The Elms – Luxury Family Hotel

For our annual family holiday and to kick off the summer holidays, we decided to stay in the UK this year.  This is mainly because of my upcoming Everest trip and also the fact that we moved house under a year ago, so finances were a little stretched… However, we did decide to treat ourselves and have a short stay at one of the hotels offered by Luxury Family Hotels and took advantage of the ‘Fun in the Sun’ package at The Elms in Abberley – Worcestershire.

The offer included (on a 3 night stay) 2 nights on a dinner bed and breakfast basis and 1 night on a bed and breakfast basis including one 30 minute spa treatment (Gel nails for me!) and a cream tea for two people. We had to pay for the kids meals, but they were reasonably priced at £6-£7 for the younger aged menu and £12 for the older child’s menu.

The menu choices for both were plentiful and were presented beautifully.  The waiting staff were very friendly and the kids were made to feel at home.  There’s a relaxed feel around the hotel, where the kids could run off around the grounds whilst we finished up our dinner.

The grounds and hotel were immaculate, and never before have I seen a hotel so well catered for children, here the children come first.

There were board games and jigsaws in the main lobby area and a range of DVD’s to take back to the room, but the real joy came from the outside areas.  Here there was a well kitted out playground with great views, kitchen gardens where you could happily pick away at the raspberries and strawberries.  There was also access to the Blue Room, which was a dedicated space for the older children, with table football, air hockey and Wii.  And of course, there was a children’s club, however we didn’t use this facility.

Out the front, there was croquet, rounder’s and badminton areas with all equipment on supply… There were also a couple of activities where you had to go on a Fairy Hunt and track down all the fairy doors and also finding all the badgers dotted around in and around the hotel.

The hotel also offered a swimming pool and heated indoor and outdoor Jacuzzi, along with Steam Room and Sauna’s.  The swimming pool was a big hit with the boys as there were floatation devices on hand and not being able to swim properly, this enabled them to enjoy the pool with more independence and by the end of our time there they were becoming more and more confident in the water!

So all in all, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay at The Elms and will definitely be looking to book our holidays with them or with one of the sister Luxury Family Hotels dotted around the UK in future years.