Simon, Libby and I have just returned from an excellent family mini break and I thought I would do a review as it might be of interest to other parents looking for a short break in the UK.
We visited Leicestershire on a Stay, Play and Explore break. The deal was that with your hotel accommodation you get a family ticket for two adults and two children to visit a choice of three of five local attractions. The ticket is normally £60 and you have until 31 December this year to visit your three choices.
We had a three day - two night break for £159 and in my view it was well worth the money.
Hotel
We stayed at the Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel, which is rated four stars by the AA.
The hotel was clean, very smart looking, with helpful staff in all areas. As part of the deal you get a family room. Most of these seemed to be on the ground floor. The family rooms all have two double beds, easy chairs with coffee table, television with pay movies, refreshment tray and hairdryer. We also requested a travel cot, which was provided free of charge with a bottom sheet and thin blanket. Not that she slept in it, she ended up in one of the double beds eventually!
We had full use of the attached Leisure Club which has a salt water swimming pool, sauna, spa pool and gym. There was a fun children’s swimming session in the pool that we took advantage of on the first evening. Though at a minimum depth of 4ft 6in it was perhaps not ideal for small children but plenty of floats and inflatable baby seats were provided by the hotel. Simon used the gym on site and found the facilities excellent, with a good mixture of cardio vascular machines (exercise bikes, running machines, cross trainers and rowing machines), weight training machines, and free weights.
There was plenty of free parking onsite, though it is up a hill so I would recommend parking in the loading bay by reception when leaving! During school holidays, as well as the pool sessions children’s activities are provided include a Wii Games room, indoor mini play area for tots, early evening meals and cookery classes with chef. We did not see the play area or take advantage of the cookery classes but saw plenty of happy older children going to and from the Wii Games room. We did go to the hotel restaurant on the first night when it opened at 6pm.
Breakfast was buffet style and included with the price. Libby particularly enjoyed the sausages!
Food
As I mentioned above we ate in the hotel restaurant for breakfast and dinner on the first night. Clean highchairs were provided and when I ordered a drink for Libby they made it in her sippy cup for us. All the waitresses were very helpful and attentive, having a cute toddler with you helps! The hotel food was buffet/carvery style and it was alright, not terrible but no great shakes either. It was, however, rather expensive. Libby’s meal and drink was free with a paying adult, but it was still over £50 with a drink each.
We had been recommended the local Harvester pub so went there the next evening. We were really impressed! The food was excellent, the service superb and it was a real bargain! There was a really good choice on both the adult and child menus and we all enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this restaurant to families with young children or anyone who wants a good meal for a decent price.
Attractions
We had a choice of five attractions:
Bosworth Battlefield
Conkers
National Space Centre
Snibston
Twycross Zoo
We chose to visit Twycross Zoo and Conkers with Snibston being our back up choice if the weather was bad. Luckily we couldn’t have asked for better weather for the whole visit. We still have one pass left on the deal to take before 2012 so we might go and visit Snibston in the summer.
The Zoo was really good, it wasn’t huge and had plenty of areas to sit and relax, and though it was busy it didn’t feel over crowded. I really liked that you could get a close but safe distance from the animals and thought the elephant area was amazing. It was almost like walking through their natural habitat. I would recommend the Dome for good service and lovely ice cream. The small animals and petting zoo area was very well thought out and easily accessible with a pushchair. I just wish Libby had been awake to enjoy it! One suggestion I would make is to take a pushchair or buggy that is quite sturdy or good off road if you are visiting Twycross, as some of the paths and areas will test your pushchair driving skills!!
The next day we visited Conkers, another one that would have benefited from an off road buggy! This is an old coal mine which has been turned into beautiful woodland. It has two activity centres connected by a cute little train.
The Discovery Centre has over 100 interactive exhibits and with a slightly terrifying simulated tree top walk where make your way through a moving forest canopy at night and then down a big slide in the dark! Simon went down the slide because he is a lot braver than me!! The Discovery Centre was good but definitely aimed at older children. Libby found the indoor play area a bit too dark and scary (I did too if I’m honest!). It wasn’t all scary though I was impressed with some of the science and ideas in the exhibits and would definitely want to bring Libby back when she is older.
The Waterside Centre is set in mature woodland, the area around the centre is really beautiful and many areas were very peaceful despite the large numbers there but there didn’t really seem to be much to do apart from the adventure playground.
One piece of advice for visiting Conkers is to take a picnic as there are lots of lovely areas outside perfect for alfresco eating. Also the food sold in the cafes was ridiculously expensive and not worth the money at all!
Overall we had a great family break which was for the most part good value for money, right here in the UK. We would definitely do this again and will be visiting the area to use the last portion of our family ticket in the summer.