We just returned from a family stay at Alton Towers Splash Landings Hotel, so we’re here today to share our review and tell you all about it.
I had wanted to stay at the Olton Towers hotel for years, but since we live not far from Olton Towers, it felt like a huge and unnecessary expense. It’s expensive! But is it worth it…?
I think so!
Staying at the hotel made our weekend at Alton Towers even more magical and truly special.
Alton Towers has 6 accommodation options:
- Alton Towers Hotel
- Cbees Land Hotel
- Splash Landings Hotel
- starry sky observation pod
- Woodland Lodges
- luxury tree house
I chose Splash Landings Hotel simply because it was the cheapest for my family of five. This Caribbean-themed hotel features Splash Landings waterpark. Most of the windows around the hotel face the water park, so even just having a drink feels like you’re immersing yourself in the water park. This added to the holiday atmosphere and made us feel like we were abroad.
Splash Landings Hotel was a great choice. Simple, comfortable and exciting at Olton Towers it was an easy place to rest between his 1st day and his 2nd day at the water park.
We usually love glamping, but I think we’ll save this for the summer. It was dark the entire time we were in the hotel, so we may have missed some of the magic because it was dark. Also, I’m sure you have a lot of fun at theme parks and water parks, but I’m not sure if you also need exciting accommodations.
I’ll admit that my expectations for Splash Landings Hotel were pretty low, but they were amazing.
The hotel was busy, chaotic, noisy, and full of kids…but that’s exactly what we came here for!
I do not recommend staying here if you want to relax. This is a very family friendly hotel with noisy little kids everywhere!
If you have noisy young children, you’ll love this. We felt very welcome and didn’t have to worry about the kids touching things, running around, getting too excited or making a fuss.
I’ll be honest: Both my husband and I felt the need to go and sit in a dark, quiet room after a weekend away. But we all loved it and would go again soon.
For reference, we visited in mid-October 2022 with our 3 children: George (7), Joseph (6), and Alba (2). Actually, we mainly went for Joseph’s birthday present!
For a room tour and other clips from inside the hotel, watch the video below…
What we did during our two days at Alton Towers
We arrived on a Saturday, not realizing it was the first Saturday of the October half-term in the UK (we live in Wales!). But luckily it wasn’t too crowded and we had gorgeous autumn sunny weather so it couldn’t have been better. Day.
The first day was spent at Alton Towers Theme Park. We arrived at 9:30am, parked in the hotel parking lot (free of charge), and took the monorail into the park.
We left the park at 4pm and went to check in at the hotel (check-in is possible from 3pm). Then I stayed in the hotel room with my two younger kids for 2 hours and while they took a nap (a much-needed rest and drink!), my husband and oldest son ran to the park. I went back. “Big kid rides’.
At 6pm we returned to the park. It was Halloween Sukefest, the rides were open late and there were lots of performances.
At 9pm we returned to the hotel and had drinks at the bar which had dancers and entertainers for the kids.
At 10pm we all collapsed into bed, completely exhausted!
The next morning we had breakfast at 7:45am. In hindsight, it was actually too early, but I received a lot of emails encouraging me to book early!
We checked out of our room at 9:45am and packed our bags in the car.
We then went to Splash Landings Water Park from 10am to 2pm and drove home.
Splash Landings Hotel Beachcomber Room
I booked the Beachcomber Room at the Splash Landings Hotel purely because it was the cheapest option for my family of five.
I didn’t really bother booking a themed room. The main reason is that not having a theme eliminates arguments since each of the three kids chooses a different theme. Themed rooms are obviously more expensive.
There were 5 of us so we had a double bed, a double sofa bed and a bunk bed. Our room was noticeably larger than the surrounding rooms and we really appreciated that extra space. When you have a third child, hotels often just tuck them into the corner of a camp bed, but this room will easily accommodate six people.
The room was spacious and inviting, and the bed was really comfortable. The sofa bed was also comfortable and folded up with all the bedding in place so I only had to flip it over when I went to sleep.
It didn’t feel cramped at all and there was even enough space to squeeze a large stroller into a corner without folding it.
We have stayed in many hotel rooms for our family of five and this was one of our favorites. Bunk beds make you feel less cramped and kids love playing in them.
There was a small hanging rail for coats, but other than that there were no cupboards or storage space. This wasn’t a problem for us as I think most people only stay for 1-2 nights.
The bathroom was quite small, but perfectly fine, with a bathtub and shower, and plenty of space around the sink.
There was a small TV and the kids loved the beach themed carpet covered in footprints, buckets and spades in the sand.
There was WiFi, but I didn’t actually log in. Because it was the cloud and you needed a billion details to log in. So I just told the kids that she didn’t have WiFi. Please note that 4 or 5G is very slow around the resort.
Downsides to the Splash Landings Hotel Beachcomber Room
The only negative thing about Splash Landings Hotel is that it is very hot and humid inside. You can open the bedroom window an inch or two, but the whole place is very warm. There is also a fan in the room. The hotel has a water park, so I guess that’s why it’s so hot!
Since it was October, I really enjoyed the warmth, but I noticed other guests complaining that it was too hot. If you see someone walking down the hallway with a coat on, it’s probably too hot!
We went into the Alton Towers Hotel (adjacent) and it felt pretty cool in there.
Another downside is that the decorations are all quite outdated. However, I have actually stayed in a lot of hotels in the Caribbean and they replicate the style pretty accurately!
Check-in and check-out at the Splash Landings Hotel
I was really impressed with the check-in and check-out experience at Splash Landings Hotel. Even though we checked in and out at the most popular times, there were no lines.
The code will be sent to you via text and email so you can self-check in at the machine. You will also receive an email 3 days before online check-in so you can add all the details yourself. When you check in at the machine, the machine will give you your room number, but you can also text the number right away. This is perfect for people like me who forget easily!
Upon checkout, a very loud man was collecting key cards, checking to see if anyone had a problem, and thanking everyone for their stay. It was very loud and fast, but it worked!
Breakfast at the Splash Landings Hotel
Breakfast was included in the package.
Breakfast was really great. It was a big buffet with cereal, pancakes, and all the usual hot food like sausage, bacon, beans, eggs, hash browns, and toast. Everything was self-service, so it was fast and efficient.
The only real downside to the breakfast was that it was very busy, chaotic and noisy. I said I loved the lively atmosphere, but at 7:45am when I was about to eat breakfast, it was a bit too much!
I booked breakfast early because I had received many emails from Alton Towers advising me to do so as it would be busy later on. And it was done! The line snaked around the hotel and there was a frenzy inside.
It was good that we arrived early, but it was a little too early for us as we stayed late. I don’t think the kids really got their breakfast’s worth because they were all sleepy and didn’t eat much!
Travel Hack Tip: If you’re on a budget, skip breakfast and have something like a pastry, fruit, or cereal bar. If you are well prepared, bring a cooler with ice packs. I did this for a snack and the cooler was still cold the next day.
Splash Landings Hotel birthday package
Our son’s 6th birthday was the day before we arrived, so we booked the birthday package as an add-on to our reservation.
The birthday package included cake, balloons and an Olton Towers teddy bear and cost £40.
On the one hand, this was completely prohibitively expensive. The cake wasn’t particularly special or nice and the balloons alone would have cost him £2 in the store and he could have bought a bear in the gift shop.
But on the other hand, my son was very happy with the birthday surprise in his room and loved his new teddy bear. It made him feel really special that the hotel “remembered his birthday” and he loved this little surprise.
I was grateful that this was all taken care of, which meant I didn’t have to forget to prepare a birthday surprise for the room.
Splash Landings Hotel Games Room
My oldest son was very impressed with the game room at Splash Landings Hotel. It was very spacious and had a lot of arcade games. He liked it, but it could end up costing him a small amount of money as all the games require money to use.
We gave the kids a few pounds each, but it didn’t last long and they ended up sulking!
Evening entertainment at Splash Landings Hotel
In fact, we missed most of the entertainment at the hotel as we were heading back to the park for a late night Sukefest. We watched it all the way to the end, and it had a bright, boisterous, family-friendly atmosphere, with the two girls singing and dancing and encouraging all the kids to get up and join in. It all took place at Ma Garita’s bar, which has plenty of comfortable chairs. The bar had a delicious menu and the staff were very prompt!
I missed some games that I had heard were great.
Going to the Splash Landings Waterpark
The water park was amazing! In fact, our kids had more fun at the waterpark than at Alton Towers!
Access to Splash Landing is not included in your hotel stay and must be reserved separately. In fact, it’s not that expensive compared to the rest of the trip (around £17 per person), so it’s well worth the extra!
We found the water park to be great for our three kids, with exciting rides for the older boys and plenty of activities for our youngest.
We stayed there from 10am to 2pm. We would have liked to have stayed longer, but we were all very tired at this point. Even if you’re just visiting for a day without staying overnight, you’ll definitely come back to Splash Landing!
Taking a toddler to Alton Towers
There’s also a little video on Instagram showing how great it is to take little ones to Alton Towers!
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post shared by Monica | Travel Blogger (@thetravelhack)