Blissful Break with 3 month old

[Cocococo]

Hi
It my husbands birthday and I want to organise a surprise weekend break for him but baby has to come to as I'm still nursing him. I want a nice hotel but it needs to be young baby friendly and ideally with some nice beach or hilltop walks where we can try out our ATP on something other than pavement or the park! LOL!
Any ideas? I've received info on Woolly Grange, but it seems v pricey anything not quite as expensive?
Cheers!

[Ems]

What areas are you thinking of?

[Rhiannon]

Cocococo, I know I always go on about it but Center Parcs is very family friendly. If you want an hour or two to yourselves they also have a creche for babies that you can pre-book, so you can go off for a walk, ride, swim or a quiet lunch. Go out of school holidays and the rates are very reasonable. They supply cots. R.

[Cocococo]

Ems, We live in W London and I don't want to drive for more than an hour or two if poss.

Rhiannon, have been to centre parcs quite a few times when double income no kids - we loved it! I fancy something a bit more swish if poss, thinking about it, have you ever tried the Sheldrake apartments at CP? They look quite good and last time we went they were being refurbed.

[Ems]

If you went down the M4 to Malmesbury, there is The Old Bell, which is lovely for a weekend break. We went with baby last year, and it was so cosy and wonderful. We are definitely going back. Big sofa, open fires, amazing food, small and cosy. Baby listening (can supply babysitter) Creche facility so you can read the Sunday papers in peace. Its in the Cotswolds, so nice places to take pram and baby, yet easy to get back on the M4 on a Sunday night.

If I think of anywhere else I will post tomorrow, but would definitely go for Malmesbury, hubbie will like it!

[Emmagee]

The Old Bell is owned by the same people as Wooley Grange...so same prices I'm afraid

[Cocococo]

They were advertising special autumn breaks for the Old Bell, Woolley Grange etc chain, I'll have to phone and see what sort of prices they are offering. Its just a bit difficult to justify lots of dosh when your salary has just gone down to SMP!

I quite fancy being near the beach - so any advice about similar hotels on the coast, Brighton, Bournemouth way would be really great.

[Ems]

Old Bell has recently parted from Luxury Family Hotels group, so may be doing autumn/spring offers.

Dont know about brighton area I'm afraid.

[Enid]

How about renting a cottage for the weekend? I know its not quite as luxurious as a hotel but you can get some good last minute bargains from ruralretreats.co.uk which have beautiful houses and cottages to rent. I have just been looking at the brochure and there are some really nice ones in Suffolk and Norfolk near the coast, or down in Dorset, well, everywhere really!

[Rhiannon]

Cocococo, just got back from Center Parcs this afternoon, I think the Sheldrake rooms are only 1 bed so no good for us. The accommodation is by no means luxurious but we love the luxury of a babysitter at reasonable cost, a lovely lady called Julie who tucked them in and read them stories every night and they both loved the new kids clubs. R.

[Bells2]

As your baby is only 3 months old and especially as you are still breastfeeding, I really wouldn't worry too much about the child friendly aspect of a hotel. In our experience, most hotels that have restrictions on children only apply to walking toddlers. We only really started to look for family friendly type places when our son was 12 months plus as before then, he did relatively little damage and was also easier to keep quiet. Most hotels should be able to give you a room close enough to the dining room so you can hear the monitor.

We have had some very luxurious weekends away courtesy of Lastminute.com. They always have a range of 5 star hotels which are up to half price. We did the Lygon Arms and Royal Crescent through them. Both were with a toddler and given the quality of the accommodation at around £120 a night were great value. Both hotels also have very well equipped gyms and spa's with a full range of beauty treatments on offer.