Review – Moon Voyager Room at Alton Towers Hotel

Last week we were very lucky to be able to stay in a Moon Voyager Room at the Alton Towers Hotel, these recently refurbished rooms differ from the standard rooms. They are accessed by a private corridor that only card holders can use, the corridor itself is beautifully themed and different from all of the others. Inside the room there is a themed bathroom, a childrens area with a bunk bed and TV (with an xBox too!) In the main area you have the ‘grown ups’ bed and desk with a wall mounted TV. In the corner of the room is an air cooling / warming unit (the standard rooms have a radiator for warming and a window for cooling!). The theming throughout the room is lovely, the carpets, the wall coverings, they are spot on.

It’s not without issues though.. The bathroom door didn’t shut, the frame was badly scuffed, so it looks like it’s been broken for a while, considering these rooms were finished early this year, it’s a bit crap. Also with the refit they didn’t take the opportunity to add power sockets near the bed, or doing anything to sort sound insulation through the sash windows. You can feel the bass of the entertainment throbbing through the bed (oooh-err), which would probably be acceptable if the rooms were near the stage area, but they aren’t. The bed was horribly uncomfortable (something that seems common across Alton Towers Hotels!), and also made a rustling sound whenever you moved. For a room that can cost in the region of £380 a NIGHT, you really expect the experience to be as premium as the price. Also the meagre TV looks a little ‘lost’ on the wall, a nice shiny 42″ would certainly be better.

I know it sounds like I’m being very spoilt, by moaning about such things, but if you are spending so much money on a room you really expect to have a decent night sleep, and the maintenance to be top notch!

On to a more positive note, the staff. Honestly, the staff at both the Alton Towers Hotel and the Splash Landings Hotel are INCREDIBLE. So lovely and friendly, and always have time for you, and if they can’t help you they will find someone who can. It’s also nice to see the same staff members visit after visit, they obviously like their jobs, and it’s plain to see in their attitude.

It’s sad to see the standards at the Alton Towers Hotel for ongoing maintenance seem to be slipping slightly, the carpets are looking worn and in places stretching and bubbling up, it’s very noticeable across the corridors, and some of the bumps are bordering on a trip hazard! Also little details like the lifts are looking very unloved, the buttons aren’t all lighting up when pressed, and the finishes are looking tatty. The Alton Towers Hotel is bloody expensive, and the devil is in the detail, but alas, the detail is being overlooked.

Also, for somewhere so ‘family friendly’ it’s not possible to get hold of a Fruit Shoot, or any other similar children’s beverage with the ‘sports style’ cap. It was a pain in the arse at dinner, expecting there to be something J could sup on available, to find the only close thing was a large bottle of water from the Hotel shop.

The Splash Landings Water Park is a nightmare in peak times, there are no where near enough changing cubicles or lockers, leaving families fighting over them and a general air of stress and frustration. It’s nice to see they have reverse the policy of making you pay a non refundable £2 per locker, but really, I think the whole changing area needs to be ripped out, and re-planned, because it’s a pain in the arse and a source of misery for families.

The theme park itself was pretty faultless, the holidays meant massive queues for all the big rides, but thankfully, as G has only just crept past the 1.2m barrier, on the whole, the large rides were out of reach! We did grab a Fastrack ticket that allowed us on to Sonic Spinball, Thirteen, THe Runaway Mine Train and The Flume (£12 each) in record time. G loved all of them (despite clearly being petrified on Spinball and Thirteen). Loz took J around Storybook Land to go on some of the little rides which he loved too! Even Cloud Cuckoo Land where some of the other smaller rides live was pretty quiet, so for a school holiday day, G clocked up a decent ride count.

Also worth a go is the ‘Extraordinary Golf’, which is massive fun for very little cash, G and I had a hoot playing through 9 of the 18 holes. She thrashed me, doing nearly every hole on, or below par, she finished with 27, I was 58 – oh the shame of being beaten by a 10 year old!

It must sound like I hated my stay in a Alton Towers Resort, and in some respects, I did. The Moon Voyager Room was a let down – It’s an obscene amount of money to charge for a less than premium experience! If they can get the niggles sorted, then perhaps it might be easier to recommend them. As it stands though, I’d happily plump for one of the ‘standard’ rooms (although these REALLY need the air-con units added!) and save the money.

Will I go back? Of course I will, the Alton Towers Resort is my ‘Happy Place’, I’ve been a customer there for years, and will continue to visit. There is nowhere that gives me such a calm ‘at home’ feeling that Alton Towers Resort does. I was amazed how relatively stress free the hotels were, despite it being peak season, we got a booking for dinner with ease, and Breakfast wasn’t a battle either! If the maintenance issues can just improve a bit, it really will make the Hotels feel magical once again!

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