcases, which stirs up the feeling of something magical ahead. The boys liked the fact that there were real ducks relaxing on the water. At the entrance, there was a smartly dressed member of staff waiting to welcome guests. As we stepped inside, and Odhran spotted the ornamental Around the World in Eighty Days flying contraption in the middle of the hotel, he said: 'ooh! This feels fancy.'
A walkabout adventurer mascot, encouraging the kids to come along to the evening entertainment, gave the hotel a thematic and unique feel that was certainly getting the boys in the right mood. Leading into the reception area, staff behind the desk were friendly and keen to assist with our check-in process. The boys were running around exploring every inch of the foyer, while we checked in and were given our room keys.
What themed rooms are available?
The hotel offers a huge variety of themed rooms to suit the taste of any age, giving excellent options for all families. The design and decoration of the interiors are nicely executed and, once again, further the experience of your stay.
There are Explorer themes, including Arctic Explorer and Moon Voyage Room, more focused designs like the Gangsta Granny room, Chocolate (Cadbury) room, Coca-Cola room and then bigger rooms like the Splish Splash water themed room, Arabian nights room, Dreamy Den and the Sleepover room - with the potential of sleeping 6 guests.
Our room was the Moon Voyage theme. Straight through the door we had a very clean and spacious bathroom to our left, with spacey adventure wallpaper on the door of a robot sitting on the toilet reading a newspaper, which the boys found hilarious. Slightly further into the room were bunk beds for the kids, nestled into a little nook, with themed wallpaper and carpet, loaded with astronomical design.
The main part of the room had a large bed, a wall mounted TV, with smart features, and similar thematic wallpaper on the statement wall. The window overlooked the courtyard, which had a pleasant view of the water pond and fountain - you could see CBeebies hotel opposite. The boys were thrilled to find a giant teddy sat on the bed, waiting to greet them on arrival, and spent a lot of time cuddling it. They were sad to have to give it up at the end of our stay, and spent a lot of time moving it around the room, including sitting it on the toilet with a loo roll in hand.
Overall I would say that the room has plenty for the eye, and is thoughtfully and tastefully designed. It was just about big enough for the four of us, with the partition and bunk bed nook offering a sense of added space to an otherwise quite compact room. The boys loved having their own little TV, but as is often the case with a single night stay at a theme park, there is so much to do during the day and night that you actually end up spending very little time in the actual room. When it came time to check-out, Reuben was disappointed as he wanted in spend time just chilling in the themed room.
On a practical level, tea and coffee were provided but there was no bottled water. I'm sure it's fine to drink the water from the tap, but if you're a bit funny about that, you might want to bring your own bottled water. There was an iron, ironing board and hairdryer. There were basic toiletries, but I was glad to have brought my own.
What was the evening entertainment like?
We only sampled one evening of entertainment at the hotel as we set off the following day after our time at Splash Landings Waterpark. After reading negative reviews about the food on offer at the restaurants on site, we decided to head out for a meal at a local gastropub, returning at around 8pm. There are lots of lovely local gastropubs but you'd need to have booked in advance, or, like us, you'll end up going quite far afield. The disadvantage of this is you'll then likely miss the kids disco. It's also worth mentioning that a couple of the nearest gastro pubs only do Thai food which might not be suitable for fussy little eaters. If you stay at Alton Towers Hotel, you can avail of the entertainment here or at Splash Landings Hotel. While there were great singing performances downstairs at the centre of Alton Towers Hotel, we decided to follow the corridor by the main reception desk across to Splashing Landings, as the entertainment here seemed more kid friendly. We headed to the bar area, where two Fanta slushies and a medium glass of wine will set you back around £20. We spent a lovely evening watching the performers, who gave it their all, singing well known songs and leading the kids through dance routines and interactive games. The kids made friends on the dance floor and really enjoyed taking part, expressing sadness when we said we were heading back to the room, despite the fact that we'd been at the theme park all day and their eyes were almost closed with exhaustion.
Breakfast at Alton Towers Hotel
At check-in, you are requested to book in your timed slot for breakfast in the Secret Garden restaurant between 7am-10am. We had checked in pretty late and were only able to book in for 9:30am, which was good as the boys slept in following their previous day of fun and activity.
We were impressed by the breakfast on offer. There was a buffet style cooked section - which was regularly topped up - a small bakery section with muffins and pastries, fresh pancakes with maple syrup, fresh fruit, tea, coffee and juice, and cereals. There was no option of having an omelette cooked or anything made to order options, but we left feeling well sated. I ate a vegetarian breakfast, my husband had fruit and pastries and the boys had some hot food followed, of course, by pancakes and muffins. They loved the fact you could help yourself, enjoying the independence of making the decision.
What about the Adventure Golf?
Included in the price of the hotel stay is a round of, ride themed, ‘Extraordinary’ Mini Golf at the 18-hole course adjacent to the hotel. Following breakfast, we went along for a game, and the boys thoroughly enjoyed it. I am not sure it is something we would have paid extra for - which you can do if you’re not staying at the hotel, for £7pp or £4pp with the Merlin pass. The course is a little bit tired and features themes on rides (like the water chute) that are no longer operational. That being said, it is a nice way of passing 30 minutes or so when included in the cost of the hotel stay and we all had fun. Definitely a nice addition to your stay at Alton Towers.
How much does it all cost?
The cost of your stay will vary depending on the room theme you decide to book, and naturally, prices vary between on and off peak dates. But at our time of visiting, on a Friday during the school Easter holidays, the price of the Moon Voyage room was around £200, which we think is excellent value as you get the entertainment, the golf, parking and breakfast included in the price. Prices increase with the more focused rooms like Gangster Granny and Big Pyjama Room.
If you are staying for a special occasion or your child is a David Walliams, Coca-Cola or Cadbury fan etc then maybe it is worth the extra for one of these rooms. However, given how little time will actually be spent in the room I would argue that it’s worth booking the Explorer rooms, which still offer a great sense of adventure and are nicely decorated but save you a lot money.
Other accommodation at the resort
Alongside the Alton Towers Hotel there are a number of other options if you want to tailor your stay to make it extra special. There's the Splash Landings Hotel, where you'll find the wonderful Splash Landings Waterpark. CBeebies Land Hotel, which has its own separate entertainment, and is soon to include a Bluey Room! You can also stay at the Woodland Lodges - very cosy looking log cabins. These seem reasonably priced and offer a sense of luxury and adventure. For an even more luxurious experience you can stay in their Alton Towers' Treehouses. Nestled in the enchanted village, this accommodation is worth considering for a special occasion. Finally, for a camping feel, you can stay in the Stargazing Pods - which are budget ‘glamping’ units offering an affordable and quirky stay.
Tips for visiting Alton Towers Hotel
• Make the most of your time - We were only staying one night at Alton Towers Hotel. Standard check-in time is 3pm and check-out the following morning is at 10am (unless you pay extra for later check-out, which must be added on booking). We really needed to make the most of our limited time. So, we arrived early in the morning. We parked at the hotel, left our bags in the car, and headed straight into the theme park. We spent all day in the theme park before returning to the hotel to check-in. We booked the latest time for breakfast the following morning. Afterwards, we enjoyed the free round of golf included in the booking, before heading to Splash Landings Waterpark, which you need to book as a separate attraction. But by arriving early on the day of check-in and leaving late the following day, it felt like we'd had a full weekend break.
• Get the best value for money - If you're looking to save money on a visit to Alton Towers, it's worth looking to visit at a time when they're running special offers. For example, second day free theme park entry, as this will allow you to make the most of your short break. At the moment (and until 6th November) Alton Towers is offering season-end savings, with second day free theme park entry, plus if you book a mid-week break you get free Fastrack Silver. Visit here to find out more.
• Download the app - this will not only be useful for queue times etc while in the theme park, but it'll also give you the itinerary for the evening entertainment at the hotel. So, you can make sure you've planned your day and don't miss out on anything.
• Pack a bag - when you leave the hotel to head into the theme park, don't forget to pack a bag with everything you might need for the day - suncream, raincoat, sweater. And remember your water bottle, as there are water stations on site to fill up your bottle. There is more to see and do at Alton Towers than is possible to squeeze into a single day. So, while you can get a hand stamp allowing you to leave and re-enter the theme park, you won't want to waste time leaving the park to head back to the hotel to collect something you've forgotten.
Take a Break's verdict
We found the price of around £200 for a night's accommodation at Alton Towers Hotel very reasonable considering we've stayed at basic hotels near attractions for a similar price, and here we got a themed room, which brought a real novelty factor for the kids, the evening entertainment, breakfast, and adventure golf included. We found the staff to be helpful and friendly, and the hotel is only a five minute walk to the theme park entrance. We didn't eat our evening meal at the hotel, but we were happy with the breakfast provided. Overall, we'd rate our stay Alton Towers Hotel 4.5 out of 5.