Legoland’s website enthuses – and quite rightly – about the Windsor resort’s hotel, which celebrated its first birthday in 2013. It states: ‘Staying in the fully Lego-themed hotel is a truly unforgettable experience you really can’t get anywhere else – open your curtains and you’re right in the heart of Legoland!’ And it’s true, whether you stay on a room-only basis or head into the park for a day of fun, you – and especially your children – won’t be disappointed.
Our Legoland experience was made even more enjoyable by staying overnight at this fabulous hotel; it proved the icing on the cake, especially for our kids. Anyone interested in Lego – and I’ve got two children who are mad about it – will love spending a night here.
Whoever designed the hotel – inside and out – deserves a medal because it’s arguably the best themed hotel I’ve seen. On leaving your car in the complimentary car park, just a few metres from the building’s main entrance, you head towards Reception by walking under a Lego-styled clock tower guarded by a roaring, steam-breathing dragon.
One of the many things we liked about the hotel is that everywhere you turn it’s Lego, Lego, Lego; even behind the reception desk the wall is adorned with hundreds of Lego mini-figures.
The reception area is spacious and the staff behind the desk welcome you with a genuine smile. Top marks are scored when it comes to the knowledge and quality of personnel – and that extends to inside the park, too. Everyone is extremely efficient and helpful; even if you pass a member of staff in the stairway, they greet you warmly.
The hotel is full of surprises and our two children couldn’t wait to see inside our themed bedroom – and my wife and I couldn’t, either. We had read on the website that no matter what age you are, “you’ll be entranced by the unbelievable attention to detail and the very definite wow factor.” And we were.
Bedrooms are divided into Pirate, Adventure or Kingdom themes and each has been designed to help make your stay truly unforgettable; if you want some extra surprises, upgrade to a Premium room. All rooms have en-suite bathroom with shower, telephone, hairdryer, TVs with a dedicated Lego channel, tea and coffee making facilities – everything you could want, really. Our kids liked the fact they had their own section of the room, including bunk-beds and a tele.
Eating at Bricks Family Restaurant is a relaxed affair, which isn’t always easy with young children. What puts you at ease is that the staff are extremely child-friendly and realise that even the most well-behaved little ’uns will occasionally drop food on the floor, make a noise or want to wander. The staff take everything in their stride.
But if your children do get bored during lunch or dinner, they can make use of the crayons on the table and colour in the various Lego items printed on the tablecloth – a really fab idea!
The self-service restaurant has a wide selection of food, including a kiddies’ section displayed on a counter set at a child-friendly height. All of us enjoyed our food, although one suggestion to help make the experience even better would be for the catering staff to label the various dishes; for example, when we ate at the restaurant meat-eaters had three different flavoured chicken dishes to choose from but no labels showing what the individual dishes were; we heard several people asking the staff about the ingredients.
Once we’d finished our tasty meal, we relaxed with a drink at the Skyline Bar while the children enjoyed themselves at the indoor play area, situated alongside the bar, as well as being amused by the hotel’s entertainment team.
There is so much to squeeze in to your stay at the hotel, including taking a dip in the swimming pool and, new for 2013, letting the children enjoy the wooden playground situated between the hotel and the park. I guess there is only one answer: next time, we’ll have to book an extra night!
Further information:
LEGOLAND Windsor Resort
Winkfield Road,
Windsor,
Berkshire,
SL4 4AY
t: 0871 222 2001