Drayton Manor Hotel Review – Drayton Manor Theme Park is one of the UK’s most popular family attractions with over one million visitors a year. It was first opened to the public by the current owners, the Bryan family, in 1950 after husband and wife co-founders, George, OBE, and Vera Bryan, converted 80 acres of derelict land, which once belonged to the former British Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel and his family, into a wonderful family attraction.
Our Drayton Manor Hotel Review
Today, set in approximately 280 acres of beautiful woodland and countryside, the family owned and run Drayton Manor Theme Park features some of the biggest, wettest and scariest rides around, including Shock-wave, G-force, Maelstrom, and Apocalypse, as well as a 15-acre zoo, the hugely popular Thomas Land™ attraction, and a 4D Cinema. The park also has an onsite hotel. The four-star 150 bedroom Drayton Manor Hotel features 15 Thomas & Friends™ rooms, as well as two bars and two restaurants.
Drayton Manor Hotel Review
We took a trip to Drayton Manor ourselves for the first time recently and stayed overnight at the Drayton Manor Hotel. I don’t mind admitting that we were blown away at just how much fun there is to be had! The staff were friendly, helpful and considerate throughout the hotel itself as well as in the theme park, and nothing was too much trouble.
The hotel lobby is exciting for kids from the first moment you walk through the main doors as there’s a huge musical Thomas the Tank Engine Carousel. It’s very well thought out and the whole place was absolutely spotless from top to bottom. Everything is clean and shiny! We were seriously impressed with the standards both in the public areas and in our rooms, which were light, bright, good sized and fresh.
There was plenty of tea and coffee on hand in the room and a small kettle as well as everything else you’d need for a short stay.
After a comfortable night sleep in our lovely air-conditioned rooms, we headed down for the buffet breakfast. This was an absolute pleasure from start to finish. The choice was vast and ranged from hot breakfasts with sausages, eggs, bacon, mushrooms and all of your ‘must have’s’ for a full English breakfast and fresh fruit, cereals and yoghurt’s with loads of extras for those wanting continental.
The breakfast and bar areas are huge, airy and relaxed and we couldn’t have asked for more from the hotel itself at all. It was an absolute pleasure and a real treat for kids and adults alike! We would definitely go back again.
Drayton Manor Theme Park
The arrival of a brand new Thomas & Friends™ ride, fantastic 2013 money saving offers, a rainy day guarantee and much, much more means this summer at Drayton Manor Theme Park is set to be better than ever before. We had beautiful sunshine when we went and although there were queues for some of the popular rides, they weren’t ever longer than about 15/20 minutes. Some of the smaller kids rides didn’t even have long queues, which was great, despite the park being really busy.
Thomas Land was one of the main attractions for my nephew on the day and he loved every second of it! The rides and the attention to detail that has gone in to all of the characters is fantastic and seeing the kid’s eyes light up makes it well worth the trip for that alone.
My 10 yr old daughter still had plenty to do and really enjoyed a lot of the Thomas Land rides, despite not being a Thomas fan herself, as they were great fun and very interactive and thrilling. Older children also have plenty to do as there are some bigger rides for the real thrillseekers!
We chose to have our evening meal at The Grill Inn and everything was beautifully presented and tasted delicious! The staff here were also helpful and service was faultless.
All in all we had an amazing time and plan on returning again ASAP. A wonderful hotel stay and a fantastic, family fun themepark that is suitable for all. We give it 9.5 out of 10 in our travel review score!
More Info
All pre-booked tickets* for visits between Saturday 20th July and Sunday 1st September will benefit from sensational summer savings, with all adult tickets (ages 12+) costing just £20, saving over 44% on the gate price and child tickets (ages 4 – 11) priced at £15, saving over 45% on the standard price. Ticket prices for 2 – 3 year olds cost £5.00, whilst under 2s go free.
A new ride, Winston’s Whistle Stop Tour, has launched to celebrate Thomas Land’s™ fifth anniversary, but not forgetting the other 20 rides and attractions in Thomas Land to entertain Thomas & Friends enthusiasts. But if it is big thrills you want, then Drayton Manor has plenty, from Apocalypse, voted the UK’s scariest ride by Channel 5’s The Gadget Show, to G-Force and skin-soaking Stormforce 10. However, if you’re looking for something more sedate, the 15-acre zoo is home to over 100 animal species.
After working up an appetite, families can take advantage of some enticing offers, including a family of four meal deal for just £22.00, an all-day refillable drink for just £6.00 and a healthy kids’ packed lunch for just £3.95, which contains a cheese or ham roll, with Quavers, a kids juice and a fruit bag**.
Don’t let the British weather dampen your spirits if you’re planning a day out at the park either, as it will be operating its successful rainy day guarantee. This promises to give visitors who have pre-booked tickets a free return trip if it rains continuously for a minimum of two hours during their time at the park***.
For visitors travelling from further afield or simply looking to turn a day trip into an overnight stay, there’s also the onsite luxurious four-star Drayton Manor Hotel. It has 150 bedrooms, including 15 Thomas & Friends themed family rooms. It’s newest addition is an outdoor play area that includes a swinging horse, a cradle-nest swing, a hexagonal swing, a jack straw see-saw and a three-metre high climbing structure – perfect for younger visitors. For further details, special offers, or to book a room go to www.draytonmanorhotel.com.
The hotel also has two bars and restaurants and located near to the theme park is the on-site restaurant, The Grill Inn, which is open to non-visitors and visitors from 12.00pm – 10.00pm daily, ensuring people are never stuck for a choice of fine food and drink. For more information visit www.thegrillinn.co.uk.
To book tickets, or for more information about the park, visit www.draytonmanor.co.uk or call 0844 472 1960. Tickets must be booked in advance to qualify for the 2013 prices.
* A booking fee of £1.50 applies
**Refillable drink can be filled by any eatery in the park with Pepsi, Pepsi Max, Tango or 7up. Receipt needs to be shown at points to refill and offer is valid on day of bottle purchase. Kids packed lunches are available from the Teashop, Humble Pies, Mrs Kyndley’s Kitchen, Knapford Station and CN Café.
***In order to claim the return voucher, guests must present their original advanced purchased ticket to the Guest Services department in the park. Visitors will then be able to return later in the season for free. Please check the website for specified dates.
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