I’ve just returned from a short weekend in the Cotswolds with the family and thought after my Malta blog, I should definitely share my experience of the De Vere Cotswold Water Park with you all, so here goes.

Staying at the De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel

We arrived at the De Vere hotel and thought wow, this looks great. It didn’t look like many of the other De Vere’s I had been to. I wanted to get stuck right in. We checked in and headed to our room.

We had a superior room, which was a big enough room to accommodate the kids. The room included all the amenities that the standard guest rooms had with the added luxury of a Superior Room Pack including bath robes, local treats as well as upgraded toiletries and bottled water.

The room had enough space for a sofa, a cot and a toddler bed (which I had to request as it wasn’t in the room when we checked in – I will come back to the toddler bed shortly).

The views were amazing. You can see for yourself.

As with all hotels, I checked out the bathroom straight away. It wasn’t the best of bathrooms. Was a bit outdated and a tight with space, but I guess you get what you pay for with De Vere…

The Spa and Swimming Pool

After unpacking, I headed down for a swim in the De Vere hydro swimming pool. Please note, unless you are having a treatment in the spa, the pool will cost you £15 after 9:30am and before 5:00pm. At other times the pool is free to use. I totally understand why they wouldn’t let you use it during these hours. The pool was amazing and is quite exclusive to the spa, so it made sense to restrict the hours, however swimming times were not at the best of times, either during my breakfast or when you are getting ready for dinner. But we made the most of it when we could.

The spa is a perfect place to relax and unwind as you explore the sauna, aroma steam room and relaxation suite. Or refresh in the hydro swimming pool, experience shower or bucket shower.

The hotel offers a wide range of treatments at this Cotswolds spa from relaxing massages to cleansing facials. You’ll also discover a selection of luxury signature treatments exclusive to Spa6, as well as classic beauty treatments and mens’ grooming. And to achieve the ultimate state of tranquillity, try their dry floatation room or ancient Rasul Therapy experience.

The De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel Bar

Before heading to dinner, we thought we’d stop of at the hotel bar and grab a quick drink. It was a big space with comfy sofas and a place to relax in front of a wide screen TV, perfect for watching the FA Cup final.

The only problem was, the hotel was so busy, it was difficult to find a seat, especially when you have a big group. But, the staff were so nice. They were at your beck and call and really accommodated to all our needs.

The Old Boathouse Bar & Restaurant

We booked ourselves into dinner at the local gastropub, which is adjacent to the hotel. The views from the restaurant were amazing. A large lake backed the restaurant which would have been great if you were sitting outside. The food and drink were good, not great but good enough. I had the fish and chips which could have had a bit of taste to it. The service however wasn’t great. Our waiter forgot so many items and when we called for assistance they just ignored us. Someone wasn’t getting a tip!

After dinner we headed back to the hotel bar and just chilled with a nice glass of whisky.

The Toddler Bed Incident

So, it’s now time for bed, 11:30pm (remember I told you I will come back to the toddler bed, well here we go). We headed up to our room, and as it was late, my toddler was getting tired (bad parenting right there), so we opened up the bedding and wait for it… we found some other kids clothes still in the bed!! No it can’t be, what hotel doesn’t change bedding! Surely not. This is what we found (see picture). My wife was going mental. She immediately called down and asked for a new bed. They weren’t quite understanding, but eventually the duty manager understood and had to come up, a good 20mins later, and redo a brand new bed for my son (all the housekeeping staff had gone home). He apologised and mentioned he will report it in the morning, I guess nothing happened as we didn’t hear anything else. We then headed to bed in our small queen size bed at around 12:30am. I am too used to a king size bed that sleeping in a queen size bed just doesn’t comprehend anymore.

The Morning After

Breakfast was running until 11am, meaning there was plenty of time to sleep in. There was a good choice of items for breakfast, including cereals, fruit, pastries and a full English. Although the hotel was really busy, the staff tried to make sure the food was topped up as much as possible. I couldn’t complain, they did a great job to ensure we had hot food.

Cotswold Wildlife Park

After breakfast we decided to spend the day at the Cotswold Wildlife Park, which was a 20min drive from the hotel. The park was recommended by other guests staying at the hotel. We arrived at the park and I was pleasantly surprised. The park was an open park with plenty of wildlife, from roaming rhinos and zebras, to lions, giraffes, lemurs and more. There was even a little train that rode around the park. It was a nice day out with the family and plenty of photos for instagram.

After spending the majority of the day at the park, we headed back to the hotel for a quick swim. There must have been something going on at the hotel this weekend as the swimming pool was too busy to even stand in, let alone swim. We decided not to have dinner at the hotel this evening, so headed to another local gastropub, called the Swan At Southrop. The food was just delicious. Unfortunately I was too hungry to take pictures, but it beat the Old Boathouse by far, maybe because the food was freshly produced and picked from the farm at Thyme. It was a great end to a nice weekend in Cotswold.

Checkout

Hotel checkout was at 11am, but if you wanted it later the hotel was willing to accommodate. But as we were up we decided to checkout at 11am and head back home. It was a nice weekend in the Cotswold. There’s plenty to do. Whether you just want to relax at the hotel or explore the local area, from the cotswold water park or the wildlife park, there’s something for everyone. Without the little things that happened at this hotel, the stay would have been perfect. I can only say these things happen, shame it had to happen to me.

For more information on the De Vere Cotswold Water Park Hotel, including room rates, visit www.devere.co.uk/cotswold-water-park-hotel

For further information on the De Vere group, visit www.devere.co.uk

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