With a last minute spark of inspiration, we booked to stay at Gulliver’s World Hotel in Warrington. Having booked it at 2.30pm on Friday afternoon for that evening, we raced to get over the Pennines to have a really, really fun one night stay.
The main reason to stay at Gulliver’s World Hotel is to go to Gulliver’s World, and you can read about the theme park itself here. We have been more than a few times and we absolutely love it. We cannot wait for the new one to be open in South Yorkshire in 2020!!
Gulliver’s World Hotel Facilities
Gulliver’s World Hotel is a standard hotel and whilst it doesn’t have any special facilities such as a gym, you’re likely to be shattered after running after the children!
The car parking is free and you can get quite close to the entrance. However, one tip is to move your car from next to the hotel to near the park entrance in the morning. You’ll be glad to save the 50 yards walk at the end of the day!
In the hotel, there is an activity room full of toys and children’s books, which all the children loved. Also, there is a mini playground outside, but it was too dark/wet for us to play in that. Also, the hotel bar has a video game console which is free to play on!
The Rooms
We stayed in the Family Suite, which was quite generic apart from the children’s beds. However, going through the range of hotel rooms, there are loads of really cool options available!!
The room was a very decent size and the bathroom was good, having a shower over the bath, which gives loads of options. The room had everything that you would want.
However, the highlight was the children’s beds, which were bunk beds and each bed had its own TV! Also, there was a blackboard for the children to draw on and the decor was amazing and made it look as though they were in treehouses.
Their beds were tucked away, with a curtain divider so they had their own den, but you could hear them and they could come to you in case of nightmares etc!! It was simply perfect!!
We ordered a sweetie tray as a little treat and I am somewhat ashamed to say that the children barely ate any as they were eaten by the grown-ups!! However, the presentation was brilliant!
The Evening Entertainment
Quite often Gulliver’s World Hotel has themed weekends, some of which are more popular than others. Ours was Unicorn and Fairy weekend, but this wasn’t a deal breaker and to be honest, there is more than enough variety for everyone.
At around 6pm, there is a little show at the hotel before you are guided into the park (after hours!). We were late to this, but apparently, they went on a fairy hunt around the park, before going on a couple of the smaller rides.
After this, we went into the Starlight Theatre for a mini show and a photo opportunity with a real Unicorn (maybe!).
This took us to about 7pm and then we could toast our own marshmellow on an open fire. This resulted in a slight meltdown by Heidi because we were telling her to be careful with the stick, but never mind!!
The Cookie Monster then made an appearance to give out cookies (obviously!) and milk before a film (Aladdin) was shown on a projector. One nice thing was that there was colouring in for the children to do whilst watching the film, which Heidi loved!
By this point, the children were mainly playing in the activity room, or making their way to bed!! We, however, hadn’t had our afternoon tea (part of the package!) so we had what was possibly our poshest supper ever!! It isn’t usually my thing, but it was amazing and a lovely end to the evening!!
In the morning
Depending on how well you sleep, you’ll be ready for a day in the park. You get to go into Gulliver’s World before it opens and whilst the rides aren’t open, you’ll have a show whilst eating breakfast.
We had a very enjoyable magic show in the Starlight theatre and had a breakfast butty whilst the children had cereal and mini muffin.
Heidi’s “step-brother”, Oscar, is allergic to diary and the staff were really good in making sure we had the right milk for him, even without having had much notice!
The magic show was at 9.30am, which allowed for a leisurely morning, although we were waiting round for 20 minutes or so for the park to open. It seemed as though those in the know went back to the hotel, so that is probably a good idea for next time!
After all that, we had an amazing time in the park and our love of Gulliver’s World continues to grow. It is just right for Heidi and at the end of the mini break, she asked to stay over again, so we need to start saving again!!
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