Review – Enchanted Lodges and Enchanted Village at Alton Towers

On to the Enchanted Village itself, put simply, it is delightful, well designed and thought out.

Behind the Reception is ‘The Crooked Spoon’, which is themed as a village pub, guests of the Enchanted Village have their included breakfast in here, and perhaps an evening meal too. The breakfast is, as the other Resort Hotels, a buffet affair, with a fairly good selection of food stuffs (although the cooked breakfast is lacking in fried mushrooms!).

We also had our evening meal here too, like most ‘gastro pubs’ it’s a case of remembering your table number and ordering at the bar. I wasn’t overly enthused with the service we had in here, sure the staff were all polite, and friendly enough, but the experience didn’t really feel as well practised as the other restaurants. Our starter was bought to the table quickly, and then moments later the Main Courses were infront of us, it just felt a little manic and rushed.

Also it’s painfully clear that the planning of The Crooked Spoon hadn’t really been thought about, it’s too small to cope with a ‘full’ Enchanted Village. This means you have to book a timeslot for breakfast, which, frankly is a bit of a pain. I don’t necessarily know when I want my breakfast the following day – having to pin it down to a specific slot due to a planning oversight is annoying. I think with a bit more training and finesse The Crooked Spoon could be bought up to the level of the other restaurants available – as it stands though – it’s not QUITE there.

Elsewhere in the Enchanted Village is the ‘Village Store’, a little retail unit with Alton Towers Resort themed goods, snacks and drinks, similar to those you’d find around the rest of the park. I think they’ve missed a trick here with the theming, it could have been a quaint  little shop, but it just looks like any other retail stand dotted around, especially with the ‘Grabber’ Arcade Machines outside.

After our swift evening meal we walked over to the Alton Towers Hotel for a few cocktails in the bar, as we left the Enchanted Village a lovely member of staff – Paula – asked if we wanted a lift on her Golf Cart. As the evening was colder than we’d expected it was fab to have a quick drive over. Paula was great and really improved the evening with her impromptu lift, plus – it gave an extra 5 minutes drinking time!

Heading back later to the Enchanted Village did highlight one fairly big issue, whilst the pathways to the Enchanted Lodges are illuminated, the little boards with the ‘Road names’ are not – so way-finding after the sun goes down is a ballache. A simple strip of downlight LEDs on each sign could make things a lot easier and cause no extra light pollution. Whilst it’s nice for it not to be lit like a busy street, they need a bit more illumination in places.

The Enchanted Lodge was £124 for one night Bed and Breakfast – this was using a 30% discount code too – so it’s certainly not a cheap night away. Compared to our previous night in the Splash Landings Hotel which was around £80 (again with a 30% discount) – it’s an expensive way to spend a night at Alton Towers. The prices obviously fluctuate depending on when you stay, but this certainly isn’t ‘Budget’, in my mind though, it represents excellent value for money when all is considered, it’s premium accommodation at a premium price. Thankfully you don’t feel ripped off or short changed, you get what you pay for.

For those a bit more flush, there is the option of staying in the larger Enchanted Tree Houses, which vary in size, these are a LOT bigger, with living areas, and second floors, but obviously, more costly – we’ll come back one day to review them!

You can book your stay at the Alton Towers Resort right here

You can view the entire gallery of images of the Enchanted Village COMING SOON