LIFE // TRAVEL REVIEW: STOKE PARK

You may have seen from our social media that we went for a real treat a couple of weekends ago. We’ve got to be honest, it’s been a crazy few months work wise so when we realised that the husbands birthdays were a week apart, we decided to book a country escape to celebrate all together – but finding a family friendly hotel isn’t always that easy. There is a real difference between hotels that welcome kids and hotels that tolerate kids. Well, we’re happy to say that we picked well. Stoke Park is definitely one of the former….

We noticed that every single member of staff who we crossed paths with, either in the restaurant, whilst on a walk outside or when we were playing chase in the corridors, made an effort to say hello to the kids or give them a hi-five. which was such a lovely touch and made us all feel so welcome.

EAT

The hotel caters so well for kids. We ate lunch with them in San Marco, they shared a kid-friendly afternoon tea for their dinner over looking the golf course, and they couldn’t get enough of the breakfast menu (umm they had 3 courses each!) which we all ate in The Orangery.

At every meal we had with the babies the staff asked where we would like our hot drinks to be placed on the table and made a conscious effort to place them far away from the babies. Little touches that make your day much easier, instead of our usual negotiations with a cup of tea and a toddler at the same time!

We booked babysitters and had an adults only dinner in the fancy Humphrys restaurant. We 100% recommend doing the same if you come for a stay. Our meal was DELICIOUS and it was so nice to get dressed up. Obviously we wore our fanciest ‘taxi/dinner/taxi’ heels that we can’t really walk in – just because we knew that we only had to walk from our room to the restaurant downstairs.

SLEEP

Our rooms were divine, little havens in the more modern part of the hotel called The Pavilion. Both families checked into a junior suite, when we arrived the cot was already set up with a hooded baby towel, ducks and baby bath products awaiting us in the bathrooms. It’s great to come away and not have to bring everything plus the kitchen sink.

We both had a intruder in our beds in the small hours but it was a welcome surprise. It’s (sometimes) nice to have a little snuggle in a giant bed.

PLAY

Stoke Park is fully kitted out for everyone – be it the Wimbledon-worthy twelve Tennis courts, the famed 27 hole golf course, the games room (for the big kids among you, we left the husbands there for an hour) or the stunning spayou can be sure that you’ll have the best time. Gemma’s husband was spoilt with a massage for his birthday and said it was one of the best he’s ever had.

But what about the babes? Well, with a brand new adventure playground you can be sure they won’t get bored. If the weather is bad there’s an indoor creche plus there’s designated kids swim times twice a day so they get the pool to themselves to splash around in. All that and the most stunning grounds to walk around.

{Sam is wearing grey colour block Topshop coat, Gemma is wearing puffa from Topshop}

We had the most magnificent time at Stoke Park.It was a 40 minute drive from London yet we felt a million miles away. The attention to detail was perfect and we were treated like Queens from the minute we stepped out the car. There was not an eye roll in sight when Belle or Leo decided to have a meltdown in the lobby/ at the spa/ when they weren’t the one to press the buttons in the lift. We can’t recommend it enough and are so looking forward to making a trip back there soon.

Huge thanks to Nick and everyone at Stoke Park for having us, to Huntersfor kitting out our families with wellies and to Bricsfor our matching luggage. We were pretty impressed, we each only brought the cabin size wheelie case and a holdall for the entire weekend! There is something nice about having really special luggage, and Brics is the place to go for it and are a great Christmas present for someone.