We’re off to Alton Towers Hotel soon as a little treat to end the summer holidays, whilst looking at their online reservation system an interesting deal popped up…

AltonTowersDeal
Kids Stay, Play and Eat for Free

Wow! Kids Stay, Play and Eat for FREE! That’s pretty awesome!?

Well – the thing is.. It’s NOT free.

If you actually go to BOOK a deal – you’ll quickly discover that it’s not FREE at all. I picked a random date, and chose the standard B+B rate on the ‘Splash Landings Hotel’ is £229.50 per night (I know!) – if you choose the ‘Kids Stay, Play and Eat for FREE’ offer the price goes up to £245.00.

Similarly if you go for the Alton Towers Hotel – the normal B+B rate is £220.50, but the ‘DEAL’ price is £235.00.

So the ‘Kids Stay, Play and Eat for FREE’ Deal actually adds £15 to the price – whilst obviously a theme park ticket, and dinner for £15 is a good price, it’s not FREE as the promotion suggests!

Update

Okay.. So a rep from Alton Towers has seen this post and emailed me to explain the discrepancy –

‘If guests book the standard rate online then they automatically receive a 10% discount, but as the kids go free is a separate offer the 10% is not included (as we don’t run two offers in conjunction).

As you mentioned in your blog, our kids play and stay free offer does offer a substantial saving, as guests don’t have to pay for Theme Park Tickets or a meal or drinks for their children. We have had lots of happy customers that have enjoyed this particular offer, but I can see why you have highlighted it and we will make sure that the savings are more transparent in future promotions’

So there you go, the reason there is very little difference in price is because there is a 10% discount applied to online bookings. Which is fine, but my original complaint still stands because it’s not clear that this is the case, and also it still appears you are getting charged more, despite ‘Kids being Free’. I’m pleased that Alton Towers have taken the time to respond.

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