Great days out: Legoland Hotel, Windsor

Every time I take my children to Legoland Windsor, they say they wished we could have stayed longer, gone on more rides, prolonged the adventure just a bit more. As they flake out on the back seat of the car, exhausted but happy, they ask if they can come back tomorrow. From next March, when the Legoland Hotel opens, they’ll be able to do just that.

The four storey, 150 room hotel is being built right on the edge of the park. It’s a beautiful setting, in the midst of the weeping willow trees overhanging the lake, yet it's within a stone’s throw of the action. Many of the rooms even overlook the park.

I remember when I was baby-proofing my house, the books told me to lie down on the floor and see it from the child’s point of view. There's a sense of this here: the team behind Legoland Hotel (the same team behind the phenomenally successful Legoland Hotel Billund in Denmark and Chessington Hotel amongst others) seems to be able to get into the mind of a child. Every inch of it has been carefully thought out as to how make it a fun, stimulating stay. 

Imagination comes to life

From the minute you arrive, it is all about interactive fun and imagination. The hotel itself is brightly coloured like a giant Toytown and the front is dominated by a huge centrepiece clock flanked by a smoke breathing model dragon. The reception area has a back wall of 5,000 mini figures where you can play spot two the same whilst you check in. As you look up you see a bank of portholes, as if you are in a giant pirate ship. There are treasure trails on the carpets, leading to the bedrooms.

The rooms are all themed – pirates, adventure and kingdom – which you choose when you book. The pirates room I saw was a trove of delights. The door to the room has been painted to look like a dungeon door with a pirate peering out through the grille and spyholes at a child's eye level. The carpet is adorned with treasure maps and compasses.  

It's the little things

The family rooms have different configurations but they all have separate children's quarters with the adult room adjoining and a generous sized bathroom in between. You can choose to go for a premium room which means that everything is fully themed, or a standard room which is slightly plainer.

Whichever option you go for, the children's areas are still fully themed. There are bunk beds for the children with the addition of a truckle bed underneath and cots are available on request. What I really liked were all the little touches they'd thought of, like the series of clues and codes hidden around the room which ultimately give kids the combination to a padlocked treasure chest. Fantastically, there are also 14 rooms equipped for children with special needs with disabled access.

The adult rooms are spacious, with free Wi-Fi. The bathroom has hand held shower attachments and even separate toilet roll holders at a child's height. It's the little things that make life easier.

Around the room are several LEGO models to fit the theme such as monkeys and scorpions – luckily they're glued together – but they do have a team of dedicated fixers. There are in all 1,600 Lego models dotted around the hotel including a 7ft tall spaghetti tree in the restaurant.

The 250-seater restaurant will serve food all cooked on site and there is also a bar looking out onto a LEGO cityscape so you can enjoy a drink whilst the children play in a nearby area (in full view of parents). The children’s swimming pool is really fun (there is a smaller separate one for adults) featuring a galleon in full sail and plenty of water cannons.

Unlike a lot of hotels, there is no minimum two night stay. You could easily get into Windsor on park and ride if you can tear them away from the park. They have a whole series of events and shows planned at nights as well as special early bird access for guests where you can almost have the park to yourselves. The hotel will also have full conference facilities.

Play on

LEGO is one of the few toys I don’t mind spending money on. It is one of those (sadly rare) brands I trust. It fosters imagination, has quality, and longevity. My chidren play with all mine and my husband’s childhood LEGO and it all still works with the new sets. It looks like the hotel is going to have all of these qualities.

There's just one drawback. They’ll want to stay forever.

Prices range from £247 per family room (2 adults/2 children) in low season to £385 in high season. Prices inclulde breakfast and park entrance for two days.  The hotel will open in March 2012. To book visit www.legoland.co.uk or 0845 373 2640.