Prior to a recent midweek break to Center Parcs Sherwood Forest, we went on an adventure in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, which meant we stayed in a few hotels. So here’s a bit about our experiences at each of those.
Premier Inn Derby East.
The first night of our adventure was at the Premier Inn Derby East. The approach to the hotel was a bit dodgy as the roadworks were a bit confusing. But once we got through it all, it was ok. Parking was fairly easy (plenty of space, late on Friday night). Check in was very quick and the staff friendly. We got sorted quickly, and got the kids to bed (having arrived close to 10pm. Once we sorted the kids, I quickly nipped to the bar for a reasonably priced bottle of wine so that me and Bruce could watch a bit of TV and drink a bit of wine and feel that the holiday had started (wine and/or TV doesn’t normally happen so wine, TV and a chill in bed… mega luxury hehehe). When I got back to the room Bruce was just about ready for bed, I quicly got in my PJs and we were away. But as Bruce sat on the bed it flew forward… it was quite weird… he pushed it back and then sat down again. At which point the back of the bed completely collapsed on the and I went sliding and Bruce ende up in a pile on the floor (I had saved my glass of wine in hand though… have no fear). I went out to the reception who were very apologetic and moved us instantly to a new room.
As far as the hotel and its facilities are concerned. If you are familiar with the brand, it was the same standard as you’d expect. If you are not, Premier Inn is a budget/comfort brand, where you get the basics covered: bed, linens, towels, a private bathroom/shower room and a medium sized TV with standard free channels. Comfort, clean and practical. It’s not luxury by any means, but it does the job and you know the standards you can expect once you have been to one.
Novotel Nottingham Derby
One the second day (Saturday) of our pre-holiday adventure we stayed at the Novotel Nottingham Derby This was our second hotel on our weekend adventure. The hotel was one we (Bruce and I) had stayed in previously on the way to our honeymoon. So the kids were excited, they have heard tales of all of our adventures prior to their arrival and they so desperately want us to take them to revisit everything.
As a Novotel hotel, like with the Premier Inn, certain standards can be expected. Only, unlike the Premier Inn, the Novotel affords a tad more luxury and added comfort. The rooms are very comfortable, clean and modern with added extras such as a medium to large screen TV, a selection of teas and coffees and some luxury toiletries. The private bathroom and toilet are separate from one another, keeping cleaning and toileting separate from one another (and also keeping that age old “Muuuuuuum! I need a poo!” chant when you are mid shampoo at bay). And the parking and check in were very straightforward.
We had booked in on a half board basis, but the restaurant was closed to the public due to two conventions running whilst we were there. This didn’t stop them from honouring the half board – in fact it was slightly more fun, the one convention was in a private function room, the other was small, and so were sat around a cluster of tables at the bottom end of the restaurant, but they came to dinner as we were finishing up with our mains, so we really had an entire restaurant to ourselves for the majority of our meal. (Which of course for Caitlin and Logan was magical).
Our waitress was very helpful, and very friendly. The children adored her, and she couldn’t have done more for us. We had 3 courses included for our evening meal, which can be seen in the below gallery. Breakfast, which was a buffet was equally enjoyable, but slightly distracted by Caitlin (and her crazy, but entertaining, morning shenanigans, we got no photos).But it was all (evening and morning) very well presented, and very yummy.
Travelodge Markham Moor A1
On the final night before our actual holiday we stayed at the Travelodge Retford Markham Moor A1 Northbound. It was a little confusing to work out how to get to the car park (the answer to that is through the garage on the A1, turning immediately left to go to the Subway that is situated nxt to the hotel, and using that car park). But once we had worked that out, it was fairly straightforward. We checked in fine. The woman at reception wanted to make sure we had everything we needed and to make us aware that we had no options to get dinner at the hotel as aside from the Subway and garage and a small vending machine there was literally nowhere to get food from. We assured her we had arrived with sufficient snacks and drinks to accommodate us for the night and we able to check into our room.
Again, as a chain hotel, there is a certain standard that is met from these hotels, although I always tend to find Travelodge a little dated; though that could just be their colour and finish choices vs my preferences. Although I have to say, it was very clean and comfortable. And although it was situated directly on the A1, the grassy bank and trees directly outside of the ground floor rooms did afford a sort of noise protection, meaning that we were not really disturbed from road noise.
You can check out our pre holiday adventure trip to the Attenborough Nature Reserve here, and also all about our actual holiday at Center Parcs Sherwood Forest here.
A Pleasant Chaos 