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Stargazing Pods

Absolutely bonkers. They can't afford to run tree tops , splash landings, can't afford to open all the food outlets in the park , can't afford to run fireworks over 3 nights, yet they build more accomodation. Absolutely bonkers.
 
Rob said:
Then what is the point of even considering building more accommodation at Alton Towers?

If Merlin want both Towers and Gardaland to have 1,000 hotel rooms then they need to operate the resorts accordingly.

:)
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As if you are getting enough bookings to need all the room availability (as they do in school holidays and peak ScareFest weekends) then they need more, but for off-peak weekdays I think they don't need as many rooms.

There is a point where the right number of rooms and right amount of staff makes sense to have a rom at the right price. But my point was entirely just discounting for the sake of discounting isn't always viable.
 
Just because they have planning permission for something doesn’t mean they will build it...

There are many reasons you might apply for planning long before you want to build on it. I’m not saying this is the case but it’s a possibility.
 
If they want to build this much accommodation, they need to look at investing in the Disney Springs/City Walk style of entertainment district to actually attract people to stay multiple nights. Right now, there's just about enough to warrant two days at the park but an external area incorporating shops, restaurants, and other experiences would encourage more people to pay the price of staying on resort.

People won't pay the price for the hotels, especially in the closed season, if there's nothing to do
 
Tbh, they're not that expensive if you can get a decent deal. Fri 16th March booked bed & breakfast for me & three mates for £27 each.
 
It's just like a football team building a nice new 60,000 seater stadium, but only having a regular fanbase of 30,000 people. It looks nice on paper that you're a club with a lovely ground etc, but in time you'll get found out when the sums don't add up. This is of course if they do go ahead with any further building etc. Just wanted to get that in :)
 
BarryZola said:
It's just like a football team building a nice new 60,000 seater stadium, but only having a regular fanbase of 30,000 people. It looks nice on paper that you're a club with a lovely ground etc, but in time you'll get found out when the sums don't add up. This is of course if they do go ahead with any further building etc. Just wanted to get that in :)
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Closer to a team that has 30,000 fans who turn up for most games but 60,000 when they are playing a major team.
 
If this is instead of the already approved Enchanted Village expansion, then I don't think it's that bad of an idea (over building more lodges that is). Creating more of the same thing isn't as exciting as something brand new and not seen at the resort before.

Saying that, as mentioned by many, when you have to close one hotel for months on end and have a theme park with less on offer than 5 years ago... it begs the question where are all these guests coming from. I know someone mentioned peak times, fair enough, but all this accommodation that will only be of use 3-4 weeks per year? Seems a waste to me.
 
Apart from the obvious “building more accommodation is a moronic move” has anyone considered the quality? AT Hotel is the most run down its ever been. Splash Landings has effectively been destroyed, and CBeebies is just a tacky vinyl-fest.

The lodges in Enchanted Village are such a cheap load of crap I wouldn’t even care if they bulldozed them.
 
PeteB said:
Apart from the obvious “building more accommodation is a moronic move” has anyone considered the quality? AT Hotel is the most run down its ever been. Splash Landings has effectively been destroyed, and CBeebies is just a tacky vinyl-fest.

The lodges in Enchanted Village are such a cheap load of crap I wouldn’t even care if they bulldozed them.
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This decision is stupid but once again with the hyperbole:

ATH is not the most run down it’s ever been, all the rooms had their bathrooms replaced and they are midway through room refurbishments. The atrium is to be fair looking tired.

When TS had its tour CBeebies wasn’t half as Vinyl-tastic as you suggest. It’s bright and loud (and over priced), but there was some decent detail. Certainly looked better than the Lego hotels.

Enchanted village is not cheap (pretty much all hotels are built prefab these days, and it won’t be long before houses start to be too) it is however unimaginative with every lodge looking identical and the crooked spoon is woeful.

Splash landing was not detroyed, the bar area and entrance are still mostly good. The rooms where always naff, but the new paint job is terrible. It’s probably the hotel where you are closest to not over dramatising.

Still they need to be opening their existing accommodation during main season before they expand.
 
Dave said:
This decision is stupid but once again with the hyperbole:

ATH is not the most run down it’s ever been, all the rooms had their bathrooms replaced and they are midway through room refurbishments. The atrium is to be fair looking tired.

When TS had its tour CBeebies wasn’t half as Vinyl-tastic as you suggest. It’s bright and loud (and over priced), but there was some decent detail. Certainly looked better than the Lego hotels.

Enchanted village is not cheap (pretty much all hotels are built prefab these days, and it won’t be long before houses start to be too) it is however unimaginative with every lodge looking identical and the crooked spoon is woeful.

Splash landing was not detroyed, the bar area and entrance are still mostly good. The rooms where always naff, but the new paint job is terrible. It’s probably the hotel where you are closest to not over dramatising.

Still they need to be opening their existing accommodation during main season before they expand.
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It’s all very easy to speculate from the outside but when was the last time you stayed in any of the 2 hotels, or lodges?

Try it, pay full price, and then come back and see if I was being dramatic.
 
PeteB said:
It’s all very easy to speculate from the outside but when was the last time you stayed in any of the 2 hotels, or lodges?

Try it, pay full price, and then come back and see if I was being dramatic.
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Stayed end of last season.

The main reason I don’t stay much these days is not the quality of the buildings themselves or the rooms, you can if you look get reasonable prices at times and the quality v price isn’t far removed from a lot of similar “family” destinations in the U.K, (if you start looking at the business hotels then you start to see a vast difference).

It’s the severe decrease in food and drink quality that has stopped me going as much. I would rather spend the money at a hotel with a good whetherspoons down the road.
 
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Dave said:
It’s the severe decrease in food and drink quality that has stopped me going as much. I would rather spend the money at a hotel with a good whetherspoons down the road.
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Indeed - Secret Garden and Flambo's was god awful last year. Ive booked a Travelodge this year to stay over for opening day - cost me £17 and although basic, it will have air conditioning and a decent pub nearby!
 
I've always thought that the Crooked Spoon was a pretty good place to eat, go there every time we're at AT because it's better than eating in the park or the other hotels. Other than that, the only place in park that we usually eat at is Eastern Express, which usually has pretty good food. The EV lodges themselves, I can agree that them all looking identical is a bit unimaginative, but in terms of the quality of the interior, they're pretty good, and comfortable I'd say.

Splash Landings Hotel is definitely in need of some TLC. I remember going just after the supposed maintenance / refurbishment, and by the looks of things the place hadn't even been dusted, never mind refurbished. I've never liked the rooms there either. Flambo's, I've only had breakfast there, nothing special, but that was a couple of years ago now.

I can't really comment on the other hotels as I've never been in CBeebies and I've only had a brief walk around the Alton Towers Hotel, but from what I saw, it definitely looked a bit tired.

Back to the "Barrels", I honestly don't see the logic. It doesn't seem like many others can either. I think that they could be an alternative budget accommodation option, because there is no way that people would pay the same prices as the hotels or lodges for these small "pods". Also, the need for a separate shower and toilet building is interesting — could it mean that the pods themselves won't have these facilities? If they don't, then that's definitely another reason that these should be a budget option. As things stand there is simply no need for further accommodation, I really hope this project doesn't go ahead. :)
 
Dave said:
Stayed end of last season.

The main reason I don’t stay much these days is not the quality of the buildings themselves or the rooms, you can if you look get reasonable prices at times too and the quality v price isn’t far removed from some similar “family” destinations in the U.K, (if you start looking at the business hotels then you start to see a vast difference).

It’s the severe decrease in food and drink quality that has stopped me going as much. I would rather spend the money at a hotel with a good whetherspoons down the road.
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Well yeah, I mean thats just one of the things I’m getting at, and the food/amenities is another. Exactly why i dont stay over either.

But the apart from the bathrooms falling to bits in both hotels, the lodges are just awful. The beds are so rickety and nasty even Ikea wouldn’t touch them. Sockets and TV’s hanging off the wall.

Blah blah you get the idea. I don’t think im being dramatic about it though. :p
 
PeteB said:
Well yeah, I mean thats just one of the things I’m getting at, and the food/amenities is another. Exactly why i dont stay over either.

But the apart from the bathrooms falling to bits in both hotels, the lodges are just awful. The beds are so rickety and nasty even Ikea wouldn’t touch them. Sockets and TV’s hanging off the wall.

Blah blah you get the idea. I don’t think im being dramatic about it though. :p
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The only bathrooms falling to bits where the old ATH ones but they where replaced. Not seen any plugs hanging out of walls, but I may have just been lucky.
 
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