Knighty night
Legoland’s new Castle Hotel uses every brick in the book to keep the kids spellbound
Just walking into the lobby of the new Castle Hotel at Legoland Windsor is a magical experience. A massive floor to ceiling wizard made entirely of Lego bricks greets you as you check in – and that’s only the beginning.
Right on the edge of the theme park, the brand new hotel boasts more than 657 Lego models made up of 2.1 million bricks.
Everywhere you look there are intricate models dotted around – from the restaurant which features a sleeping dragon made from 80,500 bricks to the corridors which have colourful characters welcoming you in.
Such is the attention to detail that the smallest individual model is a tiny 7cm high dragonfly.
My two girls Rosie, eight, and Florrie, five, were particularly entranced by the hotel’s “talking” lifts.
As the doors close, the lights dim and a mysterious wizard’s voice starts talking about spells and potions.
The scope of detail in the 61 bedrooms is enough to thrill visitors young and old. We have a “Wizard” themed room which is adorned everywhere with figurines.
My two young companions are instantly enthralled, particularly with a family of three owls which took a mindnumbing 90 hours to build.
The highlight, however, was when my smallest spotted a map detailing how we had to find clues hidden around the room to unlock the safe with the promise of Lego inside.
Cue half an hour of scrambling around in search of potion bottles and spell books on the carpets and walls and finally the safe was cracked to huge cheers.
There are two separate sleeping areas. The girls had cosy bunkbeds opposite a flatscreen TV, while I was ensconced around a corner of the room with my own mini-area, complete with double bed and seating.
But peace and quiet is not what you come to Legoland for and the hotel is perfectly positioned for exploring the rides. It is just yards from the entrance gate with guests able to enjoy Exclusive Early Ride Time in the park, before it opens to non-hotel guests.
There was much excitement as a countdown to the park opening was conducted by a Lego jester before we were all ushered in early doors – without a queue in sight.
One of the newest rides, which opened last month, is Ninjago World. The premise is that each person in the ride car fires at ninja villains appearing on 3D screens as you travel past.
I’ve been on similar rides but the difference here is that instead of guns you use your hands to throw fireballs and lightning in what’s described as the UK’s first hand-gesture enabled ride. It’s well worth checking out.
Back at the hotel, for those feeling peckish you can head to the á la carte Tournament Tavern Restaurant, where there is a large selection of kids meals, as well as posh nosh for the parents. The steaks – fillet, sirloin or rump – are good and there’s a fine selection of wines by the glass or the bottle.
It can all be enjoyed in relative peace thanks to the Lego play areas dotted around the room.
Breakfast is a great selection of hot options including a full English, eggs Benedict or the winner in our household, pancakes with bacon and chocolate sauce.
It was a breakfast well suited to the Castle Hotel – wizard in every way.
Rooms at the new Legoland Castle Hotel at the Legoland Windsor Resort start at £572-a-night B&B for two adults and two kids including two-day park tickets, early access to some rides, drinks cups, swim bags, Lego bricks and exclusive badges.