Do you think that botique hotels are just for coulples and never consider them for a family stay. Well it is time to think again.
Often boutique hotels are more than equip for families and are sometimes even more cost effective than a family room in a chain and much more luxurious, which makes for a very happy family.
We recently stayed at the Malmaison Reading prior to a day tip to Legoland and I have to say that it was a fantastic stay and a great pplace for a family to rest and relax.
We liked:
- The beds. We stayed in a superior double room and it had a double sofa bed and also a single pull out bed installed in the room for us, so that the boys could sleep in seperate beds rather than share. This made bedtime much easier for us all, as they didnt kick each other or get in each others way as they often do in a shared bed. Also the matresses were much thicker and this meant that the boys went to sleep fater and stayed asleep longer. As any parent will know sleep is the key to any stay away. So this is the most imporatnat part of the room for us.
- The size of the shower and bath. Again as parents having a large shower meant that all the men of the family could shower together, whilst I had a bath, which was bliss. Plus smaller children tend not to like showers, so having both was certainly a plus.
- Air conditioning, we happened to stay on the warmest night of what appears to be our summer and the air con was a godsend. it meant the room was comfortable and we all got some quality sleep.
- Extra bedding was no trouble. in direct contrast to the night before, where we stayed in a travel lodge on City road London (never again), getting the duvets changed to sheets was no issue at all.
- TV. There was Cbeebies on the TV, need I say more?
- The food, breakfast was super and the children had pancakes, whilst MadDad has poached egg and better still breakfast was included in the price of the room
- Dinner. Rather than have a children’s menu the boys ate smaller portions of the adult menu, however, they could have had fish fingers, chicken nuggets etc. The food was divine and it was lovely to sit and eat toegther. I also think that it was good for the boys to eat in a restaurant and to know that they are expected to behave.
- Tea and coffee making facilities. Call me shallow, but I really love my tea, almost as much as MadDad loves his coffee and it was great to find, fresh filter coffee rather than instant.
- Toiletries. The complementary toiletries are good quality and of a fair size, which helps when you have left your shampoo at the last hotel and have four heads to wash.
We weren’t keen:
- The restaurant is very dark in decor, which was fine for dinner, but not so good at breakfast
- There was no parking, but the nearest NCP was 2 mins away and £18 per 24 hours
Overall
for me, one word sums uo our stay at the Reading Malmaison and that is sleep and not just any sleep, oh no quality sleep. Usually in hotels it is a nightmare to get the boys off to sleep and then getting them to stay asleep can sometimes seem impossible and we tend to sleep one adult with one child, but that means that one of us is always on the pull out bed and gets very little sleep. This was not the case, which can be seen by the photographs above. The service at the hotel was superb and the children were no bother at all.
It was wonderful to get a waitress at dinner that knew about the food and could advise on the best dishes for the children and they also brought out colouring books and pencils for the boys too, which really helped and when one of the dishes was brought out incorrectly theiiy rectified their mistake without hesitation or complaint.
We had a super stay and were extreamly well rested for our adventures at Legoland Windsor on the Monday.
Disclosure: We received complementary dinner, bed and breakfast
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