The Hotels: A Journey

[Thameslink Rail]

I would love to know what makes the Enchanted Village cost three times more than the Cbeebies Land and Alton Towers hotels.

 

[Matt.GC]

Found it. I checked all the usual weeks first, first week of September, midweek between Oktoberfest and Scarefest, after Easter etc. It seems that on those dates, the sheds are closed.

 

[AT86]

I have found ‘the day’ you can book a room for 4 for £90 - means that promotion is not wrong. It took a bit of finding though!

Edit: ha! Seems there are in fact 2 dates!

 

[s_g_k]

Unique sleeping experience….


I mean I can’t disagree with that

 

[George W]

So does this £90 night even exist? I'm intrigued to find out now.

Woodland lodges I've seen a lot of days at £84 but that's when checking for 1 person not including the hidden breakfast and mini golf fees which is like £7 or £8 per person if it was a family that is

 

[Matt.GC]

Woodland lodges I've seen a lot of days at £84 but that's when checking for 1 person not including the hidden breakfast and mini golf fees which is like £7 or £8 per person if it was a family that is

You've found EV for 84 pounds for a single person? When may I ask? I presume not in full opening season?

 

[George W]

You've found EV for £84 pounds for a single person? When may I ask? I presume not in full opening season?

Well it's £108 now (it was £84 or £88 a couple weeks back tho) but there's lots of price's that are £108-124 for it,
For example the prices in these pictures are the same on a Sunday night 26th of march, 27th, 28th, 30th of march.

Which is £104 for main hotel and £108 a night for a lodge, we hired a treehouse which worked out as £140 per person and stayed in a premium room in AUGUST for £109 last year.

Maybe I just get lucky

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Christ, I thought what we paid last October during scarefest was steep. It’s become even more ridiculous now. I know there will always be people willing to pay under the impression they will be getting a ‘magical’ experience for that price but surely, with the cost of living and everything a lot of people especially those who have stayed previously just won’t be able to afford it now.

 

[LivOctober]

Me and my partner stayed at The Star campsite this year over a scarefest weekend - I just couldn't justify the prices of the hotels with what I knew about the quality of them! Campsite was less than a five minute drive away, lovely and quiet, £40 for three nights and an absolutely fantastic pub practically on the campsite's doorstep. I still rave about the food I got there. With news about the price going up even further, it's even less likely I'll ever be going to the hotels...

And for context, I'm perfectly happy to splash out on nice hotels - but not when the quality is worse than the local premiere inn.

 

[Graeme]

So….

I haven’t been to Alton Towers since 2016.

Prior to that, I would make 3 or 4 (460 mile round journeys) a year.

Every time I went with the wife, we’d stay at one of the Alton Towers hotels for 2-3 nights. Last time we stayed, it was for a special birthday and we upgraded to a suite which was loud and noisy from the conference centre through til 2am and the room was in a really bad state.

Topped off with really slow and poor service in the secret garden, huge queues in the bar and early closing, it was the final nail in the coffin and we haven’t returned to Towers since.

My point?

If I am travelling all that way, I’d like the convenience of staying on site. The hotels used to offer a nice little breakaway. It was a whole experience staying in the hotels and going to the theme park. It’s just not the same staying offsite.

The state of the hotels can impact on visitor perceptions and lose them customers. There is always someone to fill that void though.

Get the hotels up to scratch, this is something that can REALLY matter to guests and it does get notice. It can put some off the product all together.

I remember friends asking me about Alton Towers and I’d say nothing but positive things about the hotels and park.

Now when asked - don’t waste your money on fuel to visit.

I also haven’t had a Merlin pass since. These things can damage the brand.

 

[jon81uk]

we upgraded to a suite which was loud and noisy from the conference centre through til 2am and the room was in a really bad state.

I’m not disagreeing with you, but the conference centre is in a separate building so not sure how the noise travelled?
Most of the suites in ATH are above the atrium, which is why the music ends around 10.30, the hotels layout was never really designed for the atrium to be used late into the night. So I assume it was just the general bar area that was loud not the conference centre?

 

[Graeme]

The smoking area to the conference centre is not far from the rooms at the top of the hotel. The doors were open, clearly to allow people out to smoke….they had a DJ that night, it was LOUD!

 

[jon81uk]

The smoking area to the conference centre is not far from the rooms at the top of the hotel. The doors were open, clearly to allow people out to smoke….they had a DJ that night, it was LOUD!

That makes sense, would probably actually have made more sense for them to have had a smoking area in the garden at the rear instead of near the car park, due to the hotels being on a hill, the car park level is closer to rooms as you say, whereas the garden level has the bars/restaurants.

 

[mo237]

Wonderfully awkward post on their Instagram today.


From: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnjWoLFI8wD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link


Oh the irony of patting themselves on the back with a high restaurant score (despite the food barely being edible) and saying that the pods are "budget" - for reference, last April I stayed at a nearby B&B for three nights for about £130 (lovely breakfast included). The accomodation page is having a mind-boggling moment so I can't check the price right now, but I can't even imagine what the price would be for a similar stay this Spring.

It's worth taking note of how many negative comments there are as well...

 

[Ian]

Puts me in mind of the old YourDay intros with the ride stats where Air was seemingly the most intense ride at the park

 

[Zeock]

Puts me in mind of the old YourDay intros with the ride stats where Air was seemingly the most intense ride at the park

That is hilarious, but it probably would have been good publicity for (what I assume was) Towers' latest SW at the time.

 

[Trooper Looper]

If I had to pick which Hotels I'd want to stay in, its Either the Splash Landings hotel or the Original Hotel. Both are good quality to me and the rooms look nice. Can't say that for the stargazing pods though.

 

[GaryH]

The towers hotels top trumps lol

Maybe they should use the Trip Advisor scores rather than the made up ones

(All scores out of 5)

Alton Towers hotel 3.5
Secret garden restaurant 3.0
Spa 4.0

Splash Landings hotel 3.5
Flambos Jambo 3.5
Water park 4.0

Stargazing sheds 4.0

Enchanted village 4.0
Crooked spoon 3.5

CBeebies hotel 4.0


Says it all when a shed without a toilet outscores the two most expensive hotels!

 

[Zeock]

If I had to pick which Hotels I'd want to stay in, its Either the Splash Landings hotel or the Original Hotel. Both are good quality to me and the rooms look nice. Can't say that for the stargazing pods though.

My family have always stayed in the Enchanted Village for its quirkiness but both Splash and ATH seem to have some good rooms.

 

[Alsty]

From: https://www.instagram.com/p/CnjWoLFI8wD/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I thought it was Sir Algenon?