Chessington Hotel and Theme Park: Our Honest Review

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We paid £196 through Booking.com for one night in a Safari King Family room with bunk beds and a Wanyama View. The booking was for two adults and two children, with under twos going free. Breakfast was included but not park tickets. We already had our tickets from a previous “two theme parks for the price of one” offer, which we’d used to get into Alton Towers and Chessington. (We’d also been to Legoland the year before, but that was a direct booking with two days of park entry included.)

First impressions

Excited! The idea of the kids spotting animals through the window felt like the perfect start to the trip.

We arrived to find lovely staff and a genuinely beautiful safari themed entrance. We’d brought food flasks so we didn’t need to think about dinner, so after praying we fed the kids and set off to explore the hotel while we had the chance, since it was only a one night stay and we’d be checking out the next morning. There’s a retro Pac Man machine in reception, a stage for movies and performances, a few restaurants, and round the back there’s also a games and arcade room, which of course costs extra. All in all, a nice and generally clean hotel. The only disappointment was that we didn’t spot a single animal that day.

The next morning

The kids struggled to get going, but we were determined to make our breakfast reservation on time. I did spot a few zebras at this point, though the moment didn’t last long. We nearly missed our slot too, as there was a queue and the lady checking guests in was deep in conversation with someone about a later booking.

Once we were finally seated, I noticed the breakfast options and general setup weren’t quite up to Legoland’s standard, but it did the job. Just fuel to keep us going. The kids ate well and we grabbed a few pastries, since I’m not much of a breakfast person and knew I’d need something later. We used the microwave to heat our own food and topped up our flasks again, as with Leyla’s allergies and no halal options available, it was simply easier to bring our own. We also had plenty of snacks and our trusty wagon in tow. 

Into the park

Staying at the hotel means early entry before other guests, though not all rides start straight away. We didn’t benefit much from that because of our breakfast timeslot and also the kids took forever to eat. Once we were in, we explored a bit before meeting my brother’s family a little later. Funnily enough, we’d got in before them despite them arriving separately, but they still ended up on a ride ahead of us thanks to his access pass.

As expected, the food, snacks and drinks on offer were overpriced and not particularly good so we were glad we had the pastries from breakfast and all of our snacks we bought in advance. 

My niece and nephew joined us later, having come up from London, so it turned into a lovely family day out with rides for everyone. There wasn’t a huge amount for younger toddlers, but as they went free we couldn’t really complain. There were, however, some good options for our eldest, and Leyla, who’s a little on the shorter side, enjoyed herself thoroughly even if she couldn’t get on everything she wanted to.

Final thoughts

Personally, I think Legoland and Alton Towers offer more for younger children compared to Chessington. Legoland feels ideal for kids around five and up, whereas to really make the most of Chessington, you need a bit more height and age on your side.

Did we enjoy it? Yes. Would we stay again? Probably not. If we ever did book a stay purely for the convenience of not driving on the day, we’d likely look at cheaper local options instead, especially now we have the Merlin Pass this year.