The Benefits of Staying at a LEGOLAND Windsor Hotel
(Please note: the majority of the benefits below are for those staying in the ‘premium themed rooms‘.)
Given that Windsor isn’t far from us (a 45 minute drive), we did wonder if it was worth staying over at LEGOLAND Windsor. If we had driven for hours to get there, perhaps. However, we could feasibly leave the park at 5pm and be home an hour later.
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Yet, and as we soon realised, staying in one of the LEGOLAND hotels isn’t just about practicalities.
Instead, it’s about buying into an experience; one that allows you to live and breathe the LEGOLAND magic from the moment you arrive, until the moment you close your eyes.
There are two themed hotels at LEGOLAND Windsor – the LEGOLAND Resort Hotel and the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel. With everything highly themed in both, from the toiletries you find in your bedroom, to the music that’s played in the elevator – staying here adds a new dimension to your trip. There are also several cheaper partner hotels nearby, but these aren’t themed and don’t offer the benefits that come with a premium room.
Alongside this overall, immersive experience, there are several other benefits to staying over at one of the LEGOLAND hotels Windsor.
1. Discounted Entry to the Park (Second Day)
If you do decide to stay in one of the LEGOLAND Windsor hotels, then you’ll be offered a second day entry to the park at a discounted rate.
In our case, we were able to book our second day for just £30 (whereas it would have normally cost us £34 each). This meant that we didn’t have to rush around on our first day in the park (which was also a Sunday and therefore very busy) and could take it easy as we knew we had the following day, too.
Our second day was on a Monday and the park was dramatically quieter than it had been on the previous day. The queues were virtually non-existent and things felt a lot less chaotic. Paying that extra £30 was therefore well-worth the money.
Throughout the summer, LEGOLAND Windsor are also offering a deal whereby you get the second day entirely free. However, given that the cost of staying at one of the LEGOLAND Windsor hotels rockets during this time, I’m not sure you’d save a huge amount (e.g. the cost of one night at the Castle Hotel increases from £368 to £518).
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As a result, you’d probably be better off staying outside of peak times and just paying the extra £30 for your second day’s access.
2. Free Access to the LEGOLAND Playroom
If you stay at one of the LEGOLAND Windsor hotels (in one of the premium rooms), then you’ll also gain free entry to the newly opened LEGOLAND playroom. If you’re staying in a standard room, you can pay £10 for entry. The playroom is found in the LEGOLAND Resort Hotel – just a two minute walk from the Castle Hotel, and is open from 3-9pm each day.
I hadn’t really given the playroom much thought prior to our trip – why would we need a playroom, when we were going to be outside exploring all day? However, once we arrived and realised that we’d need to fill a few hours between dinner and bedtime, we decided to seek it out.
Found on the mezzanine floor of the Resort Hotel, the LEGOLAND Windsor playroom far exceeded my expectations. A huge space, featuring interactive elements, incredible displays, a Costa Coffee cafe and a vast area to play with both LEGO and DUPLO (including a DUPLO village), this room was one of the highlights of our trip.
Inside the playroom were also lots of staff members on hand, ready to entertain the kids, help them build mega structures, run LEGO masterclasses and generally provide a friendly and positive atmosphere.
Our son adored this room – especially the huge tubs of DUPLO – and we (unexpectedly) spent nearly two hours in here. Inside is also a great ‘Total Sensory Space’, for children seeking some quiet, or who may have additional SEN requirements.
The Playroom is one of the great benefits of staying over at one of the LEGOLAND Windsor Hotels, and one that’s perhaps not raved about enough.
3. Free Access to the Pirate Splash Pool
Alongside entry to the LEGOLAND playroom, guests staying in one of the ‘premium rooms’ will also get free access to the Pirate themed swimming pool, also found in the LEGOLAND Resort Hotel.
You have to pre-book your ‘slot’ in the pool ahead of time (you can do this up to 30 days in advance) and you get free towels upon arrival. Armbands and floatation devices are also available.
In the end, we decided to book our slot for the Monday morning, after our first day in the park.
I’ll admit, I was pretty underwhelmed by the pool. I’d imagined a very large pool, filled with LEGO pirate boats and interactive features – a little like what’s found inside the park. However, I was surprised to find that the pool was just one medium sized pool for adults and older children, and a smaller kid’s pool – with just one slide and a fountain.
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Compared to the splash park found inside LEGOLAND itself (which is incredible), the LEGOLAND Windsor swimming pool was a little lack-lustre and had a similar atmosphere to your local Council swimming pool. Given that you have a time slot, it’s also a bit disjointed. Every thirty minutes a whistle goes and one cohort of people have to leave while another arrive, which makes things feel a little muddled.
However, I’ll admit that our toddler absolutely loved it, especially the slide. It was the perfect size for him and lovely and warm – and he had a total blast.
4. Use of the LEGOLAND Windsor Hotel Restaurants
Once you’ve booked your stay at one of the LEGOLAND Windsor hotels, you are given the option to book dinner in one of the hotel’s restaurants. Again, this must be done ahead of time, which does add a slightly clinical feel to things.
There are just two restaurants in the LEGOLAND Windsor resort: the Bricks Restaurant (found in the Resort Hotel) and the Tournament Tavern, located inside the LEGOLAND Castle Hotel. There is also a bar, the Skyline Bar, inside the Resort Hotel.
We had dinner in the Tournament Tavern, followed by breakfast in the Bricks Restaurant, and can certainly say that the Tavern was by far more enjoyable. The Bricks Restaurant had a school-canteen feel to it, whereas the Tavern was much quieter and more relaxed.
5. Early Entry to the Park
If staying in either LEGOLAND resort hotels, all guests get early access to the park from 9.30am (the park opens to outside guests from 10am). On the face of it, this is great, however, the queue is still incredibly long and was (during our stay, at least) poorly manned.
By the time we got into the park, it was 9.55am, so we only had 5 more minutes than non-staying guests.
6. Free Treasure Hunt
For those guests staying in one of LEGOLAND Windsor’s premium rooms, you’ll find a treasure hunt waiting for you.
This was something that our toddler really enjoyed and got very involved with. In short, the ‘hunt’ involved having to crack the code to the vault in our room (manned by a giant LEGO dragon), before breaking in to find our goodie bag.
Inside the goodie bag was a LEGO themed towel, a small coin commemorating our stay, a branded swim bag, a collectible LEGO brick and a hotel-themed lanyard. It wasn’t overwhelmingly exciting, but our son definitely enjoyed the experience.
7. Convenient Parking & Park Entry
If you’re staying in either of the Resort’s hotels, then you can park – and enter LEGOLAND – via the Resort Hotel. This is much closer than the general parking and this entrance is also much quieter.
Source: https://t-tees.com
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