Hi again guys!

[Gertie100]

Its been 2 years since I was here -

I am trying to convince my lovely hubby that we need to go again this year, but in 2012 we will be a family of 5 all 3 years and above instead of being able to shoehorn the twins into travel cots in corners!

So I know most of the hotels are out (bye bye SL - I will miss you), and realise that I am going to ring them to book rather than doing it over tinterweb.

So, I need some information on family rooms at Newport Bay - I understand there's not many of them?
Are there any other hotels with family rooms?
Would a suite at the SL take 5?
I am fully prepared for the pink 1 this year, but need to do some research first before I present it as a done deal to him (and wrestle his bank card off him!)

As an aside...we are in South Wales and will be driving/tunneling it. Will the Olympics impact on us driving round London during the first 2 weeks in August? Daft question I know, but something I have been thinking about!!


Thank you all!

 

[Hipster Meg]

Personally I'm planning on avoiding London completely during the Olympics; there's no way of knowing just how busy it'll be (I'm guessing lots) and I'd never recommend taking a car into central London at the best of times - parking is hideously expensive (if you can find any) and there's the congestion charge to take into account.

Have you thought about travelling from Ashford or Ebbsfleet instead? They're a little bit further but it'd make the whole thing much more civilized and if you want to get a hotel the night before you travel the chances of getting one at a reasonable price are much higher than trying to find a cheap one in London.

 

[torsie24]

If you're driving you could always consider Davy Crockett?

 

[torsie24]

And if you're driving from Wales down to the tunnel I doubt the M25 will be much worse than normal.

It's all happening in the centre of the city, so you won't be getting too close.

 

[jothp]

We are a family of 5. Officially they say that all their suites only sleep 4, but last year we had booked a family room in NPB and were given an upgrade to a suite and there was plenty of room for all 5 of us - they just put an extra pull out bed into the lounge area with the sofa bed.

I really can't understand why they make it so hard for families of 5 or more to stay onsite. Surely in SL or NPB if they replaced one of the doubles with bunks then they could fit in a small sofabed too to make more rooms for bigger families?

 

[jothp]

Meant to say that you can also book 2 rooms in any of the hotels, they will not guarantee you interconnecting rooms but people normally get them. The only trouble with this is that unless you have more than 2 adults you will be charged a single adult supplement for each room which significantly increases the price.

 

[Gertie100]

Not going near central London! I was talking specifically about the M25 area only. We can only go in August so taking 2 weeks out of our available time and trying to get a family room etc narrows our choices down somewhat.

Assuming the assimilation of husband is complete in the next few weeks, I think I will just ring them and be the really annoying customer who is sat with a pen and notepad trying to work out the best value for (probably a lot of) money.

Agree on how difficult it is for families of 5 to just book stuff. My girls can all fit in 1 double bed so I get really frustrated by stuff like this. I could understand it if they were 14 and 10 but 7 and 3?

Not that this would stop us from going you understand...

Once we are sorted I will update and let you know what we ended up with.

Take care all

 

[Ms Poppins]

I really can't understand why they make it so hard for families of 5 or more to stay onsite. Surely in SL or NPB if they replaced one of the doubles with bunks then they could fit in a small sofabed too to make more rooms for bigger families?

This makes me mad too

Especially in the larger hotels, the HNY can easily accomodate a roll away bed or similar making it useful for familes with 5.

We've stayed in family room at DLH, and also done 2 rooms at HNY a couple of times. With the ages of your lo's I'd say that DLH is a good room size. 2 rooms are better when you have older kids and need 2 bathrooms.

I think that if you're driving, Davey Crockett could be a good idea?

 

[Gertie100]

Exactly, its not like the rooms are small is it?
We rearranged our last room in SL to accomdate 2 travel cots and were still able to swing a cat!

I hear you about Davey Crockett, but to be honest, I don't want to stay there. I've heard good and bad stuff and of course its the bad stuff which always sticks.

Our year has been a bit horrid so far, so if we do go then I want to go to DLH purely to cheer me up.
I would be so chuffed!