We picked Meon Valley Marriott Hotel And Country Club for five nights in August as a mini-holiday near home. As we checked the reviews on Tripadvisor it was clear that many families chose the hotel for being “children friendly“. We thought, the rooms are big, there’s golf for daddy and beauty treatments for mummy, small children can use the swimming pool, so it seems a great choice.
All in all, it’s ok. It’s reasonable. For a start, the rooms are big enough. We booked a deluxe with two queen size beds, one for Bobcat and one for us. Babi slept in her Moses basket. Still plenty of space left in the room. The room is indeed needs little revamp, especially the bath. The empty minibar was handy for us. No air conditioning. It wasn’t too hot weather in those days, 20-23C but it was just about acceptable during the night. Good breakfast. Mind you, more sweet pastries available than fresh fruit, but plenty of choices. The filtered coffee was disgusting though, leaving a sour aftertaste. Loads of available feeding chairs and toddler cutlery. The staff was excellent: kind and very attentive. Daddy was of course very happy playing (cheap) golf and I enjoyed my beauty time.
Bobcat really enjoyed swimming with daddy in late afternoons, and that is the other reason we booked the hotel: small children are allowed to use the pool. Unfortunately, there is nothing else for children to do. No play area or a small outdoor playground. The hotel is surrounded by the golf course, quite tightly in fact. You walk out the main door and you’re at tee one.
As we noticed at breakfast, a lot of other families had the same idea and in those days we hardly saw corporate-looking guest, but families only. That’s why it’s surprising that the hotel doesn’t invest more in some children entertaining facilities.
My opinion is, that it’s simply an American style golf hotel with American size rooms (originally designed for couples sleeping on separate beds) and breakfast which happens to be the only in the area making a family stay comfortable. That is the reason they don’t need to build a playground. Families will keep coming because there’s a lot of exciting things to do with children in the area.
