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Hotels General Discussion
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
Matt.GC
TS Member
"Oh no it isn't!"...... (sorry)
Your actually quite right it’s the oh no it isn’t NYE package.
No evening entertainment
No extended bar opening hours
No midnight countdown
On a serious note though, most hotels across the country will be doing something for NYE. Here we have Alton towers hotels m, family hotels in a theme park resort which are doing nothing.
Past years their NYE events were always a sell out. What went wrong to stop them continuing to do them?
jon81uk
TS Member
Not sure they will be. There is a huge number of hotels that are just hotels, many without any bar. I expect significantly less than half the hotels in the country do something for NYE.
I’d assume the cost of staff and the availability of staff wanting to work that night. I expect if it was significantly profitable they would still hold those events.
I agree that while your average premier inn, travelodge and ibis isn’t going to do doing anything, family hotels or resort hotels which are more than just a hotel will probably be doing something.
Imagination
TS Member
I agree with Gary...this isn't your standard hotel. The whole point of staying on resort (theme park open or not) is for the experience and luxury of entertainment and offerings like the golf or water park.
Over the years we've seen the resort slowly fall apart...lack of investment, entertainment cuts, outdated golf, loss of tree top high ropes, loss of spa and extremely poor upkeep (look at the stargazing pods).
It really is time for the entire resort side to have a shake up and proper investment. Yet, with what is going on within Merlin currently, I fear this will not happen.
Look at Europa for Christmas - the resort is alive with entertainment! All hotels have unique offerings - even if it is just a late night bar. Rulantica is open until 10pm! Towers could really excel and offer such an amazing Christmas offering with partial park opening and a stellar resort experience. However, I fear we're just getting closer and closer to a larger shutdown of the resort side during winter than a unique winter offering.
It's almost like they think their only market is families with young children so no one would want a late-night water park or golf course but they really couldn't be more wrong. Their market is much broader than they want to think it is.
Over the years we've seen the resort slowly fall apart...lack of investment, entertainment cuts, outdated golf, loss of tree top high ropes, loss of spa and extremely poor upkeep (look at the stargazing pods).
It really is time for the entire resort side to have a shake up and proper investment. Yet, with what is going on within Merlin currently, I fear this will not happen.
Look at Europa for Christmas - the resort is alive with entertainment! All hotels have unique offerings - even if it is just a late night bar. Rulantica is open until 10pm! Towers could really excel and offer such an amazing Christmas offering with partial park opening and a stellar resort experience. However, I fear we're just getting closer and closer to a larger shutdown of the resort side during winter than a unique winter offering.
It's almost like they think their only market is families with young children so no one would want a late-night water park or golf course but they really couldn't be more wrong. Their market is much broader than they want to think it is.
jon81uk
TS Member
I would say in the Christmas period family is the main market as it’s only a small selection of family rides open in the park and they don’t want to encourage large groups of adults in the water park because it is isn’t big enough for all the family groups anyway. Rulantica is huge compared to Cariba Creek with dedicated adult only spaces, it makes sense to have long hours for adult groups.
Whereas AT is aiming for families who want to take a child to see Santa. They’ve been doing the Santa Sleepover event for 15+ years and it seems to do well for them.
I think complaints about the waterpark opening hours during main season are justified, it should be open to 10pm in the summer. But don’t see the need to “fix” the Santa Sleepover events as they aren’t broken.
djtruefitt
TS Team
The way they keep promoting the Santa sleepovers on social media and emails says to me they aren’t selling that well this year. I remember pre covid all hotels would sell out.
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
Towers don’t even need to look that far in terms of their Christmas event offerings, Towers’ former sister park, Trentham Gardens (also owned by Blackstone), has a thriving Christmas and out-of-peak season offering.
Bizarre how different both estates are considering they’re owned by the same investment firm, and at either end of the same city. The only major differences seem to be that Trentham has more infrastructure around them with a more central location and the fact that Trentham has established their event and consistently invested in it, whereas Towers kind of gave up as soon as Lightopia went bankrupt…
It would be so easy to chuck up some lights in the gardens to create a lightning trail, something that would entice more people, give hotel guests something to do, cost literally nothing.
I would love to get to experience the gardens at night like before.
Another very cheap Christmas overlay which could be easily implemented and marketed to the crazy golf.
But you could say the same with fire pits, marshmallows and hot chocolates but they just simply don’t? So to be honest they deserve to have guest numbers down/less profit for the experience they offer. People aren’t daft and will rather travel elsewhere to a much better offering for all the family. I don’t blame them.
I would love to get to experience the gardens at night like before.
Another very cheap Christmas overlay which could be easily implemented and marketed to the crazy golf.
But you could say the same with fire pits, marshmallows and hot chocolates but they just simply don’t? So to be honest they deserve to have guest numbers down/less profit for the experience they offer. People aren’t daft and will rather travel elsewhere to a much better offering for all the family. I don’t blame them.
The amount of places doing light trails this year - Manor House’s, gardens, national trust places, and we have Britain’s “best” theme park unable to put some lights around their gardens with a bit of Christmas music. If much smaller operators can do it, I’m sure Alton could.
Doesn’t have to be anything mega, hotel guests and the GP would be happy with a dusk walk around the beautiful gardens. And have a hut at the bottom of towers street as someone said above where you can toast marsh mallows afterwards.
Maybe Alton are hung up on trying to do everything so “big” that they have lost track of just the simple things that would please guests.
Dunno maybe the H&S of it all or security stops such things happening in the park, but surely if other places can do something, Britain’s best theme park can?
Doesn’t have to be anything mega, hotel guests and the GP would be happy with a dusk walk around the beautiful gardens. And have a hut at the bottom of towers street as someone said above where you can toast marsh mallows afterwards.
Maybe Alton are hung up on trying to do everything so “big” that they have lost track of just the simple things that would please guests.
Dunno maybe the H&S of it all or security stops such things happening in the park, but surely if other places can do something, Britain’s best theme park can?
In fairness St Mowden (Blackstone) are also trying to sell Trentham Gardens. They’ve done amazing things with it but there were huge plans for it when they first took it over, none of those have been realised either.
But obviously their light trail events etc are always sell outs, same with their concerts.
They do have something in common with Towers though, the roads can’t cope at either location so there’s that.
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
I think it's more about fear of cannibalising other RTP offerings.
Warwick Castle has a very well established and thriving Christmas Light Trail, in addition to skating and other bits and bobs.
Much in the same way that Warwick Castle doesn't offer a Fireworks display in November, Alton Towers no longer offers a light trail / show in December.
This doesn't mean that Alton Towers shouldn't have a Christmas offering, but why replicate an already successful in group event that's only 40 miles away?
venny
TS Member
To take that argument a little further though, why not just close either Warwick or Alton Towers? Then there’s no chance of one attraction cannibalising the other’s visitors.
As you say, they could have prepared a different offering if that was a genuine fear, but it feels like the decision is driven more by a serial lack of ambition and willingness to invest.
As you say, they could have prepared a different offering if that was a genuine fear, but it feels like the decision is driven more by a serial lack of ambition and willingness to invest.
Are there hotels on site at Warwick? Just of Alton is a resort, then I would expect staying in a hotel to have a resort experience. Maybe that’s just me perhaps but there is nothing to attract the GP or those without older children/no children to stay over this Christmas (and nothing for NYE)
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
Because they both have different and varied offerings, they're not cannibalising each other on the day to day visit and they target different audiences.
We're talking specifically about a Christmas Light Trail here. I believe the decision to not bring it back, once Lightopia went bust, was because of the shift in focus to Warwick for its light trail. I spoke with one of the technical directors for the light trail last year, who said that they were aiming to build the event to a point where it could compete with Blenheim Palace.
Aside from the glamping tents and the wooden lodges (like Enchanted Village), they've just this year opened a brand new 60 bedroom hotel.
Warwick Castle Hotel | Warwick Castle Accommodation
The brand-new Warwick Castle Hotel, opening summer 2024
www.warwick-castle.com
You can also pay to stay within the state rooms in the Castle themselves. Accomodation is a major part of Warwick's business. It's also easier to get to for a few hours, being just off the M40.
jon81uk
TS Member
Except the main season product is very different so that argument makes zero sense. You don't go to Alton Towers to look at jousting and you don't go to Warwick Castle to ride rollercoasters. Whereas if both had light trails I could see them competing. Personally I'd choose Warwick for that sort of thing and I think that is true for many people.
Alton Towers does have a different offering with rides, shows and Santa, although Warwick Castle does now have a pantomime as well.
I think there might be a slight lack of ambition, hence the core Santa Sleepover product not really changing in 15 years or so, they have generally seemed happy it works so no need to change. But if sales of the package are down then maybe they will consider how to improve for next year.
Its possible that allowing day ticket sales has caused the package sales to go down, so maybe they will stop allowing day guests for Christmas.
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Islander
TS Member
Yep - they have a holiday village (akin to Enchanted Village), and as of July this year a 60-bed hotel
