Need help cant decide

[melsy]

We have been looking at going to Cyprus in a few weeks , but with all the newborn expense , were concerned with spending the money. So weve been thinking about going somewere in the uk for 2-3 nights with dd 2.7mths. Needs to not be hrs and hrs from London as I cant face the drive being 27wks pregnant when we can go. So heres what we need:

Possibly creche
Indoor Swimming pool , spa, therapy rooms etc
Nice restaurant
childfriendly meal times i.e 5ish not 7
good lounge to laze about in

The following are hotels that we like , but one (the grove) \link{http://www.thegrove.co.uk/\The Grove Watford},is extortionate for a few nights and we may aswill go to Cyprus, The other doesnt have a swimming pool,(important for dd), but is lovely. \link{http://www.hotelfelix.co.uk/\Hotel Felix Cambridge}.

We just cant decide what do , and even though its a nice decision , we really all need this before baba no2 comes and dh only has the 29th April - 5th May.

Im sure there are some budding travel agents round here somewere.

someone please cheer me up today !!!

What anout one of the luxury family hotels. If you can go outside school holidays they can be reasonable ish. We paid between £200-250 a night at Ickworth - this includes Dinner bed and breakfast - kids meals on top - which are quite pricey. It WAS nice though. Unfortunately as we are tied to school holidays now we can no longer afford to go as prices extotionate.

Good luck
x

I thought of those and they do look nice , wonder how far they are from Junction 24 M25 ????? Theres a few of them. MMMMmmmmmmmmmmm might have to out that back on the thought pile.

Calcot Manor as seen on MN ( think MNetters get a discount) is lovely also check out Woolley Grange Hotel in Bradford - on - Avon, Wilts - v.v. child friendly, kids have their own creche with wonderful staff they'll even feed them for you !!( the kids that is!) We go for Sunday lunches - kids are entertained, we get to eat grown up food!
Good write up in the guardian travel section bit on line - if I can work out how to do it I'll post a link on

Oooh sounds good yeahinaminute, love the name making me chuckle. I need a good chuckle today , cabin fever.

Will google it for time being.

\link{http://guardian.co.uk/hotels/story/0,,632699,00.html\woolley grange

well that was about as useful as a chocolate fireguard!
Yep - that's me - it'll all happen in a minute !!

lol bless !!!!

oooh Calcot manor looks gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooood. Havent yet looked at other one.

Yep - it is lovely and I'm pretty sure MNetters get a discount so even better!
Im going to try that bleedin' link again !!
Bear with me .........
\link{http://travel.guardian.co.uk/hotels/story/0,,632699,00.html\woolley grange

Ahh woolley is the same grp as Ickworth,think Ickworth is more the feel dh and I like , although Calcot is lovely , its looking quite costly.

Anyone know how far suffolk is from North London????

God it's official - I'm useless - right here we go again ....
\link{http://travel.guardian.co.uk/hotels/story/0,,632699,00.html\woolley grange}
And I used to be in a corporate life a director with a massive global telecomms company ... how bloody sad !!!

Ah - Ha ... brain cells finally kicked in ... all that palaver and it's not quite floating your boat !!!

oooh DOH me , didnt even register the MN discount , mmmmmmmmmm calcot manor looking even more gooooood now , just need dh to get my head around all the tarrifs compared to Cyprus, as that was gonna work out 2k inc flights for 6nights, food, clothes(I have no high summer maternity, its all to big from dd pg), creche & hotel.

Well enjoy whether it's in Aphrodite's birthplace or the joys of the English countryside - let me know what you decide ... must do some work now !!

Suffolk is about 1.5 hours drive from North London

Thank you all for your help everyone ,Ihad completely forgotten about the ickworht grp,so booked Ickworth for 3 nights, as Id like to see Bury St edmunds and Ickworth house and we can also go to the Suffolk coast on the way back and to be honest I need some time with dd away from normal routine and some time withought dd before second lo comes. It seems like a great deal; DBB and the creche free too. Still costly, but hey better than spending all our savings on cyprus ,as I would have had to get a whole maternity high summer wardobe for only 3mths left of pg, what a waste !!!

Ive also booked a mum & dad to be ritual thingy at the spa, wowoowow cant wait. Baby sitter for 2 nights and yummy fine dining restaurant with special menu for me being pg, how great is that. I feel so spoilt , but had to work hard last year for this.

If anyone has any other ideas please pass them on , we have until Sunday to cancel withought having to pay full whack.

mummycan ,what was the food like at Ickworth , especially Fredericks ??? Oh and is breakfast a buffet?

Melsy - ENJOY!! sounds wonderful and I bet you deserve it!

ahh thankyou yeahinaminute , really hoping dd isn ok with creche, toilet training and babysitter at night. Otherwise it wont be much of a rest.

It'll be fine ...nice bit of R and R ..DD will love it too I'm sure - and don't worry about the loo thing - the staff will have seen it all before

can I just take this opportunity to say

yeahinaminute, you have the best MN name ever. I offer you my hearty congratulations

thank you

as you were

Your heartfelt congratulations are truly welcome ... I feel it is succinct and to the point !! and describes my eternal call !!
Many thanks SuzyWong - and may I say what a brilliant film that was ... the life and times of Suzy Wong !!