• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

General Hotel Discussion

You'd be surprised how little actually glows under UV. I should know, I have a 4" foot UV tube in my lighting rig, and my house is filthy! :p
 
Well, looks like Merlin logic strikes again. In the year that they open a new CBeebies hotel and announce an expansion to the Enchanted Village... Splash Landings is closed until May 2018. Why do they continue to build new hotels, but have one of their existing hotels closed?:banghead:

On a side note, is the EV open over winter now? Or is it still theme park season only like in 2015? Also, I saw that they are erecting a tipi in the Enchanted Village. Does anyone know whether this is permanent or temporary for Christmas?
 
I don’t understand the issue? Whilst the theme park is closed they don’t need the extra Hotel capacity.
CBeebies rooms are designed to be child friendly, which are the group most likely to attend on weekdays. Also it just generally makes sense to have your newer better rooms available.
 
There is an issue.

There's no f&b option after 11pm with Splash closed.

Last orders 10.50pm.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
AstroDan said:
There is an issue.

There's no f&b option after 11pm with Splash closed.

Last orders 10.50pm.

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I stayed in Alton Towers Hotel on Sunday after the fireworks and they were serving pizza (in cardboard pizza boxes) and chips (in polystyrene trays!) in the bar/atrium area at 11pm. The bar announced at 11:15 that further food orders would be from reception and not the bar. So I think they have added some late night food provision to ATH.
BUT outside of ScareFest and Fireworks I don't see a big need for food after 11pm. Maybe if there is a big conference, as heavy drinkers might want a late night snack, but particularly during the winter most people will eat at a normal time.

Service at the bar on Sunday was a big issue though. There was still a queue at 11:10 and they shut the shutters between Dragon bar and the atrium, leaving one panel open for the queue. Then they started taking beer taps apart, without telling us in the queue. It just really really felt like the customers were an inconvenience.
 
Last edited:
jon81uk said:
BUT outside of ScareFest and Fireworks I don't see a big need for food after 11pm. Maybe if there is a big conference, as heavy drinkers might want a late night snack, but particularly during the winter most people will eat at a normal time.
Click to expand...

I had an ex once who was Type 1 Diabetic and she would often have hypoglycemic fits late at night. When that happens to a person with Type 1, just giving them a sugary drink or a biscuit isn't enough (only a quick fix), so they need to eat.

We only had one issue at Towers but luckily as Dan said, Splash Landings would serve food all night. No problem.

For a resort which is plonked in the middle of nowhere, they MUST have food available 24 hours from somewhere. It's not a case of just satisfying late night drinkers and snackers.
 
PeteB said:
For a resort which is plonked in the middle of nowhere, they MUST have food available 24 hours from somewhere. It's not a case of just satisfying late night drinkers and snackers.
Click to expand...

I understand why it could be an issue for diabetics, but there a lot of hotels that don't offer any 24hr food service, both in cities and the countryside, its not something I would always expect to be available.

Less relevantly, this is also where the demand pricing gets weird, paying under £150 a night, I'm not sure I would expect a hotel to have room service or 24hr food,. Paying £250+ a night and yes I expect 24hr room service.
 
Maybe there's a secret passage linking the kitchens in both hotels that we don't know about?
 
The main issue is the fact that because ATR is in the middle of nowhere, it is an absurdity that after 11pm, you cannot buy a pint.

The only reason that they are opening Enchanted Village rather than Splash Landings is a) EV rooms go for more and b) It is cheaper to run EV
 
Surely with Splash having the water park open to the GP then they're still having to light, heat, and staff half of the building? Plus the revenue potential from the bar, the restuarant, the shop and the arcade?

It makes far more sense to close EV over winter.
 
I've found myself having to use the late night pizza option at Towers on a couple of occasions.

Once when we got stuck in traffic on the way back from Legoland and didn't check in to ATH until 23:30. The second time was at Scarefest when I got off Rita at gone half 9 and didn't get back to the hotels until late. A hotel complex in the middle of nowhere with the capacity the place has needs a 24hr food option.

I'm a late night animal too and have been in Splash many times at the bar late at night. I live in a town where we're surrounded by 24hr Supermarkets and pubs that serve past midnight in many places. I'd find it odd to have everything shut at 11pm.

Mind you, the bar being open in Splash "until all guests are gone" is a complete myth. Been amongst the last few customers in there late at night and tend to shut around 1am without even telling you.
 
matthewgcole said:
Mind you, the bar being open in Splash "until all guests are gone" is a complete myth. Been amongst the last few customers in there late at night and tend to shut around 1am without even telling you.
Click to expand...

YES!! This is another annoyance I've not had a chance to moan about yet. Twice in the past couple of years I've been kicked out of the bar at 12am because they didn't want to serve us and the other couple of people any more.

They should be forced to stay open until their advertised closing time.
 
Glad I'm not the only one who noticed this! It's happened to me 3 times in a year. If they're going to close at 12 or 1 because they can't staff it, they should at least have the decency to say so.

I asked in the summer at the ATH reception what time they close the bar in Splash and the lady said 2am. Got over there for around 12:30, a few people there, managed to get a pint in and went back to the bar to find the shutters down.

Asked 2 weeks ago at the bar itself when they close and he said "we carry on serving until the last customer has gone". 20 mins later, closed the bar when I went up for another pint.

Don't get me wrong, I understand staff need to go home etc. But at least they could just say a time like 1am or something and stick to it.

4 pack picked up from Tesco Express in Uttoxeter next time for me.
 
jon81uk said:
Service at the bar on Sunday was a big issue though. There was still a queue at 11:10 and they shut the shutters between Dragon bar and the atrium, leaving one panel open for the queue. Then they started taking beer taps apart, without telling us in the queue. It just really really felt like the customers were an inconvenience.
Click to expand...

Must have seen you around that queue on Sunday evening then!

I was somewhat of a joke. We arrived at the Dragon Bar at what must have been about 11.10pm ish to see that there was a huge queue for the bar (surprise surprise) and the shutters were mostly shut. The seating areas were all fairly full with guests willing to spend their money on some end of season drinks.

Alton Towers had other ideas!

As we queued all beer on tap ran out with no replacements (becuase they were getting ready to close). I saw a couple of people just leave the queue because of this. Soon after we had ordered our bottle of wine the bar did indeed close and needless to say the seating areas swiftly emptied. Were all of these people just planning on going to bed anyway? Of course not!

Alton Towers were quite simply turning away money, it really is beyond belief!

On a related but seperate note, on our walk over to ATH from the Enchanted Village we did have a quick look to see if the Crooked Spoon was open to grab a drink there. Silly really, we should have known that the doors would have been locked!

:)
 
jon81uk said:
I don’t understand the issue? Whilst the theme park is closed they don’t need the extra Hotel capacity.
CBeebies rooms are designed to be child friendly, which are the group most likely to attend on weekdays. Also it just generally makes sense to have your newer better rooms available.
Click to expand...
I didn't mean that there was an issue with them closing Splash during closed season. I'm sure they'd make huge losses keeping it open. I more meant why are they building more hotels when Splash is closed? On a side note, I'm glad to see EV open this winter.
 
Matt N said:
why are they building more hotels when Splash is closed?
Click to expand...

Because the Splash rooms are small and aren't as family friendly. For a "standard" room you can have an Explorer room at ATH, if you have kids then a Moon Voyager, CBeebies or Enchanted Lodge room makes more sense as the bunkbeds are more private with and the room is bigger. Bigger rooms means you can charge more. Then during peak season when you need lots of hotel rooms you have them available.

Rob said:
As we queued all beer on tap ran out with no replacements
Click to expand...

It hadn't run out, I got the bar staff to remove the cling film and serve me beer as I was pissed off with their poor communication about closing times.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top