Thorpe Park - Temporary shipping container hotel to be built - The Crashpad

[Coolbeans14]

Looking at the website, I take it as £64 per person for hotel, breakfast as well as a two day ticket, which is actually very good value considering how much a ticket would cost. My only thought is will there be separate parking for hotel guests?

 

[TheMan]

Looking at the website, I take it as £64 per person for hotel, breakfast as well as a two day ticket, which is actually very good value considering how much a ticket would cost. My only thought is will there be separate parking for hotel guests?

I read it as that too Coolbeans, when you consider early booking discounts, four can share a room, there is no mention of car park payments (bet you it is not included - willing to be proved wrong of course), and second day visit tickets are, even by my present annoyance at Merlin, exceptional value.

You're probably looking at £37(ish) for a 2 day pass, booked in advance. Based on four sharing that makes the box the best part of £110 a night. I would, based on their current attitude, suggest parking wont be included (they'd make a big deal out of that?) - do you pay at Towers Hotels? Never stayed in one as only an hour away.

Is that value, including breakfast? It's a toughie that, depends on how well designed they are in terms of not being affected by other guests behaviour, security on site etc.

If I had the money I'd stay at the Tower's hotels. Where as at Thorpe, I'd always try and find a close hotel or B&B I reckon.

Obviously that all important "FROM" word kicks in, it will be their cheapest, off season, furthest in advance, most amount of people sharing price. Real world price for most people will likely be a fair bit more!

If you can get it though at £64, 2 days, including brekky - that's not too shabby.

 

[Scott]

Parking is free for Hotel guests at Alton Towers - you just show your little card when leaving to get through the barriers. I would assume a similar system would be put in place for hotel guests at Thorpe too.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Those snoozeboxes are the epitome of what is wrong with Merlin and the UK theme park industry at the moment. They just do not belong in any self respecting theme park.

What happened to the fantasy and escapism?

The worst prospect is I can see these things becoming a permanent feature and the proper hotel being postponed indefinetely.

hotel guests at Thorpe too.

Hotel? You sure?

:/

 

[simps100]

I personally dont think the main hotel will be postponed for this, to me it seems after the huge success of their club nights, of which every single over 18's one sold out, they needed to solve the accommodation problem quickly, which is why in my eye's this is the perfect thing for the park whilst they decide on the final plans for the actual hotel and actually build it.

I hate to say it but with my business hat on, its 3 years of profit before they've even built the proper hotel.

 

[Charlee]

These Crapshacks or whatever they're called... how long are they planned to to last for?

 

[James]

I personally dont think the main hotel will be postponed for this, to me it seems after the huge success of their club nights, of which every single over 18's one sold out, they needed to solve the accommodation problem quickly, which is why in my eye's this is the perfect thing for the park whilst they decide on the final plans for the actual hotel and actually build it.

I hate to say it but with my business hat on, its 3 years of profit before they've even built the proper hotel.

See, this is what doesn't add up. Why build a temporary type of accommodation? Yeah they say they've done it to test the market. But why do they need to test the market? They should know if there's enough demand or not and to say it's 3 years of profit before the 'proper' hotel is built doesn't add up either. It's just an odd move.

That's like Alton Towers going "oh we haven't finalised the plans for the lodges yet so we'll just put some green shipping containers there for now".

They should have enough market research to just go for a permanent hotel or not. Look at Alton Towers, they realised there's more demand for a third type of accommodation, they did some market research and realised that more accommodation is needed and lodges came out as the most popular type.

Thorpe must have had enough market research to build this temporary type of accommodation. So why don't they have the market research to build the permanent hotel straight away? Merlin do not give out their parks money freely, a lot of 'proof' and market research is needed before they decide to hand over £x amount to build something. So it's clear Thorpe had the research to build this. But why they did not have the research to build a permanent hotel is just a mystery.

Everything about this project is just odd. Although honestly, if this proves to be popular I can definitely see Thorpe/Merlin keeping the snoozeboxes permanently.

 

[simps100]

I personally dont think the main hotel will be postponed for this, to me it seems after the huge success of their club nights, of which every single over 18's one sold out, they needed to solve the accommodation problem quickly, which is why in my eye's this is the perfect thing for the park whilst they decide on the final plans for the actual hotel and actually build it.

I hate to say it but with my business hat on, its 3 years of profit before they've even built the proper hotel.

See, this is what doesn't add up. Why build a temporary type of accommodation? Yeah they say they've done it to test the market. But why do they need to test the market? They should know if there's enough demand or not and to say it's 3 years of profit before the 'proper' hotel is built doesn't add up either. It's just an odd move.

I guess because of how successful the club nights have been the demand for accommodation is suddenly required yesterday, a hotel would take a good year to construct whilst this goes up over night ( or 2 i think it is! ) I also think the main hotel had issues with planning permission and flood prevention, i think its only recently been approved.

Everything about this project is just odd. Although honestly, if this proves to be popular I can definitely see Thorpe/Merlin keeping the snoozeboxes permanently.

This is somthing which does worry me alot!

 

[Thomas]

I like the idea of cheap on site accomodation, but one of the things that bugs me is how it'll look when there's a lot of these containers together.

 

[Fredward]

Don't worry guys... at first I was as sceptical as all of you, but after recent discovery's I have found out...

They have DVD's! This is sure to be a success now!

 

[Joseph]

And now we know all the pervs off this forum will be at the DVD's in the Crashpad!

 

[Tuggerz]

I'm actually quite interested in this development and will be keeping an eye on how it progresses, if the business margins are good, then I inevitably guess we will see a more permenant structure come to fruition.
I've already registered my interest and will be stopping in one at the start of the season.

 

[Harv]

Don't worry guys... at first I was as sceptical as all of you, but after recent discovery's I have found out...

They have DVD's! This is sure to be a success now!

You have no idea how much this made me laugh.

Actually the most hilarious thing I've seen on these forums. DVDs - the secret ingredient of THORPE PARK Resort.

 

[TheMan]

I like the idea of cheap on site accomodation, but one of the things that bugs me is how it'll look when there's a lot of these containers together.

In case you missed it mate:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19580483
Alcatraz.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

"THORPE PARK Resort" - what a load of turd.

Thorpe Park. Period.

 

[TheMan]

"THORPE PARK Resort" - what a load of turd.

Thorpe Park. Period.

THORPE PARK Resort(ing to disparate marketing campaigns that stretch the truth, just a little).

In fact, new strapline

THORPE PARK
Pushing The Envelope of Poetic License.

 

[optimus prime steak]

Myself, I ruddy hate the idea, they look god awful.

However Thorpe Parks 'target' audience may see it a different way. Most of the Thorpe Park crowds deserve to be locked up in shipping containers!!

 

[dominoes]

As a member of the target audience, I personally think it is quite funny. The price seems quite silly, but I think it will work quite well. After all, this isn't aimed at families, so you don't really need lots of facilities and room. Just a room with enough space for a couple of people and their stuff.

Team Edit: Personal comment removed.

 

[Sazzle]

Myself, I ruddy hate the idea, they look god awful.

However Thorpe Parks 'target' audience may see it a different way. Most of the Thorpe Park crowds deserve to be locked up in shipping containers!!

Uuuhhhmmm, little bit harsh! As a 25 year old coaster enthusiast, is that me? Stereotypically, Thorpe's guests have been given a bad rap sheet - queuejumping, loud, anti-social and brash. However, they're not the majority of guests.

I'd be more than happy to book myself a stay here if clubbing were my scene! It's not, but I've no objection to trying it out.

As I said a few pages back, the Crashpad hits the nail on the head for young adults who just want somewhere to 'crash out' after a long day of themeparking, drinking and dancing. Who cares what the wallpaper looks like when its 2am and you're shattered from the last 18 hours of being up and about? The basics are all that most people care about, that's why Travelodges and Etap/Ibis Budget are so popular.

I don't really have concerns about them not proceeding with the permanent hotel, as they've said all along they'll run both projects. It might be a cheap way out, but in the long run, they'll want to increse spend-per-head, and they won't get that with the Crashpad. They need a fully functioning hotel with a restaurant, bar and entertainment options in order to get £150+ out of someone for a weekend.

 

[John]

Some images of the rooms have been posted on TPM:

Here are the The Crash Pad Promo Images:

First impressions: it looks extremely cramped and makes Splash rooms look palatial by comparison. By the looks of it there's about 2 square meters of floor space, so I've no idea how you're supposed to fit 4 people's stuff in there - it'll be a nightmare if it's been raining and you've all got wet clothes for example. It also seems that if everyone wants to sit down at least one person will have to climb onto the upper bed (or sit on the loo...). Moving into and out of the room will be a nightmare as there isn't enough space for everyone to pack/unpack at the same time.

It also appears that the bathroom door is just a frosted screen with a massive hole in it for a door handle, so there doesn't seem to be any real privacy, though I guess it's possible that the door slides far enough over for the hole to be covered.

The standard seems pretty high from the photos and the room itself is pretty stylish, but I haven't seen anything that makes me want to stay there - think I'll stick to a local Travelodge.