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The Hotels: A Journey

venny said:
Your pedantry is correct, it is probably better explained by “why maintain it, when we can close it”.

My guess is if proactive maintenance had been carried out on Hex and Skyride, they would not have been closed for such lengthy periods (or in Hex’s case it would have been done properly during the first or second of its recent extended closures). Judging by the hashed way in which the Spa’s closure has been handled combined with its very obvious lack of maintenance, my guess is there is at least some of the same attitude being applied to this closure decision.
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Rob will never believe it but this time round both Skyride and Hex were not due to a lack of proactive maintenance.

Certainly been a problem historically (and the fruits of neglect are still being seen in the high daily downtime) but in those two cases not so much.
 
Squiggs said:
I wouldn't take bets just yet.

I think we might already know the answer to that question. Two words... themed suites.

It looks suspiciously like the resort are in the process of scrapping (or at least re-imagining) four of their themed suites.

The Hidden Hideaway suite has recently been removed from the website altogether and is no longer available to book, so safe to say this has now gone. Interestingly though, the two Peter Rabbit suites are still listed on the website, but they don't appear to be available to book at all this year. And the last dates you are able to book the Ice Age Suite is this coming weekend, after that it also doesn't look like it's available this year.

So it looks like these four suites are the next on the chopping block. Now, of course any or all of these could be up for rethemes, but it'll be interesting to see what is announced.
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I would hazard a guess that those particular suites struggle with bookings, so it would make sense to scrap them if they're not occupied throughout the year. Maybe a Nemesis suite could make a return for 2024?

In general, the hotel rooms in ATH are extremely outdated. The entire hotel needs a complete refurbishment of all rooms and communal areas. It's fine to an extent to accept you're paying for a themed room and the privilege of staying on-site, but the standards are far below a basic Premier Inn room.
 
I’m not sure what closing the suites does in terms of cost-cutting if they’re just being mothballed. Even if they can’t sell that suite all the time, an empty room doesn’t really cost the hotel anything to run and I’d imagine when it is booked the price they charge make them pretty lucrative.

Are we suggesting then that the suites are possibly going to be returned to regular bedrooms? That would make more sense than just closing them.
 
venny said:
I’m not sure what closing the suites does in terms of cost-cutting if they’re just being mothballed. Even if they can’t sell that suite all the time, an empty room doesn’t really cost the hotel anything to run and I’d imagine when it is booked the price they charge make them pretty lucrative.

Are we suggesting then that the suites are possibly going to be returned to regular bedrooms? That would make more sense than just closing them.
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Hidden Hideaway suite has been sold as a package with the spa, its unique selling point has gone.
Peter Rabbit rooms are themed to the Peter from the books/AT Ice Show, kids are now more likely to be familiar with the Cbeebies version found in the theme park.
Ice Age room was linked to the 4D which left the park 8 years ago.

All their unique selling points are gone/outdated, they do not fit at the resort anymore.
That said they can charge more just for them being themed, so there is no sense in downgrading them to standard rooms, I fully expect they will be rethemed to something current.

If people see a new themed room announced they will want to book it, I expect an announcement will be made once work is under way and they have a confirmed completion date and can take bookings. Obviously this is all a guess but it is the reasoning that makes most sense to me.
 
I have removed 'excellence' from the topic title as the removal of a higher-end product such as the spa due to long term under investment and a lack of marketing does not demonstrate that the resort is on a pathway to a higher level of offering.

Should this change, so too will the title.

The resort should be investing in products like the spa, better conference facilities and higher quality f&b. This would support it to be nationally acclaimed and more. Center Parcs and Butlins offer it. So too should bloody Alton Towers.

Disappointed.
 
AstroDan said:
I have removed 'excellence' from the topic title as the removal of a higher-end product such as the spa due to long term under investment and a lack of marketing does not demonstrate that the resort is on a pathway to a higher level of offering.

Should this change, so too will the title.

The resort should be investing in products like the spa, better conference facilities and higher quality f&b. This would support it to be nationally acclaimed and more. Center Parcs and Butlins offer it. So too should bloody Alton Towers.

Disappointed.
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I agree on everything except the conference facilities, a few friends work in the hotel and conferencing industry and since Covid the desire for companies to have on-site conferences has fallen off a cliff, with quite a few hotels who depended on that income source closing or having to quickly change their marketing direction.

The above is actually similar for Spa hotels as well as luxury spend reduces but I think if they hadn’t let it rot they could have got over that dip in the market (maybe whatever caused the sudden decision to close might not have occurred if they maintained the product), conferencing will probably never recover however.

Towers could use the conference building much more effectively for something that will benefit the average guest.
 
So given that we have seen a clear new direction these last few years (for good or for bad) do people think that the money saved here, will be invested into the resort elsewhere?

A few years ago I would have said yes without hesitation. Now I am not so sure.

"Probably not" will more than likely be the overwhelming response but I am interested to hear people's oppinions.
 
Might as well kick off the answers with what you expected - money saving, without much being done there.

As always I'd love to be proven wrong, but considering how quickly it shut, without forewarning, and for the Resort to have to contact any people who had bookings for this year - it'll probably remain in situ for quite a while yet sadly.
 
DistortAMG said:
So given that we have seen a clear new direction these last few years (for good or for bad) do people think that the money saved here, will be invested into the resort elsewhere?

A few years ago I would have said yes without hesitation. Now I am not so sure.

"Probably not" will more than likely be the overwhelming response but I am interested to hear people's oppinions.
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I don't see any 'saving' per se. To me it is more about reducing operating expenditure/losses and/or increasing margins.

If something else replaces it, I will be sort of wrong - and happy to be!
 
Tom said:
I don't see any 'saving' per se. To me it is more about reducing operating expenditure/losses and/or increasing margins.

If something else replaces it, I will be sort of wrong - and happy to be!
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I don’t think it’s either. Still think based on the suddenness something has broken (maybe plant room) and it’s too expensive to get funding to repair.

The cost of the staff and energy isn’t going to be really easy to reinvest elsewhere as it won’t be that much in the grand scheme of things.
 
DistortAMG said:
So given that we have seen a clear new direction these last few years (for good or for bad) do people think that the money saved here, will be invested into the resort elsewhere?

A few years ago I would have said yes without hesitation. Now I am not so sure.

"Probably not" will more than likely be the overwhelming response but I am interested to hear people's oppinions.
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Short answer is no. The operational expenditure savings will barely be enough to cover a fraction of the higher energy bills the resort has been experiencing in recent years, or the minimum wage going up again this year.

If it reopens again in the next couple of years, then maybe it was a large unexpected cost cropping up that's been put on the back burner for now whilst pre-planned investment funds are committed elsewhere.

If it's left empty or replaced with something crappy like a soft play, then it's just another thing on the long list of long-term degradation cut backs.
 
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