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The Hotels: A Journey
- Thread starter AstroDan
- Start date
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Good to see a few improvements in the hotels:
- New bar in Flambo's (see TS Facebook/socials for pics)
- Camden Hells now on tap in Splash Landings & ATH
- Live band in the Atrium for the first time in years (see TS Facebook/socials)
- Separate kids disco in ATH, meaning Dragon Bar/Atrium was more adults (far less kids running around because they actually had their OWN ents!!)
- Flambo's was fine - not amazing, but fine. Although judging by the TS Facebook posts, you'd think saying you had a decent meal in Flambo's is the equivalent of backing the BNP at the next election.
I’ve started to go camping round the corner.
Granted not everyone has the equipment or the means to camp. It’s only good for the summer months
It’s £10 a night, 5 minutes drive from Alton Towers. A proper toilet and shower block similar to the star gazing pods. However, you can easily come and go to the local village and you can cook your own food and have a fire pit.
Looking towards fireworks, it’s painful to see the prices of hotels at the resort. I’d love to stay as a treat. However, it’s a lot in comparison to a lot of accommodation
Granted not everyone has the equipment or the means to camp. It’s only good for the summer months
It’s £10 a night, 5 minutes drive from Alton Towers. A proper toilet and shower block similar to the star gazing pods. However, you can easily come and go to the local village and you can cook your own food and have a fire pit.
Looking towards fireworks, it’s painful to see the prices of hotels at the resort. I’d love to stay as a treat. However, it’s a lot in comparison to a lot of accommodation
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
The price of rooms at the hotels has actually fallen back to normal levels. At the start of this season, even with discount - rooms were £250-300/night. However, they are widely available for £150-200 now (on most nights).
We are also staying off resort for Oktoberfest and Fireworks - but it's no cheaper. The house we're staying in near the car entrance is about £45pppn and obviously doesn't include breakfast.
I am hoping we see sustained improvement over the coming months and next season I feel like I want to stay at the resort again.
Poisson
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Giant Squid
We're doing £40pppn in Alton village for Fireworks, sans breakfast, but we are some of the disgruntled few after a not great ATH stay last fireworks. The breakfast was inedible so we were buying it anyway for example. I want to stay on Resort again but it has a long way to go.
venny
TS Member
I’ve lost all interest in staying at the hotels. The village offers better food, drink, accommodation and often even entertainment, at a lower price.
We would regularly stay several nights a year up until a few years ago. Now, pretty much every aspect of the hotels would have to improve dramatically for us to even consider returning. The product has been denigrated so severely that it’s actually upsetting, considering the good times we’ve had there in the past.
Whilst there may be sporadic improvements (from what is a very low bar), I’m extremely dubious that the hotels will ever return to their zenith.
We would regularly stay several nights a year up until a few years ago. Now, pretty much every aspect of the hotels would have to improve dramatically for us to even consider returning. The product has been denigrated so severely that it’s actually upsetting, considering the good times we’ve had there in the past.
Whilst there may be sporadic improvements (from what is a very low bar), I’m extremely dubious that the hotels will ever return to their zenith.
pluk
TS Member
I was coming here to tag the team to make them aware the TS Facebook account had been hacked, it felt so odd seeing a string of positive posts about the hotels I thought that was the only possible explanation.
jon81uk
TS Member
The replies on the posts about beer were frustrating though. Complaining about £7 a pint for standard lager is reasonable, if its the Camden stuff then £7 isn't too bad, but for Magners its a rip off. The number of people doing "Its a theme park, what do you expect" was suprising. Then on the post where the TS Team did get a beer in the Tavern there were several people trying to make out the team are alcoholics if they can't go a day without a beer! Different people enjoy different things, Ethan would ride Smiler all day, but many of the TS team will take a break with a pint for a bit, there are spaces at AT to do both things!
pluk
TS Member
Slugjc
TS Member
150-200 is fair. Something still needs to be done about the quality of service etc still need to be looked at.
But.........people are obviously paying the higher bracket so why would they put the prices down.
AstroDan
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point
Well people obviously were not paying the £300 rates that were there at the start of the season, hence why they have come down. We didn't stay on opening weekend this year as they wanted £125pp for 2 nights, even after discount. Historically (going back to 2018 ish) we were looking at around £90-100pp for a weekend (after MAP discount based on 3-4 sharing a room).
I am hopeful that by 2024 main season, sufficient time over winter allows the new team to overhaul many aspects of the resort experience - although refurbishments/work that requires significant capital expenditure will no doubt need to be worked on over many years ahead.
Slugjc
TS Member
If they stay low for peak, that's when we will really see if the price stays low. We shall see at the end of financial year how badly this whole cost of living crises is affecting them.
A major overhaul needs to happen. With the current financial situation and the climate in southern Europe causing that to be on fire, they need to attract those on staycation. Lower the price, make it a better experience.
It’s great to see positive changes being made to the hotels. It’s long overdue.
I think next on their list needs to upping the maintenance and particularly the cleanliness of the hotel rooms. Some of the photos and reports on Tripadvisor are quite shocking where people have been put in very dirty rooms.
I would love to stay in the hotels again, and these positive changes bring me a little closer to doing that again…… but they are not there just yet!
I think next on their list needs to upping the maintenance and particularly the cleanliness of the hotel rooms. Some of the photos and reports on Tripadvisor are quite shocking where people have been put in very dirty rooms.
I would love to stay in the hotels again, and these positive changes bring me a little closer to doing that again…… but they are not there just yet!
AT86
TS Member
It’s now been 10 years since they started refurbing the Explorer rooms in ATH into Moon Voyage with what I believe at the time was a plan to refurb them all into different themes in phases.
They got as far as the Arctic rooms and stopped. Those left as Explorer are pretty ancient now, they should be prioritising getting those refurbed in my view.
They got as far as the Arctic rooms and stopped. Those left as Explorer are pretty ancient now, they should be prioritising getting those refurbed in my view.
jon81uk
TS Member
Although I don't think they need retheming, just refurbising with new furniture and textiles. I think the less is more approach of those rooms is a good thing. Keep the over the top stuff for the artic ones!
