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Hotels General Discussion

AT86 said:
There are fridges in the Arctic Explorer and Moon Voyage Rooms in ATH and all the CBeebies rooms plus the suites. So it depends where you stay.
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I'm staying in a moon voyage room same as my other friend and my other 2 friends are staying in an artic room and other friend is staying in a standard room, all in the main hotel.

Was Ā£110.40 per room for the premium rooms and Ā£95 for the standard, not that bad for August rooms just after bank holiday imo, but it is my first time staying so we'll see.
 
I'll be leaving the theme park around 4pm for my waterpark slot at 4:30pm, think we'll eat at flambos although it's Ā£20 a head with annual pass discount it's all you can eat so hopefully will fill me up properly atleast.

Also looking forward to the minigolf and entertainment and a drink or two at the bar depending on what time that closes.
 
Just in the Alton Towers Hotel listening to quality music such as Baby Shark... I joked the next track would be Black Lace, something like Agadoo or Superman, and then Superman actually comes on šŸ¤£
 
Alsty said:
Just in the Alton Towers Hotel listening to quality music such as Baby Shark... I joked the next track would be Black Lace, something like Agadoo or Superman, and then Superman actually comes on šŸ¤£
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When I popped in for a drink the other night after being the in park (service was actually not that bad) they were playing all that kiddie disco stuff, reminded me of my childhood, I used to love all that sort of stuff, but I do think they could do with a new venue. We sat outside by the lake, was really nice afterwards, letting the carpark exit queue's go down.
 
Stopped on resort last night (17/09). First time in a while. Our usual staple The Chained Oak was fully booked when I enquired and so was everything else near by, so wanting to partake in a beer during Oktoberfest, slumming it on resort was the only option. Managed to get 2 others with us, so made the cost per person OK, but the cost of the room in Splash was still Ā£200. For that price I would be expecting a decent offering.


Check in was done online, Getting room keys is automated now, but the system is very very slow.

The room was OK, but as we found out this morning when taking a shower, water drains very very slowly and water also sprayed everywhere from a leak around where the shower hose is connected to the taps. The new aircon system looks fab. #Sarcasm, its just a fan bolted to the wall :p

Service in the bars seemed fine last night. Short queue at ATH bar but plenty of staff around who were actually serving this time and not trying to look busy as per previous visits, so wait was short. Similar in Margs too.

Then we get to breakfast this morning. Good lord it was awful. On the counters it looked reasonably appealing, but once you tucked in it became obvious that what they try and pass off as food should come with a health warning. The Sausages were inedible. I can't describe how they tasted but one small piece was enough. Bacon was OK, but scrambled eggs were nothing more than tasteless mush. Dave tried pancakes, and again one bite was enough and couldn't eat anymore, saying they were rock hard and seemed 'off'. Coffee was undrinkable. Juices were adequate. Had an Orange too, can't really go wrong with an Orange?

I'm not expecting Michelin star quality for breakfast. It is a buffet breakfast after all, but there is absolutely no reason for them to buy in the cheapest quality food from what ever catering firm supplies them other than to save on costs. When you are paying Ā£200+ a night for a standard room with breakfast that breakfast should be of much better quality.

Shame there is so little availability near by in terms of alternative accommodation. Hopefully back to The Chained Oak next time subject to availability, breakfast there is how it should be done.
 
Having had 2 merlin breakfasts this week, and without going off topic, the TP breakfast minus the rice pudding style scrambled eggs was very nice compared to the CWOA one the next day. Surely the same firm is doing it all ? We have a towers breakfast booked for scarefest, can't say I'm looking forward to it.
 
Mattie boy said:
Having had 2 merlin breakfasts this week, and without going off topic, the TP breakfast minus the rice pudding style scrambled eggs was very nice compared to the CWOA one the next day. Surely the same firm is doing it all ? We have a towers breakfast booked for scarefest, can't say I'm looking forward to it.
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It might be the same egg supplier but even a different chef on a different day might cook in a slightly different style let alone different chefs on different sites.

The pancakes just donā€™t work under the hot lamps. They need to keep them covered and just warm them in the toasters.
 
Mattie boy said:
Having had 2 merlin breakfasts this week, and without going off topic, the TP breakfast minus the rice pudding style scrambled eggs was very nice compared to the CWOA one the next day. Surely the same firm is doing it all ? We have a towers breakfast booked for scarefest, can't say I'm looking forward to it.
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Me and my 4 friends had no issues at our breakfast in the secret garden during my August stay, everything was nice if they mess breakfast up then you know something is wrong.

Flambos was half decent too, granted some of it wasn't great but there was so much selection that it wasn't much of a issue and they were constantly replacing food with fresh food, most of the food was quite nice, I've been to much worse buffets.

It was Ā£20.50 per head with map and that was including mains, drinks and desserts, all hotels were fully sold out and only waited around 15 minutes, had to pay and then queue so I got my friends to queue whilst I paid.

Now I'll just give some thoughts on the rest of the hotel

Our moon voyager and artic rooms were brilliant, in the hotel room was actually quiet all night didn't hear any slamming doors or loud footsteps, was nice to have a couple drinks and wind down at night sat by the lake drinking the Nemesis ale and Heineken.

The water park was great fun, although I would much rather go outside of summer holidays next time because the queues were ridiculous, took so long to get a rubber ring but the master blaster slide was class, water temperature was nice, lots to do also.

Cost side of things well it was Ā£110 for each room, which I was happy with besides my one friend who went for the bog standard explorer room which was Ā£95 which he said was fine for him, I only went because I saw the prices especially for August prices as I see premier inns around the same amount so we went for it.

Considering it included a 4 star hotel, minigolf and breakfast Ā£110 for a themed room and with it being a stone toss away from the theme park, not bad at all.

Didn't really watch any of the evening entertainment as we stayed in park until 7pm and we did the minigolf the morning after.

It was a good first stay for me though, yeah it wasn't perfect you would have expected the mini fridge to not be crammed in a shelf with no circulation preventing it from actually getting cold in a 4 star hotel but looking past the little hiccups it was a brilliant stay and the place has a lot of charm to it and a lot going for it.
 
Yes definitely. We always compare the rate ( plus fuel for heading off site then back again ) versus closest travelodge and premier inn and some independents. We were booked at PI for scarefest yet changed to enchanted village on site for only 20 quid more with breakfast, so cheaper than going off and paying out for breakfast outside the park.
 
The UK's rating system is weak then. I assume a normal Premier Inn is similar ratings?
 
I thought the Alton Towers hotels were all self rated? They're not issued by any third party such as AA or Visit Britain.
 
As above, UK star ratings are only based on whether or not a thing is available. I think the facilities at Splash are comparable to a Premier Inn, so them both being 3 star is reasonable. The issue is quality of breakfast and similar.

In theory Tripadvisor is a quality rating.
Uttoxeter Premier Inn is 4.0 on TA
Splash Landings 3.5
Alton Towers Hotel 3.5

For restaurants on TripAdvisor
Water Bridge Table Table (pub at the Premier Inn) 3.5
Flamboā€™s 3.5
Secret Garden 3.5
 
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