Anyone stayed at the Alton Towers Hotel

[nametaken]

or it's sister hotel, next door. Was thinking of having one or 2 nights there in July

Not yet - but am staying there on Thursday for a conference... I'll report back for you

yes but quite a while ago, overpriced and a bit shite really-but was about 8 years agaon

ago!

We stayed there 2 years ago for 1 night during their Easter promotion. I think we got quite a good deal, but can't remember the exact details. We went for the Water Park rather than the theme park. I think it's overpriced if you pay the standard price.
The rooms were pretty basic, but the kids were delighted that they got a free backpack with a inflatable ball & some other junk in it.
The buffet breakfast was very busy, and kept running out of everything. Although when you saw the number of people stuffing food into their bags it's not really suprising. We struggled to get booked into any of the restaurants in the evening, and what we did eventually have was very expensive for a pretty average meal.
The best bit was the amount of free chocolate we were given during our stay. There were huge bowls of Cadburys Hero's dotted around the public rooms, we were given mini egg's & chocolate coins when we checked in and there was a chocolate casino where you could gamble your chocolate coins and win more chocolate.
As far as the kids are concerned it was totally magical and they would love to go back again. I would too provided we go over Easter & get all the chocolate again.