Short UK hotel stay and treat for 10th birthday? - end of January 2017. Help!

[LilyChantilly]

Trying here as posting in 'UK' got no responses... For DS's 10th birthday, we'd like to take him for a long weekend to stay in a hotel somewhere that has nearby attractions which will be both open and worth visiting in January. We live in Cumbria, have a very tight budget, so needs to be near-ish, and affordable. Big towns and cities, rather than countryside, as that's what floats his boat! Hotel and attraction recommendations would be very much appreciated. Hardly ever stay in hotels, except very rarely when paid for by parents, so very little experience of them. But DS would totally love it. He has delusions of grandeur!

We stayed in Hotel Football in Manchester earlier in the year, plenty to do in Manchester as well

Thanks Forty, had been thinking about Manchester. He's not into football at all so might not be his cup of tea! Do you know of any other decent hotels there?

The Doubletree Hilton and the Mint are nice hotels and if you book far enough in advance you could get a decent rate. I also like Motel One - despite the name it is really modern and luxurious for the price.

Thanks lulu, will check those out

We got a fantastic deal last Jan at the Marriot in Preston Dbb was £80 or 90 for the 4 of us

Ooh thanks lovely - never have much call to go to Preston. Is there anything fun to do there with a 10yo boy?

We stayed at the Premier Inn near the Harry Potter studios last year. It's about four miles away.

We went to the forest of Bowland walking and mountain biking , in Preston you have a number of museums like the Lancashire military museum, the museum of Lancashire, Harris museum.

We have Dds so they wanted to go shopping as we also live in cumbria.

We also used the pool. Found it worked out cheaper than a Premier inn.

All depends what he's into. Really like Preston for a weekend away.

Thanks for all the help everyone. Think we might have decided on Newcastle now! So will probably need to put another post up about hotels specifically in Newcastle Have had a look online but it gets so confusing... This is well out of my comfort zone. I'm fine checking out campsites but hotels? Not a clue!

Can usually get a good deal on a travelodge or premier inn, always reliable. We had a nice stay in the family room at the village hotel (has a pool) and the ravensworth hotel (slightly outside of Newcastle), have also had a good deal at the staybridge suites in town which are lovely

Thanks Juggling (love that name )

Premier inns are great for families and cheap. There is one on the quayside in Newcastle which is a good position.