April 6, 201411 yr comment_180395 Just did the same search at Chessington and that was £632.00! So Thorpe is quite significantly cheaper than both, offers 2 events (Thorpe park Live - We don't know much about that yet) and Summer Nights. I think thats quite good value personally.
April 6, 201411 yr comment_180397 I don't think any of us know the exact reasons why Thorpe haven't gotten round to building the 'proper' hotel yet. They've got the approval, and they've tweaked the plans on occasions. We can speculate (costs, Thorpe having a bad year, etc.) but don't know why exactly. I don't think it's really fair for us to judge why Thorpe have gone for shipping containers over a proper hotel at the moment considering we don't have a clue what's happening behind the scenes! Personally (although it would be interesting to know) from a customer point of view I don't care why they've not built the proper hotel. The fact is they haven't. By that I mean it seems to be a fan site member trait to have a distinction between Thorpe and Merlin, like we should forgive Thorpe certain things because it is out of their control and Merlins fault. That's madness, they are one company and the same thing. I don't buy this 'testing the water' line either. Merlin run three other uk theme parks on a similar scale each with its own hotel that has been successful and required expansion. They know people want to stay at theme parks. For the first year or two id have agreed it might be just to get some rooms open while they got building, but now this is different. It's like they've realised that this is all they have to bother doing to take the money. It's just about good enough, not to worry if it's anything like as good as it could be.
April 6, 201411 yr comment_180399 It's a fair point you make; I do agree with you to a certain extent. The thing is, the everyday customer won't know there's a plan for a proper hotel. In their eyes, it's Thorpe's hotel at the moment. It's not exactly an ideal situation for them, and one which no one wants to see really.
April 6, 201411 yr comment_180405 When I refer to testing the water I refer to it on the basis that Legoland has a high intake of 'short holidays' and weekend breaks from all over the UK. Chessington played safe originally by building with Holiday Inn. And Towers was a bit of a no-brainer considering 90% of people have to travel distance to reach it. Chessington and Thorpe, in my eyes, have always had a much bigger bulk of one-day visitors; and to be frank I'm surprised Chessington's hotel ever actually worked, but again it's worth noting that all three London-area parks have offered holiday packages, with localised hotels and have results from that in the precessing years. Clearly Thorpe haven't seen figures that prove it's feasible for them to open a full hotel; otherwise they would have done it by now. Merlin are hot on Resort Theme Parks - that's coming quite obvious. I just truly don't think there's enough backing in the figures yet. - - - With regards to Benin's post; there isn't any logic in the madness of the pricing at the hotels. Last year I had a five day holiday to PortAventura, inclusive of hotel at the park, tickets for the theme park and water park, flights, and transfers for little over £500. I know it's a little different to what you're comparing to; but to charge £500 for a stay in the UK - well, you might as well go abroad.
April 7, 201411 yr comment_180478 Chessie's works massively because it's extremely conveniently located to M25 and london. Thorpes could work because it's a good stopover for heathrow. But it's a far riskier strategy.
April 8, 201411 yr comment_180563 What frustrates me most about the Thorpe Shark is that they have the nuts to call it a hotel! It's a small room that leads straight into the open air. It doesn't even have internal corridors, its own decent restaurant, a shop, an attached reception, or anything else to do other than sleeping or visiting the park.
April 8, 201411 yr comment_180565 A Hotel has to have the option of both Dinner and Breakfast facilities. That is literally the only specification for it to be classed as a hotel. B&B's say it in the name Guesthouses are a variable It technically is a hotel, just the bottom end of a Hotel (in terms) if they were to get an AA Approved star rating, it would probably be rather low because of its amenities, nevertheless the hotel is not really aimed at anything much more than to be promoted as a hotel IN Thorpe Park, its the convenience that is its biggest selling point.
April 8, 201411 yr comment_180567 besides the use of the word hotel (which apparently means so much), thorpe don't really set out to advertise it as this amazing fancy place to stay, like alton towers do with their actual hotels... so it does what it's set out to do really, a place to stay as close to the park as possible.
April 8, 201411 yr comment_180572 Just want to throw it out there, Thorpe had a TV advert earlier which was a shortened version of the Sounds of Summer, but was introduced as 'Thorpe Park presents, cheap family breaks' or something - with no image nor name reference to Shark, just saying visit the website to find a cheap break at Thorpe.
April 24, 201411 yr comment_181695 I can't see Thorpe building a full blown hotel for a good few years as for me the main issue is target audience. As it stands Thorpe is far from family friendly despite the upcoming Angry Birds Land and feel that not having that pull for families would affect hotel numbers significantly. That paired with what was said earlier about poor/not enough facilities for current guests on site most people would stay outside the park then drive/bus in. I never understood why Chessie went and opened a second hotel myself but clearly they had sufficient numbers last year to warrant opening another so the family angle is clearly in effect there, as it has been at Alton as well. I can see further accommodation being introduced at Alton in the near future going by the plans that have been mentioned before way before anything concrete is started at Thorpe. I always hoped that they would build the hotel on the site of the old farm and then ferry the guests into the park via the old ferry boats and CCR. Not that this could ever happen now though.
May 3, 201411 yr comment_182470 It's taking shape! I imagine people will be concerned and say it looks awful right now. However, it's not even half-done yet, with the coaster-track ribs, more pieces of 'junk', lighting, teeth, etc. still to go in. Looking forward to the final result.
May 3, 201411 yr comment_182482 Worrying that Detonator's sign is already on there. Almost as if they're starting the façade already. Oh very dear if they are...
May 3, 201411 yr comment_182486 Worrying that Detonator's sign is already on there. Almost as if they're starting the façade already. Oh very dear if they are... I thought it was supposed to just have old signage on it? They never said that there was going to be a proper facade did they? (That said, I agree that it looks poor at the moment...)
May 4, 201411 yr comment_182506 What I mean is, the outer façade of signs and junk. In the concept art, the Detonator sign is clearly visible as part of an outer façade, which is worrying as it has appeared quite early in construction when the shark's skeleton isn't even finished yet.
May 11, 201411 yr comment_182943 I think that they should make a saw hotel or themed room, maybe for fright nights but would be great all year round
May 11, 201411 yr comment_182947 I must say I am very disappointed with the look of the 'hotel' in general; Thorpe seem to have invested more into that blasted shark than the actual hotel itself! They could atleast do something about that 'corridor' outside the rooms e.g enclose it or put some form of canopy over it. Tbh I think that Thorpe are currently the Ryanair of overnight stays at theme parks- they provide the bare minimum, at, depending which way you look at it, budget or extortionate rates. They promised a room 2 minutes away from Thorpe, that's what you got. They haven't necessarily decieved anyone, if you're foolish enough to expect some 4-5 star hotel made out of shipping containers, then that's your problem, Thorpe could not care less.
May 12, 201411 yr comment_182991 I must say I am very disappointed with the look of the 'hotel' in general; Thorpe seem to have invested more into that blasted shark than the actual hotel itself! Have you stayed at the Hotel? The rooms are built to a very high quality whilst obviously small they are very comfortable and pleasant to stay in.
May 23, 201411 yr comment_183879 http://www.scruffydogltd.com/sharks-sighted-thorpe-park/ Article on Scruffy Dog's (the makers of the shark) website about the shark. It really is coming together nicely, and I think that once it's finished, it will look really striking and be exactly what the park are aiming for. By the sounds of it, it won't be completed by the end of the month (which is a shame, since Thorpe said that the feature would be finished in May), but I guess a couple of extra weeks in the short term will do good in the long run.
June 11, 201411 yr comment_185159 Posted on TPM's Facebook... Almost done (even if it's later than planned!) Looking good!
June 11, 201411 yr comment_185167 I'm still very confused in how a shark made of junk relates to thorpe park. If its soley themed like that becuase of an island like no other then I'm slightly concerned. An island like no other is ok but could be so much more and so much less generic.
June 11, 201411 yr comment_185168 The idea was to have old 'junk' from the park which was dumped in the lake wash ashore I think. There's Ranger County and Detonator stuff, as well as what looks like some Neptune's Kingdom (blue sign by the mouth) and Amity Cove ("You will get VERY WET in this area") signs. The shark shape I guess is because of being by the water. It's a shame that there's not more 'old' Thorpe signage there really. I don't think it's generic - how many other hotels are there are about entering through a shark! The other two main proposals - a pier-like area and entering through a washed up ship - felt more generic, less quirky and less memorable to me.
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