I'm sure I've seen a previous thread on this property but I cannot find it so mods please feel free to merge if there is one.
Anyway my review...
This property opened in August 2012, and is based near Burton Upon Trent, UK.
We completed a one night stay here on leisure on Saturday night having been to Alton Towers for the day to attend the fireworks event. The hotel is approximately 19 miles south of the park and fairly straight forward to get to with sat nav, it is certainly an option if you are looking for accommodation to use for the park but probably only logical if youre after the Hilton brand because there are a number of cheaper and closer alternatives works if youre travelling to/from the south like we were though.
The St. George's Park complex is fairly well sign posted as you approach a few miles away but moving off the main roads and turning up smaller country lanes, we began to wonder if we were in the right place. Eventually we saw the sign for the complex for both the Hilton and Hampton Inn which are situated next to each other.
The hotel is not next to the road. After you turn into the complex entrance you follow a very long driveway for a few minutes which winds its way through fields and past training pitches. You wouldnt think anything of it in the day, but there are no lights for the main road entrance signs or any of the road signs along the driveway, and the sign posts are higher than head light level which meant we had to slow down every time we got to a junction to try and read the signs. There was a car a fair way ahead of us doing the same thing, stopping and switching on his headlights to full beam every time the road split!
Next issue find the hotel. Now having seen pictures on the Hilton website the building infront of us looked very much like the hotel but there were others in the same style there was no visible (certainly not lit) Hilton sign or anything on the building indeed nothing over the entranceway, but through the glass I could see a reception desk of some sort so we figured it must be the right place, parked up in the fairly empty car park and went in with our bags.
We were given a warm welcome as we arrived, and I can only say I was really impressed by the building. Sure its new and purpose built so youd expect something good, but I felt it struck a nice balance between modern business style, whilst being bright, spacious and housing a large football theme throughout.
The reception desk is located in a large lobby area, the staff were very friendly and when I told the girl on the desk we had been to the fireworks at the park, she said a number of people staying had done the same.
I booked a standard King without breakfast, the very nice girl informed us we were upgraded to an executive King on the top floor, and that we would therefore also have lounge access. She explained that the evening food would have been cleared by this point, but that we would still be able to get drinks, also we were able to have breakfast there tomorrow morning. I asked if we were able to use the restaurant for full breakfast no problem at all she said.
A swipe of the key card was required to use the elevator, which made a lot of sense as on the second floor you walk straight out into the executive lounge area which sits as a balcony overlooking the lobby and reception area. Unfortunately it turned out the lounge closes at 20:00 on weekends which was a shame as a nice cold drink would have gone down nicely. You need your key card again to access the door which leads to the rooms.
It goes without saying the hallways and everything are in as new condition. We were both impressed with the room, it was very spacious, clean, and very modern. A little bit like the T5 property there were a number of features and switches all over the place to remind you this was a modern property but I was particularly impressed by the very large TV, the amount of space in the room, and the second climate control unit next to the bed which means you dont have to get out of bed to change the temperature settings great idea. My girlfriend was impressed by all the dressing gowns etc all nicely laid out on the bed but was unsure about the large canvas of gazzer on the wall lol
Too tired to bother heading out to find somewhere to eat (and bother trying to navigate our way through the complex again) we headed down to the bar area to grab some food. The prices were as you would expect at such a property, but I have to say the food was of a good quality and we didnt feel too short changed this was of particular interest to me as I had seen a number of negative reviews about the food here. The bar area had a large TV showing football, and likewise as with the rest of the hotel, a number of England related player pictures all over the wall.
Back to the room, the bathroom was very smart, and there were a number of Peter Thomas Roth amenities such as a toothbrush and toothpaste set which Ive not seen before at Hilton properties.
There were a number of items laid out on a tray on the side in the room (bottle of water, small wine bottle, couple of choc bars and some nuts). We had the chocolate bars and water, assuming them to be complimentary as they were the same ones I normally get in my room at other properties.
Very tired from a long day, we headed to bed. The bed was very comfortable, and our only complaint was that the air con was fairly noisy and we couldnt work out how to turn it down/ off to reduce the noise eventually we gave up and just went to sleep, being tired it didnt matter and we both had a great nights sleep.
The next morning the paper had arrived and the bill had been slipped under the door. I had a look and was a little surprised to see we had been charged nearly £20 for the stuff on the side. Now I knew the stuff was on a device which detected being lifted off (and had lifted/ moved everything), but given the complimentary water was on there I didnt worry, whats more there was no sign, no prices displayed, and nothing to say it was a mini bar or chargeable plus it was less stuff than Ive receive at many other properties so I didnt worry.
A trip to reception before breakfast and it turns out only the water was complimentary (although we had been charged for that too), the mini bar tariff booklet was on the desk in the room instead of next to the items where it apparently should be. Having explained all this (and that we had only had a couple of the items) It was all removed from our account to apologise which I thought was a nice gesture (I would have been a little upset to pay £1.80 per MarsBar!).
Breakfast in the main restaurant was spot on. Service was excellent, it wasnt particularly busy and everything was well stocked. There was a chef on hand to do fresh to order items, although I didnt require the service, but suffice to say I made good use of the buffet.
All in all, I was very impressed by the property, the staff matched the quality of the property and I would certainly stay here again if in the area (or visiting Alton Towers). My only issue was the lack of lighting from the main road, but perhaps this was exaggerated by a tired driver late on a 3°c November evening to be more of an issue than it actually is(?). Hope the review is of use to some people!
Anyway my review...
This property opened in August 2012, and is based near Burton Upon Trent, UK.
We completed a one night stay here on leisure on Saturday night having been to Alton Towers for the day to attend the fireworks event. The hotel is approximately 19 miles south of the park and fairly straight forward to get to with sat nav, it is certainly an option if you are looking for accommodation to use for the park but probably only logical if youre after the Hilton brand because there are a number of cheaper and closer alternatives works if youre travelling to/from the south like we were though.
The St. George's Park complex is fairly well sign posted as you approach a few miles away but moving off the main roads and turning up smaller country lanes, we began to wonder if we were in the right place. Eventually we saw the sign for the complex for both the Hilton and Hampton Inn which are situated next to each other.
The hotel is not next to the road. After you turn into the complex entrance you follow a very long driveway for a few minutes which winds its way through fields and past training pitches. You wouldnt think anything of it in the day, but there are no lights for the main road entrance signs or any of the road signs along the driveway, and the sign posts are higher than head light level which meant we had to slow down every time we got to a junction to try and read the signs. There was a car a fair way ahead of us doing the same thing, stopping and switching on his headlights to full beam every time the road split!
Next issue find the hotel. Now having seen pictures on the Hilton website the building infront of us looked very much like the hotel but there were others in the same style there was no visible (certainly not lit) Hilton sign or anything on the building indeed nothing over the entranceway, but through the glass I could see a reception desk of some sort so we figured it must be the right place, parked up in the fairly empty car park and went in with our bags.
We were given a warm welcome as we arrived, and I can only say I was really impressed by the building. Sure its new and purpose built so youd expect something good, but I felt it struck a nice balance between modern business style, whilst being bright, spacious and housing a large football theme throughout.
The reception desk is located in a large lobby area, the staff were very friendly and when I told the girl on the desk we had been to the fireworks at the park, she said a number of people staying had done the same.
I booked a standard King without breakfast, the very nice girl informed us we were upgraded to an executive King on the top floor, and that we would therefore also have lounge access. She explained that the evening food would have been cleared by this point, but that we would still be able to get drinks, also we were able to have breakfast there tomorrow morning. I asked if we were able to use the restaurant for full breakfast no problem at all she said.
A swipe of the key card was required to use the elevator, which made a lot of sense as on the second floor you walk straight out into the executive lounge area which sits as a balcony overlooking the lobby and reception area. Unfortunately it turned out the lounge closes at 20:00 on weekends which was a shame as a nice cold drink would have gone down nicely. You need your key card again to access the door which leads to the rooms.
It goes without saying the hallways and everything are in as new condition. We were both impressed with the room, it was very spacious, clean, and very modern. A little bit like the T5 property there were a number of features and switches all over the place to remind you this was a modern property but I was particularly impressed by the very large TV, the amount of space in the room, and the second climate control unit next to the bed which means you dont have to get out of bed to change the temperature settings great idea. My girlfriend was impressed by all the dressing gowns etc all nicely laid out on the bed but was unsure about the large canvas of gazzer on the wall lol
Too tired to bother heading out to find somewhere to eat (and bother trying to navigate our way through the complex again) we headed down to the bar area to grab some food. The prices were as you would expect at such a property, but I have to say the food was of a good quality and we didnt feel too short changed this was of particular interest to me as I had seen a number of negative reviews about the food here. The bar area had a large TV showing football, and likewise as with the rest of the hotel, a number of England related player pictures all over the wall.
Back to the room, the bathroom was very smart, and there were a number of Peter Thomas Roth amenities such as a toothbrush and toothpaste set which Ive not seen before at Hilton properties.
There were a number of items laid out on a tray on the side in the room (bottle of water, small wine bottle, couple of choc bars and some nuts). We had the chocolate bars and water, assuming them to be complimentary as they were the same ones I normally get in my room at other properties.
Very tired from a long day, we headed to bed. The bed was very comfortable, and our only complaint was that the air con was fairly noisy and we couldnt work out how to turn it down/ off to reduce the noise eventually we gave up and just went to sleep, being tired it didnt matter and we both had a great nights sleep.
The next morning the paper had arrived and the bill had been slipped under the door. I had a look and was a little surprised to see we had been charged nearly £20 for the stuff on the side. Now I knew the stuff was on a device which detected being lifted off (and had lifted/ moved everything), but given the complimentary water was on there I didnt worry, whats more there was no sign, no prices displayed, and nothing to say it was a mini bar or chargeable plus it was less stuff than Ive receive at many other properties so I didnt worry.
A trip to reception before breakfast and it turns out only the water was complimentary (although we had been charged for that too), the mini bar tariff booklet was on the desk in the room instead of next to the items where it apparently should be. Having explained all this (and that we had only had a couple of the items) It was all removed from our account to apologise which I thought was a nice gesture (I would have been a little upset to pay £1.80 per MarsBar!).
Breakfast in the main restaurant was spot on. Service was excellent, it wasnt particularly busy and everything was well stocked. There was a chef on hand to do fresh to order items, although I didnt require the service, but suffice to say I made good use of the buffet.
All in all, I was very impressed by the property, the staff matched the quality of the property and I would certainly stay here again if in the area (or visiting Alton Towers). My only issue was the lack of lighting from the main road, but perhaps this was exaggerated by a tired driver late on a 3°c November evening to be more of an issue than it actually is(?). Hope the review is of use to some people!