Easter Break in the UK – Drayton Manor Hotel

Now that we are back from our five days break in the UK, I thought I’d share with you our adventures. Five days (it’s really four full days we had, the rest was traveling) is pretty long for one blog post so I was thinking it would be best to break it down into a few small ones rather than a huge long one. Nobody wants to read that.

On Wednesday morning we set off early to head to Dublin Port. Our ferry was leaving at 8.45am which meant early start for the kids. We were on the road for 7am. We went via the Port tunnel because it was the quickest. I had packed up all the bits and pieces the night before so that we only had our washing bag to pack for example. Getting to Dublin port is one thing but finding the right lane to queue is another. We managed in the end and were on time. Matthew was super excited to go on the boat as he has never been on one before.

The journey was two hours which I didn’t think was too bad at all. Matthew was occupied looking out the window most of the time and playing with his toys. We grabbed some breakfast on the boat. Chloe loves baked beans at the moment. It seems to be the only thing she eats right now. As we arrived in Holyhead, hubby set up Google Maps on his phone to get us to the Drayton Manor Hotel near Birmingham. What would we do without this technology? What DID we do without the technology twenty years ago?

With one break having some lunch, we arrived at 3pm on the dot which was check in time. It was relaxing time and let the kids go wild in the room from the long journey. It’s about three hours from Holyhead to the hotel so you can imagine how wrecked they were. They did nap on the way which made it okay. Our hotel room was really cosy. First of I thought we only had one double bed but then it turns out the sofa turns into another double bed. Matthew was super excited to go to sleep in that. We had a cot ordered for Chloe but trying to spend forever getting her to settle in it, we decided to take turns and sleep with her every night. Us parents pretty much got ten hours sleep every night which was so refreshing.

Finally we went downstairs to explore the grounds of the hotel. At the back they had a playground for big and small. We spent some time there before we headed in for dinner at the restaurant.

The hotel itself was completely Thomas the Tank Engine themed. Matthew was loving it. He hasn’t watched Thomas in such a long time and I thought he had outgrown it but it might be back on the cards again after the visit. Drayton Manor Hotel also has its own Thomas shop. We made a purchase in it of course.

The restaurant is massive.  There is the restaurant itself, but then they have also tables located around the lobby and bar area to have dinner. In the middle of it all there are multiple train track tables. You could rent the trains from reception, or like we did, bring your own. Matthew is so interactive with other boys and had a ball playing with them together racing around on the tracks.  As well as going for the a la card menu, they also have a buffet option. I jumped at that idea. I am that kind of person who likes to get a few different options and try a bit of everything, rather than having a huge meal placed in front of me.

Before heading off to bed, Matthew decided he needed to take a ride on Thomas first. There were two ride ons located in the hotel. As you walk into the hotel, they have a display window with a carousel and Percy and Thomas going around when you press the button.

Each evening the hotel offered children’s entertainment. This was running from 6.30pm to 8.30pm. We tried it out one night. We didn’t stay for it all though. As far as we could see it involved dancing games, lots of balloons and Thomas themed colouring in pages. Certainly a very family orientated hotel. I would definitely recommend it to friends and family if you were to stay central in England to get around to all other places.

Don’t miss out on our next adventure post.