In the Bright Garden
Kids will love CBeebies Land Hotel
THE HOTEL 5/5 The people are really nice who bring you dinner. It’s very bright. The colours and scenery are beautiful. It’s cosy. THE ENTERTAINMENT 5/5 I really like how they bring out characters and I really enjoyed Andy’s Dinosaurs and the Stargazing show which is on last thing. Definitely stay up for that. You have to go to CBeebies Land the next day. Ubercorn was the most entertaining in the whole place. THE CHARACTERS 4/5 I didn’t like all the characters. Some of them didn’t come out for the shows THE FOOD 5/5 You use stickers to design your own pizza and the chef makes it for you. I like the food because it’s special for us kids. THE BEDROOM 4/5 I didn’t like Makka Pakka in the bathroom because it wasn’t very private. But the decor is brilliant. The decor is great and you get free Pringle crisps. But there’s not much room to play in it. THE HOTEL 5/5 I liked the little tunnel to go through and the toy shop. THE ENTERTAINMENT 5/5 Ubercorn was my favourite at dancing in the disco. I tried to copy him. THE CHARACTERS 5/5 I saw seven characters and Igglepiggle was my favourite because he looked at my In the Night Garden book. THE FOOD 3/5 I don’t like much different foods and wanted to go to the disco. THE BEDROOM 5/5 I loved that it was In the Night Garden. We got to sleep in the boat bed and there was writing on the wall from the Night Garden. THE HOTEL 4/5 It’s like a rave I went to in the 90s. THE ENTERTAINMENT 4/5 Helpful humans and enormous grinning characters. Much like that rave. THE CHARACTERS I’ve always been a bit suspicious of Postman Pat. That Ubercorn can throw some moves. THE FOOD 3/5 Super-sized kids’ meals. THE BEDROOM Not ideal for a romantic evening with the cast of the Night Garden staring at you. ONLY a man who confesses to eating spaghetti hoops for lunch could be behind the new CBeebies Land Hotel.
Creative director – and self-confessed big kid – Edward Neville must have fallen down a rabbit hole when he employed his unusual methods to get inside the head of a five-year-old to design the Alton Towers venue.
Step inside Britain’s hottest destination for kids and enter a wacky world where the colour-splattered walls are so bright you need sun glasses, a forest canopy trails from the ceiling, there’s a make-believe castle with no walls, a library without books and even a circling windmill.
Grown-ups, leave your inhibitions, and wallet, at the check-in because this is a world where you could lose your mind unless you are willing to fully immerse yourself in the spirit of all things CBeebies.
It is an incredible fantasy land where your children’s imaginations can run riot as they meet Postman Pat, Bing, Igglepiggle, Upsy Daisy and Captain Barnacles.
There is 14 hours of full- on entertainment, starting at the crack of dawn, which includes an Ubercorn disco, an Octonaut’s training camp and a Swashbuckle challenge game.
The staff can’t do enough to please the little ones, encouraging them to join in and even tending to their tears when it all gets a bit overwhelming.
Dinner time is a strained event as you try to keep your offspring stuck to the chair for more than ten seconds with all the excitement going on.
The menu is packed full of healthy choices and there is a free salad bar.
But there is a snag. The adult choices are simply bigger versions of the kids’ menu – pasta, burgers, pizza and the like. It is a great concept, but it doesn’t do a lot for the taste buds. When the children are worn out it’s time for bed and that’s when there’s a BIG surprise in store.
Each of the 76 rooms has a special CBeebies theme – Swashbuckle, Something Special, In the Night Garden, Postman Pat, The Octonauts and Bugbee, the channel’s mascot.
We had a Night Garden room at the request of our five- year- old Nathan. Yes, I know he’s a bit old for it really. And the boys loved sleeping in Igglepiggle’s “boat” – a double bunk with a trundle underneath.
In the bathroom a huge Makka Pakka adorns the wall. Next door in the grown- ups area were the Tombliboos and the Pontipines – putting paid to any romance.
Even the carpet matches the walls. Our kids thought it was phenomenal, and who can blame them?
Merlin Entertainments, which runs the hotel, has gone to extraordinary lengths to make this an amazing place for kids. This really is Disney for very small people. They say money can’t buy you love – but book a night at the CBeebies Land Hotel with your children and you might find it does. FACTFILE CBeebies Land Hotel rooms start from £197 per room based on a family of four. See altontowers.com.