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The Hotels: A Journey
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
Dave
TS Founding Member
Because if a booking finished 40 minutes before the booking system expects them to that’s not enough time to sit another group.
Basically this is a plan that solves two problems for the resort. First they don’t have a lot of capacity to feed the guests staying and secondly maximising profit.
Not saying I agree with it but that’s the situation.
It's a bit like in 1998 when they started the Virtual Queue trials on Nemesis - on VQ Days it was VQ ticket only all day, up until an hour before ride-close when you could then queue as normal. Generated loads of complaints as the park was often a lot busier then than it is nowadays. If you could get a VQ ticket - great. If not you were stuffed for most of the day. They then started to learn (& look at what the likes of Disney were doing) - merge the two queues. A certain capacity on VQ tickets, but people were always able to join a standby queue at any time.
I do agree that restaurants are a different proposition though, not as though anyone in a standby queue can be "done & dusted" within 5mins like they can on a ride.
At Islands of Adventure in their top restaurant (Mythos) you cannot reserve as such. It's a walk-in & wait system. But if you have registered in advance - normally a few days before - you go to the top of the wait-list when you turn up at your allotted time. You are not seated immediately, but it's normally pretty quick.
I do agree that restaurants are a different proposition though, not as though anyone in a standby queue can be "done & dusted" within 5mins like they can on a ride.
At Islands of Adventure in their top restaurant (Mythos) you cannot reserve as such. It's a walk-in & wait system. But if you have registered in advance - normally a few days before - you go to the top of the wait-list when you turn up at your allotted time. You are not seated immediately, but it's normally pretty quick.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
Hmmmm, this sounds too suspiciously positive. How much did they pay you, or what hallucinating drugs did they give you!?I’ve just returned from an overnight stay in Enchanted Village and wanted to share a few observations.
Positivity warning
First of all, the atmosphere in the ATH atrium is much more pleasant. It was a much more ‘grown up’ affair, including a seemingly revised playlist, quiz game for over 18s on the ship (spot the intro, general knowledge questions, etc.). The entertainment felt far less ‘Butlins’ and also wasn’t so hideously loud that you couldn’t hold a conversation whilst acts were performing.
In Dragon Bar there’s now at least a dozen or so optics along the wall behind the bar with a much wider selection of gins and other spirits.
We dined at Secret Garden, my first time since the recent menu overhaul. Service was good. Despite a little wait to have our order taken, once it was the food was quick coming out. I opted for the salmon as a starter and the blue cheese gnocchi as a main. Both were great. I also noted the amount of salmon you get these days seems a lot more than previously.
Not my Stella!
Also in our group was the mackerel salad and bread sharer for starters, and the pork cutlet and grilled chicken for mains, with a side of mixed greens. Again, all dishes were well presented and good quality. The piece of pork was a good size and thickness.
We noticed the desserts going out to other tables which looked excellent. Again, the portion sizes and presentation of the three or so dishes we saw going by were top notch. I think we were all a little disappointed we had no room for pud after the starter and mains.
Also in SGR I noticed the layout has been rejigged a bit, with a row of coffee machines, water dispensers and juice units now next to the pizza station. The buffet serveries used at breakfast have also been moved further to each end and rotated 90°. It makes the whole restaurant feel much more open and less like it’s in two halves, separated by the buffet counters.
Another nice little touch I noticed was the fountain actually lit and running under the arbour in front of the pizza ovens. A simple thing but which adds a bit more than just a load of plastic plants!
The restaurant wasn’t full, but certainly wasn’t empty. We arrived at 8:30pm and I’d say over half the tables, if not more were filled. There were plenty of staff working too, which I don’t doubt reflected in the service speed and quality.
Whilst I’m still gutted the duck has come off the menu, I still really enjoyed it. Probably the best experience I’ve had in SGR for a few years.
Our lodge was more or less spotless. A slight mark on the corner of the bed runner, but in terms of dust, bathrooms and surfaces it was all up to scratch.
Breakfast this morning in Crooked Spoon was also a pleasant surprise. The restaurant and serveries were clean and presentable.
- Orange and apple juice were served in those big glass stand jugs with the taps on the front, as opposed to the awful rehydrated stuff you usually get (I don’t know if this is also the case in SGR and Flambos, but here’s hoping!)
- The sliced bread for toast was more like a bloomer loaf (albeit thinly sliced) than the generic square white loafs
- On the hot buffet everything we tried was an improvement on past experiences. The dreaded sausages, whilst still not incredible, were certainly an improvement. The potato bites have been replaced with proper hash browns and the mushrooms actually had flavour too! The fried eggs too were much better prepared, and in general everything was still kept well stocked, even up to the end of breakfast service.
We didn’t venture over to Splash, but I have to say ATH and Village were both great and on the whole this was probably the best experience I have had in a very long time.
I do wonder if the F&B front is helped by Aramark now getting more bedded in, implementing changes and redoing menus so that they now have complete control as opposed to what they inherited from Towers F&B. I also ate at Burger Kitchen a couple of weeks ago and noted how much better quality the meal was from there too, with a juicy patty and soft bun.
Fingers crossed it continues on an upward trajectory from here. All these little changes both in the park and the accommodation are promising signs and give me confidence that the new management team have got their finger on the pulse and know what needs to be done. Excited to see what the next few seasons bring.
In all seriousness, that is great to hear. Like you say, hopefully this is part of an upward trend in standards rather than a one off good experience. It really is encouraging though; I've not stayed at the hotels once this year due to how poor it has been over the last couple of years and your experience sounds much improved.
Sazzle
TS Administrator
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
I didn’t realise this. We “reserved” a table for our preferred time and then had a few minutes wait while our table was allocated and readied. It certainly felt like a reservation from a guest perspective! We observed other guests walk up and be told there was no availability until 45 minutes later.
Reviewing the last few pages of this topic tells me the Resort are starting to learn from the mistakes of the last few years (though they should never have happened in the first place).
It will take a number of more positive reports before I set foot back in a hotel room or restaurant on Resort. The damage and extortion have taken a toll!
Steve74
TS Member
Before this positivity gets out of hand, I thought I ought to bring this discussion back down to normal expectation levels. I stayed at Splash on Sat 16th and while the room was clean enough (bathroom spotless, beds ok, carpet hoovered, towels clean, cups clean etc) on closer inspection I found the following, more to do with long term cleaning rather than day to day cleaning between guests:
Dust on the light fittings:
Dust on the curtains and pole:
Condensation/water stains on one of the bathroom light fitting:
But most worrying of all was this:
Luckily, it was me and 2 other adults in the room and the heater wasn't needed. How that got missed or if it was spotted was deemed ok, I'll never know!
Dust on the light fittings:
Dust on the curtains and pole:
Condensation/water stains on one of the bathroom light fitting:
But most worrying of all was this:
Luckily, it was me and 2 other adults in the room and the heater wasn't needed. How that got missed or if it was spotted was deemed ok, I'll never know!
Steve74
TS Member
I didn't no. Was going to email them - is there an address for this type of thing?
AT86
TS Member
Steve74
TS Member
Thanks, I was contemplating using that one but didn't know if that was for the hotels too.
I have emailed them, will post what they come back with.
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They got rid of the desks and if there’s a queue at the only one they have then people won’t bother reporting things.
Steve74
TS Member
Yes that's true but in my case I couldn't find where to put the key cards to check out and as I left the stairs and entered the main reception area there was a member of staff hanging around to help so she took the keys off me. I could've said something then but I'd have been late for my 9 holes of golf...
AT86
TS Member
Short Breaks for 2024 are now available to book. This seems to confirm an opening date for the park of Sat 16th March.
It also appears that Merlin are moving away from Holiday Extras who they have outsourced their hotel bookings to for the past few years.
Bookings from 4th February 2024 use a new system with updated photos and descriptions that appears to be run by "Merlin Entertainments Holidays Ltd".
It also appears that Merlin are moving away from Holiday Extras who they have outsourced their hotel bookings to for the past few years.
Bookings from 4th February 2024 use a new system with updated photos and descriptions that appears to be run by "Merlin Entertainments Holidays Ltd".
djtruefitt
TS Team
It was always better when they did it themselves. I’ve often trief to deal with them in the past and you end up going back and forth trying to get an answer as holiday extras aren’t based at merlin.Short Breaks for 2024 are now available to book. This seems to confirm an opening date for the park of Sat 16th March.
It also appears that Merlin are moving away from Holiday Extras who they have outsourced their hotel bookings to for the past few years.
Bookings from 4th February 2024 use a new system with updated photos and descriptions that appears to be run by "Merlin Entertainments Holidays Ltd".
Steve74
TS Member
Forgot to come back here and update... I emailed Towers and a ticket was raised for my issue. Within a day I had a response with the normal "we're sorry your visit didn't meet our high expectations etc" and they offered me compensation in the form of 40% off my next stay (for the number in my original party) in any accommodation except CBeebies and Stargazers, free entry to the theme park and also free entry to the water park. I replied saying that myself and another member of the party are passholders and they offered 6 solo fasttrack tickets instead of the theme park tickets.
Considering in my email I didn't once say I wanted compensation and wasn't expecting anything, I think their offer is fair considering the issues I raised really didn't affect my stay at Splash in any way.
So fair play to Towers in this instance, all sorted within 3 or 4 days of initially contacting them.
NuttySquirrel
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Batman: Gotham City Escape
I'm pleased that you got a satisfactory resolution, and I think I'd be happy with that as well; however I hope that they're not just using generous discount vouchers for future visits to keep people quiet and gloss over the actual issues they have raised. Whilst a complaint can often be resolved by offering discounts or perks for future visits, this doesn't negatively impact the bottom line - as chances are you wouldn't have come back again without them - and there is no real incentive for them to fix the problem you have raised. What's more likely to actually hurt them and force them to address the issue is having to fork out for a refund, or dealing with bad publicity.
Steve74
TS Member
In fairness to them, fastracks weren't their first offer to me and if I wasn't a passholder they wouldn't even have been offered. Beggars can't be choosers, and I'm grateful and happy with what they have offered me but I think Merlin Money would be a more suitable thing to offer passholders when theme park tickets are offered to non passholders.
Stayed in ATH this weekend in a moon voyage room with some friends. Overall the hotel was fine and it was nice to stay on site again.
But……. Since when do the hotel bars close at 11pm? I know the Dragon Bar used to close earlier but even Splash was all closed at 11. I spoke to a member of staff who said they have been doing this for a while now.
Considering we didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly 10 we wanted to sit down and relax with a few drinks. But come 11 all the music went off, bars closed and everyone was left with nothing to do. We felt a bit like little kids being ushered to bed.
We spoke to some people who were staying in the pods who said they had a 10pm curfew where they were only allowed to be in a pod or in a bar but were not allowed to sit outside.
I understand reasons for doing it but they need something for adults which is open later. As I said before a piano bar would work really well in the Emperor Suite or open the bar in the conference centre.
But……. Since when do the hotel bars close at 11pm? I know the Dragon Bar used to close earlier but even Splash was all closed at 11. I spoke to a member of staff who said they have been doing this for a while now.
Considering we didn’t get back to the hotel until nearly 10 we wanted to sit down and relax with a few drinks. But come 11 all the music went off, bars closed and everyone was left with nothing to do. We felt a bit like little kids being ushered to bed.
We spoke to some people who were staying in the pods who said they had a 10pm curfew where they were only allowed to be in a pod or in a bar but were not allowed to sit outside.
I understand reasons for doing it but they need something for adults which is open later. As I said before a piano bar would work really well in the Emperor Suite or open the bar in the conference centre.