A while back some friends organised a birthday spa trip for my pals 40th. I didn’t pay too much attention on where we were going or what we were doing and only knew that we were to stay at a 4 star hotel, have a light lunch, time in the spa, a treatment, a 3 course dinner in the evening and breakfast in the morning all for £118. Sounded a bit too good to be true but the friend organising it had been on one of their offers before and assured us it really was the real deal. The week came for our trip so I looked more closely at where we were going and realised the hotel actually belonged to Q Hotels and funnily enough, I had just been asked if I’d like to go on one of their family deals to review for them too. Great I thought, I can see two different types of deals and write an even more rounded review.

Q Hotels say they are a group of 21 individually crafted 4 star hotels and being the sort of person who can’t usually afford such luxury I was very excited to be going on not one but two trips with them. My only thought was would they really be 4 star? I mean, how could they be with the prices being so low? The family trip we were booked on also was very reasonably priced and included a 3 course dinner in the evening for all four of us, breakfast for everyone and use of all the facilities. Sounds amazing doesn’t it!

So, the first trip! My friends and I stayed at Bridgewood Manor in Kent. When we first started looking the price was just £99 but we didn’t book straight away as we should have done and it did go up by £19. Still, an awfully good price for what was offered. The hotel wasn’t in delicious surrounds or anything, more just off the motorway but you soon forgot that once inside. Everything looked the part of a four star establishment and our rooms were just lovely too with the comfiest looking beds! We enjoyed a beautiful two course lunch in their courtyard and then donned our robes and slippers for the rest of the afternoon in the spa. We had a lovely afternoon and my treatment was amazing. By the evening when we were drinking the complimentary wine in our room, we were relaxed and ready for our yummy supper. Wow was it lovely! We ate so much we couldn’t even go out to the planned clubbing night we’d discussed and just vegetated on sofas in the bar area. We slept well on comfortable beds and by morning managed to stuff in just a bit more food – well, it would have been rude not to when it all looked so amazing! Hands down best hotel breakfast I’ve ever had and I particularly liked the home made granola! We had a lovely trip and it just made me very excited for our next Q Hotels experience which I would be taking with the family!

Now that I had expectations I was really looking forward to taking the children for a night at Chesford Grange in Warwickshire. We booked to go the weekend after my birthday to continue the celebrations and this time I did a little more research. I showed Florence where we would be staying and explained she would get a welcome pack and a cup that she could take to the bar and have filled with squash whenever she liked. She was really into this idea and as for Jonny and I, well, we couldn’t wait to try all the food as I had raved about the last trip and its gastro delights so much – we made our dinner reservations for 7 but it could have been as early as 6 which is good if you have children who need to go to bed early!

We set out for our trip on the hottest day of the year and decided that before check in at 3pm we would have a wander round Stratford Upon Avon. We’d never been before so we parked in a park and ride before buying picnic food and spending a delightful day in the sunshine. Stratford Upon Avon is a world away from the Stratford, East London that we live so close to and beautiful to walk around, picnic by the river and meander around the beautiful town centre.

When we got back to our car we had a bit of a nightmare and it wouldn’t start. Something had happened due to the heat and the key wouldn’t go round. Waiting an hour for the AA to come and I could see our swim before dinner not happening which as promised earlier I knew would really upset Florence. The only thing I could do was hope that we could move our dinner reservation from 7 to 8. Car back on the road, slightly frazzled and this is what greeted our eyes on arrival at Chesford Grange. It somewhat made up for the car debacle!

The car park was so full we had to join other cars on the grass and a big sign saying the hotel was full and recommending early dining for breakfast made me think there was no way we’d get our dinner at 8! The staff were very welcoming however and when we checked in they did manage to change it for us meaning the swim was back on! They said service might be slower as it would be their busiest time but we didn’t care about that. The check in girls were friendly and polite and the only thing that wasn’t quite right was the fact that Florence and Jimmy didn’t get their cups as promised. Apparently they only do them on bank holiday weekends so that was a little disappointing but the receptionist said if we explained it to the bar staff they would give the children squash in a normal glass when needed. They were both given a pack with crayons and colouring in sheets which went down well! We were given our keys and as it was my birthday asked if we would like a complimentary drink sent up to the room – what a difficult question to answer!

We sat back and enjoyed our drinks which had been sent up then took the children swimming! Everything was perfect and the room, which was in the newer part of the building, was lovely and cool with the air conditioning. I’d thought that the last hotel was lovely but this one was something else and so luxurious! We couldn’t wait to hit the pool area!

We had such a lovely early evening at the hotel and enjoyed exploring it. The car problems almost flew out of our head entirely and we just settled down to relax. We changed for dinner and headed down to the restaurant where we were absolutely spoiled for choice with the menu. I have to say that I didn’t think the service was slow at all and we were very attentively looked after. Bread rolls and butter were brought around, wine was put in an ice bucket (We asked if we could take the complimentary bottle of wine from our room down to dinner and were very pleased that we could – the same thing had happened on my spa trip and as some deals come with a bottle of wine then why not?) and we finally made decisions. I went for the beetroot salad and pork cheeks while Jonny chose bubble and squeak followed by the lamb. Absolutely cooked to perfection and our only problem was that we wished we could have had a few more nights to try everything!

As for the children’s food and I was very impressed! A choice of starters such as garlic bread or vegetables with a dip and then for main courses various options with the choice of two sides were all printed on their menu which could be coloured on with crayons provided. That kept them busy! Florence chose soup and sausages, chips and peas and I ordered Jimmy the vegetables with a dip and fish with mash and peas. A very different sort of children’s menu which saw extremely good ingredients rather than rubbish sausages! I can’t stand that children get given awful quality food just because they are children and Florence’s sausages were beautifully meaty. Jimmy absolutely loved his fish and after trying it I could see why! I had asked for salmon but when told they had run out was offered sea bream and boy did it go down well!

Completely satisfied with food and we couldn’t fit in our own desert at the table! We ordered a chocolate sundae for Florence and some doughnuts with chocolate ice cream to dunk them in for Jimmy, had a little sit in the garden with a drink then headed up to our room with a plan for a room service desert once the food had gone down and the children had fallen asleep! Despite still being so full later on, we couldn’t resist and up it came at 11pm. I sunk into my chocolate creme brulee and Jonny’s cheese was DELICIOUS!

With all that food and satisfaction there was only one thing left to do and that was to fall asleep on our amazingly comfy beds! Florence chose to sleep in the cot so Jonny and I had a double bed each with Jimmy kipping in with me. We all slept very soundly and I couldn’t believe it was 7.30 before any of us woke up! I skipped off for a pre-breakfast swim and then guess what time it was? MORE food time… Oh go on then, if you insist!

How we had room for breakfast I don’t know but where there’s a will there’s a way and we all enjoyed the buffet style breakfast very much. We sat by the french windows with the sun already very hot and really felt like we were on holiday! The food was yet again amazing although I did miss the home made granola from the spa hotel. My children ate and ate and of course we had to try a little of everything! Fresh fruit, cereal, yogurt, pancakes, croissants and pastries all followed by a full English!

After breakfast we decided to take a stroll to walk off the food and what better place to walk than the nature reserve at the hotel. It was so hot that we didn’t do too much of it, at 6 miles I’m not sure even on a cooler day we’d have got all the way round, but what we did do, we enjoyed very much before returning to the hotel to have another swim and soak up the ambiance. We sat and enjoyed the day in the grounds until it was time to hit our car a few times and force it back to London.

What an enjoyable trip and one which may have only been one night but felt like a proper holiday. I thoroughly recommend Q Hotels for both adults only and family breaks as have done both and would definitely like to do both again. We loved it and I think  have to say Chesford Grange has the edge for my favourite one of the two. I will definitely think about booking another trip, perhaps for Jonny’s birthday in the winter and I’d love to try a different one of their hotels. The food is out of this world, the rooms are amazing and the staff are so helpful and keen to help. A truly 5 star experience at these 4 star hotels as far as I’m concerned!

What did we like best? Do you have to ask? The food! Such good value when it’s built into your hotel deal as it’s top restaurant quality!

What would we change? The only thing we would change would have been to have Jonny have booked Monday off work so that we could take advantage of their ‘Linger longer‘ offer where for as little as £79 (for all of us) we could have had another night, dinner and breakfast included! We might have gone pop though so perhaps it’s a good job we hadn’t thought that far ahead!

What didn’t we like? Not much really but I’d like to point out that if they promise children something then they really do have to deliver as children don’t really understand when things don’t work out if they’ve been told they will have something. The drinks cups not being available was a disappointment as was Florence’s desert of a chocolate brownie sundae actually being a brownie on a plate with ice cream. Apparently they had run out of sundae glasses so changed the desert. To be fair they did offer to change it and we declined, it was late by then, it just would be good for children to get what they expect.

The over all experience was fantastic and we came away with great big smiles on our faces. Thank you Q Hotels for a fab weekend! With children you might think staying somewhere with a bit of luxury isn’t really the best idea but from our experience it worked very well and with the offers they have going it is an extremely affordable thing to do! If we are ever staying somewhere for something I will definitely look to see if there is a Q hotel in the area so that we can take the opportunity to do this again and I am definitely thinking about it for Jonny’s birthday as I mentioned above!

I was not paid to write this post but we were provided a one night stay at Chesford Grange for the purpose of review. The Spa break was booked and paid for entirely by me and completely separate to this review. I felt it was worth mentioning because it too was amazingly good value and provides an insight into different types of trips which can be taken with the same hotel group.