Didn't we have a lovely time, the day we went to Chester? (Mollington Banastre)

Member Name: missbrowneyedgirl

Product:	Mollington Banastre
Date:	24/09/03 (189 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Luxurious, Relaxing

Disadvantages: Fairly expensive

Hello again! It's nice to see you all, but I must admit it's nothing compared to my fancy weekend at the Mollington Banastre! Let me tell you...

AS some of you may have gathered from my last review, I have been spending a lot of time entering competitions of late, as opposed to writing reviews, and it has turned out to be a particulalry profitable hobby, but enough of that. All I really want to tell you is that my weekend of luxury at the Mollington Banastre was indeed a prize.

So, on Friday 12th August, mrblueeyedboyfriend and I loaded the car and headed for Chester. Firstly I must praise the map and directions provided on the Arcadian Hotels website (http://www.arcadianhotels.co.uk/mollington-banast re/). There was also information available from the hotel's own website at the time but that since seems to have disappeared.

The only criticism I would have of the website is the picture of the hotel, which is actually a rear view and incredibly looks very different from the square brick front which greets you as you pull into the car park. The car park is quite small but had enough room for us and probably a few more, and parking is free to hotel guests.

The hotel is only 2 miles from Chester, although there is nothing around the hotel itself at all (apart form a hotel run bar in the front car park) and it resides on a busy national speed limit road so walking wouldn't be much fun. It does however have beautiful grounds to the rear of the hotel and apparently welcomes pets (although I'm sure mrsgreeneyedcat wouldn't have liked the journey!).

Reception is immediately to the right as you walk in the front doors and we were checked in promptly and efficiently by their friendly staff. We were able to order morning newspapers to be delivered to our room, book a table for our evening meal (just a formality as far as I could see) and request a wake-up call for the morning.

The also sell discounted
tickets for local attractions at the reception desk so we were able to save £2 each off the entrance fee for Chester Zoo as well as guaranteeing priority entry without queuing - well worth doing!

Our room was incredibly chintzy but in a homely sort of way. It wasn't huge but had a lovely double bed, bedside tables, a dressing table and a wardrobe (hangers included). We also had a private bathroom which was spotlessly clean, tastefully decorated in white and gold tiles and full size Molton Brown shampoo, shower gel and hand cream! There was also a polite notice asking you not to steal them before you get any ideas, but you can buy them for £9.50 each from the reception.

Also we were left a lovely big fluffy white dressing gown each next to the bed, which were massive but ever so soft! We were provided with all the standard hotel room bits and bobs such as tea, coffee, mineral water, biscuits, soap, shower cap etc. although somewhat surprisingly there was no toothpaste. Luckily mrblueeyedboyfriend has sensitive little pegs so had packed his own!

Our room looked out over the gardens to the rear of the hotel through a giant floor to ceiling window. However, there were no nets so if you wanted to get changed you needed to draw the curtains for privacy which were think and lined and immediately plunged the room into complete darkness!

Next we decided to check out the complimentary health club and the gym in particular. To gain access you fill out a short form at the gym reception then you are given your hotel towel and free use of the facilities.

The health club has a small pool with Jacuzzi then there are saunas accessible through the changing rooms - mixed or not, you choose! the gym is fully air conditioned and well spaced out with plenty more equipment than it needed for the few people in there! It had a full range of anaerobic equipment, weight training machines and free weights, plus a matted area for stretching. The
machines themselves are probably around 4 years old but are well maintained and in good condition. There are also TVs you can watch whilst exercising if that's your kind of thing!

After an hour or so in the gym we had managed to work up an appetite so next stop (after a shower and change) was the Garden Room restaurant. The restaurant as it's name suggests looks out over the beautiful rear gardens and is quite formal in dress and etiquette.

Guests wait in the hotel bar until their table is ready and to pass the time are served the most exquisite canapés and the equally fantastic menu! The menu is split into two parts: firstly there is the set menu which changes daily and offers you a choice of 3/4 meals for starter, main and desert. The cost of this menu is included in the price of your stay but you can offset this value against the A La Carte menu which truly has to be seen to be believed!

We ordered our meals from the bar and after a short wait, the maitre d' showed us to our table and immediately served us out starters, which in my case were the two biggest prawns you have ever seen in your life! Everything we ate over the whole weekend honestly tasted like heaven. I like to think I'm a bit of a fancy cook but I had never tasted flavours so delicate and intense at the same time.

Even breakfast was a joy! You could order particular items from a menu such as kippers or pancakes and also has use of the breakfast buffet which offered all the cereals you could imagine, every type of fruit juice you could image, croissants, bread rolls, European cold meats, cheese and as if that wasn't enough a full English breakfast!

There was a wedding at the hotel on the Saturday which was fun to watch but unfortunately the evening meals had suffered slightly in quality. However, they were still fantastic, just not as mind blowing as the previous evening.

Overall I loved my stay at the Mollington Banastre and
I would definitely go back there. I wouldn't say it was fantastic value but if it's relaxing luxury you are looking for you can't go far wrong here.

Summary: