The Alton Towers Hotel is centred around the wacky inventions of Sir Algenon Alton, with his five-storey time machine parked right in the middle of the foyer! Throughout the Hotel are relics from his travels around the globe, from the reception desk made of lost luggage, to the massive chair on the next floor down (always providing a perfect photo opportunity!).

Guests will find magical touches scattered throughout the hotel for them to discover, notably the magical lifts and Sir Algenon’s doorbell (which should always be rung before entering the hotel). The style and décor is generally more sophisticated than it’s next door neighbour hotel, and you’ll find the Resort’s award winning Spa nestled on the far side of the hotel.

So pull up a giant chair, order your favourite tipple and unwind at the Resort’s original hotel.

Standard Rooms

Attraction Themed Rooms

Other Themed Rooms

Food & Drink

For those who enjoy a slightly classier dining experience, the Alton Towers Hotel offers the Secret Garden Restaurant:

Secret Garden Restaurant

The Secret Garden offers delicious freshly-prepared meals in a relaxed, tranquil setting and is located off the main atrium on the ground floor. The restaurant’s menu changes seasonally and sometime includes less than conventional hotel delicacies such as crocodile steaks.

Although the individual meals are not cheap, if you are not a big eater you may find this restaurant more to your taste and easier on the wallet than the all-you-can eat option at Splash Landings Hotel. The Restaurant can get very busy and demand is often high so we highly recommend pre-booking your table to avoid disappointment.

Dragon Bar

Located on the ground floor, with tables spilling up around the atrium, the Dragon Bar is perfect for those who want
to relax over a drink in the evening, or to sit while their children enjoy the antics of the magic show, Darwin the Dodo, or the music of the ships singers.

This drinks on offer vary from both pump and bottled beers and ciders; to wine, spirits and cocktails. There is also an alcohol free children’s cocktail menu available so young-ones can enjoy a refreshing drink with their parents.

Captain’s Bar

When the Dragon Bar is a little busy, as if by magic a wall in the atrium moves aside and another bar magically appears. This bar Was refurbished for the 2020 season and offers a similar selection of products as the Dragon Bar But also has a wide variety of gins available and uses the seating provided in the Atrium.

The Coffee Portal

An ideal spot to grab a cuppa before you head out for your day on park, the Coffee Portal is conveniently located in the reception of the Alton Tower Hotel.

The portal opened in 2016, in the shop front that had formerly been an annual pass desk and most recently been used as the reception for the Altonville Motel during the 2012-2013 Scarefests.

Entertainment

The Atrium

The atrium is the centre-piece of the Alton Towers Hotel and is also the place to grab light mid-day snacks. The lunch menu is generally a specialist sandwich fayre and is more expansive than the pre-packaged sandwiches available at the Coffee Shack in Splash Landings hotel.

The atrium is also linked to the two bars at the hotel and is the perfect place to take your drinks to watch the evening entertainment.

Hotel History

In March 1996 Alton Towers opened their first themed hotel to the public, marking the start of Alton Towers’ transformation from day-out into a short break destination. The hotel was not the first attempt the park had made at encouraging guests to stay over, with the 1970s having seen the current car park’s used for a caravan and camping site, which had been scrapped after a disastrous storm stuck the site.

The Alton Towers Hotel was set to follow the lead from some international parks, who had already successfully turned themselves into full resorts by encouraging guests to return to their parks for a second day of adventure by offering accommodation. Many year’s of planning went into the hotel, during which time other accommodation alternatives were considered, such as a village of self contained villas on the site, though eventually the park decided on the fully themed hotel idea, the first of its kind in the UK.

Several of the hotel’s opening features closed within the early years of the hotel, as the park discovered what worked and what didn’t, but it was not until Splash Landings opened in 2003 that large scale renovations began to take place within the Hotel and within the first few years of the new hotel opening, the Pirate’s Lagoon swimming pool had been replaced by the Spa and almost all of the rooms in the hotel had been renovated, with the standard rooms all becoming Discovery Rooms, and several of the themed suites being replaced.

Equally the new Conference Centre freed up the original hotel’s conference suite for more varied uses, from being used for Room 13, one of the resort’s earlier Halloween Scare Mazes, through to its current use as a restaurant during the peak times of the year.

Past Suites and Rooms

When the Alton Towers Hotel opened all of the rooms were themed to some extent, with even the standard rooms themed to one of two designs.

Explorer Rooms

One of these designs was the Explorer Room, which invited guests into a world of adventure, with a secret drawer to be discovered and  decoration based around a vintage map. Around the room could be found various trinkets brought back from Sir Algenon’s travels, including a lamp made from the boots of Captain Henry Morgan. The original Explorer Rooms are the rooms that contain double bed and a set of bunk beds, and were rethemed into Discovery Rooms in 2003 after the opening of Splash Landings.

Garden Rooms

The other half of the rooms at the Alton Towers Hotel (those without bunk beds) were the Garden Rooms and as you might expect these were much more traditional in style, with strong floral motifs around the room and wallpaper inspired by trellis. Despite the more traditional theme, the hotel still brought quirky details into the rooms, such as with lamps made out of watering cans and straw hats. In 2003, all of the garden rooms were rethemed into Discovery Rooms (now the modern Explorer Rooms), though you can still tell if your room used to be a Garden Room if it doesn’t contain bunk beds.

Princess Suite

When the hotel first opened, it had two luxury hotel suites for two people located on the upper floor of the hotel. Alongside the Arabian Nights Suite, the Princess Suite offered pampered luxury for those who wanted to spend a night in their very own fairytale medieval castle.

Offering a much more traditional style, the Princess Suite was always the less popular of the two luxury suites, and so in 2005 it was amongst the first set of themed suites to be replaced. The Princess Suite was replaced by the family friendly Imperial Suite (now the Splish Splash Suite), though hidden reminders of the suite can still be seen in both the Splish Splash Suite and Big Pyjama Suites, which both reused various pieces of furniture from the Princess Suite.

Coca-Cola Fizzy Factory

In 1996, the new hotel brought new sponsorship opportunities to Alton Towers with Coca-Cola sponsoring the Fizzy Factory, bringing a refreshing night’s sleep to any guests staying in this ‘olde worlde’ drinks factory, complete with all you could drink from an old fashioned drink fountain. The suite, located on the top floor of the hotel, could sleep up to six and was a popular choice for guests, so much so that when the suite was removed in 2004 the “all you can drink” concept (and some of the furniture) was retained in the new Celebration Suite. The Fizzy Factory itself was replaced by the Big Pyjama Suite.

Cadbury’s Chocolate Room

The other sponsored room that opened with the hotel in 1996 was the Cadbury’s Chocolate Room, which allowed guests to relax amidst surroundings that Willy Wonka himself would be proud of. As well being themed as though it was a selection of chocolate bars and treats, the room offered it’s guests as much chocolate as they could eat, some of which could be found in vintage-looking vending contraptions, which adorned the walls. There is still a Chocolate Room in the hotel today, though this is much smaller than the original and located on the floor below. The original Chocolate Room closed in 2003 to be replaced by the Celebration Suite.

Nemesis Room

For many years the brave could test their nerve by spending the night under the watchful gaze of the Nemesis monster in this unique themed room. The Nemesis Room did not open with the hotel, but arrived one year later in 1997, a sign of the success of the hotel’s themed suite programme and their desire to expand the offering. Unlike the original themed suite, the Nemesis Room was created out of one of the hotel’s standard rooms and could therefore only sleep four people.

Despite its late arrival on the scene the Nemesis Room was one of the first to be removed in 2003; the idea of sleeping beneath the Nemesis monster possibly dissuading potential customers from booking. It was replaced by the new Chocolate Room, a style which is a world away from the room’s monstrous past.

Oblivion Room

1998 saw the hotel expand it’s themed suite offering once again, one of the new rooms being based around Oblivion, the park’s latest coaster project, which offered a very modern theme, and was very different to that offered by all the other themed suites. As with the other additional themed rooms added after the initial four, the Oblivion Room was created out of the standard room stock, and likely saw two standard room knocked together to create a suite that could sleep up to six.

The Oblivion Room was one of the few rooms to survive the first round of room rethemes in 2004, but even then its days were numbered and was removed two years later. In 2006 the futuristic and rather stark Oblivion Room made was for the girly opulence of the Sleepover Suite.

Tatty Teddy Rooms

If the cuddly world of teddy bears is your idea of a perfect place for a short break then these were the rooms for you. Arriving at the resort in 2007, both Tatty Teddy rooms were designed to be able to sleep up to four guests, though the Dreamy Den was aimed at couples on a romantic break, whilst the Hidden Hideway was more family orientated.

You could immerse yourself in the world of Tatty Teddy in these beautifully realised suites through to 2014, when Tatty Teddy left the resort. The two rooms still exist in the hotel today, though without their Tatty Teddy branding, and are now both aimed at luxury breaks for grown-ups, with pampering gifts and a bottle of Prosecco upon arrival.

Sonic the Hedgehog Room

This is a gamer’s dream room! With its own dedicated gaming area you can play your way through a catalogue of Sonic’s adventures. If you dream of falling to sleep in the Green Hill Zone surrounded by super-speeding blue hedgehogs, then this is the room for you. Sonic sped his way into the Alton Towers Hotel in time for the 2010 season.

Sonic stayed at the hotel until the end of 2016 and was replaced by the Princess Room for the 2017 season.

Mike The Knight

Make yourself at home with Mike and his friends in the Kingdom of Glendragon. Do you have what it takes to become a knight? Take part in the Mike the Knight magical treasure quest challenge to find a special reward! This room sleeps up to five people. It opened in May 2014 with CBeebies Land and was the first of the CBeebies themed rooms to be removed, closing part way through 2018.

Past Facilities

Pirate’s Lagoon

The original pool complex opened with the hotel in 1996 and was located in a secluded spot at the very end of the building, beyond the guest bedrooms. As the name suggests the pool was themed around a fantasy pirate’s hideaway and as such the walls were adorned with sumptuous hand-drawn murals, creating a truly unique atmosphere. Above the swimming pool, looking out over the action was a large games room, which was home to Pirate Bill’s Kids Club.

Unfortunately, for the size of the hotel, the pool complex was rather small, which meant that for much of the year capacity was strictly limited and sessions had to be booked to use to the pool. And so, when a second hotel was planned, this situation was rectified by the inclusion of a full waterpark as part of the new development. This meant that Pirate’s Lagoon and the connected games room were both closed mid-way through 2003, before being transformed into the Alton Towers Spa we see today.

Time For Tea

When the hotel first opened, on top of the food and drink offerings seen today, there was also a traditional tea shop on offer, for those looking for a lighter bite than the Secret Garden offered or just looking for elevenses once they’d checked out. Time For Tea’s shop façade was located on the entrance level in the opposite corner to the reception desk, though its seating spread throughout the area.

It would seem the shop was less than popular, which when combined with its awkward position resulted in it’s closure within the first couple of seasons of the hotel’s opening. Despite it’s long absence, remains of Time for Tea can still be seen around the hotel lobby, from its shop front, which is now used for the sale of Park Tickets and upgrades, through to decoration, with the walls of clocks being left from these times gone by.

Nickelodeon TV Lab

Another opening attraction for the hotel was the Nickelodeon TV Lab, a highly themed TV Room, where classic Nickelodeon shows were on tap throughout the day, the perfect way to unwind after a busy day on park.

Nickelodeon’s connection to Alton Towers was relatively short-lived, and it is likely that the TV Lab closed at the same time as Nickelodeon: Outta Control in 1999. It is unclear as to exactly when the transformation occurred, but the TV Lab is now used as the Alton Towers Hotel’s Game Room.

The Emperor Grill

Enjoy your meal in Sir Algenon’s own study, seated amongst the many weird and beautiful objects he has collected during his travels.

The Emperor Grill was a dedicated restaurant for those carnivores who love to get stuck into a big piece of meat.  As well as steaks there was a range of skewers and burgers to tempt every meat-eaters dream.