Is the Gruffalo Room Chessington worth it?

Last year , between lockdowns we managed to get away for the weekend for Chloe and Lotties birthday and we surprised them with a 2 night stay at The Gruffalo Room Chessington world of adventures resort.

As we are Merlin pass holders we get a discount on the themed hotel rooms and this costs us £845 for 2 nights with our Merlin Holiday Club discount (which is up to 20% off) – having price checked this year for the same weekend it is still a similar price.

If you aren’t a pass holder this short break it would be around £1100 – This includes breakfast and park entry, this was a standard weekend outside of school holidays.

The Gruffalo Room Chessington

The Gruffalo room is located inside the Chessington Safari hotel (Azteca hotel is also attached they are virtually the same place)

The first part of your holiday includes your very own space, reserved with your name, right outside the main entrance which is the perfect place to park when you have lots of children and luggage.

I loved this and think it’s a really nice touch, this is exclusive to Premium themed rooms (Currently The Gruffalo and Room on the Broom room)

The room is the exact same layout (and size) as the Animal themed rooms. We like this layout as it has separate sleeping areas, the kids are away from us but we can still hear them if they wake up and its perfect for our family short breaks.

One major difference is this room talks. Yes it talks to you. Everytime you open the door. The booming voice of the Gruffalo says ‘You go ahead and I’ll follow after’ cute the first couple of times, but we soon got bored of it.

There is also a ball game maze on the wall in the children’s bedroom area and this also speaks to you when you play it. (Look how tiny Oscar is he wasn’t even a 1 year old!)

Main Bedroom Area

The main bedroom consists of a double bed with the giant Gruffalo head above the bed appearing through the deep dark wood, Holly and Oscar weren’t keen on this at first but they got used to it!

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Children’s Bedroom Area

The children’s bedroom area had bunk beds and a pull out 3rd bed. There is a giant mouse model and as I mentioned above there is a game on the wall.

You’ll also find the little hiding space where your treat will be hidden, we received a book with the story of the Gruffalo

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Bathroom

The bathroom was my favourite. I could lay in the bath and watch TV while the kids ran around in the bedroom.

I definitely feel I need a TV at the end of my bath at home now!

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Wanyama Reserve Views

The views of the Wanyama Reserve from this room are great (but you can also pay for this view in an animal themed room) Oscar was fascinated by the animals.

GRUFFALO ROOM EXCLUSIVE BENEFITS

• Wanyama View (also available on Animal themed rooms)
• 2pm Early Check-in (1 hour before other rooms)
• Designated parking space close to the hotel
• TV in the Bathroom at the end of the bath
• Hidden Gruffalo gift (Ours was a copy of the Gruffalo book)
• Complimentary access to the Savannah Splash Pool (also included in Animal themed rooms)
• Explorer Fastrack (valid March – October)
• Theme park entry with early access included

• Check-in: 15:00
• Check-out: 10:00

CHESSINGTON HOTEL OVERVIEW

2 Themed Restaurants 

Zafari bar & grill and Temple Restaurant, both serving breakfast and dinner. In all our visits we have only ever eaten in the Temple Restaurant, the breakfast is great. An all you can eat buffet featuring a full cooked english breakfast, pastries and fruit. Tea, Coffee and fruit juices are also available. The Temple Restaurant has a more laid back atmosphere on an evening where as the Zafari has an a la carte menu featuring Steaks, Ribs and Burgers. I’d highly advise you to prebook a breakfast slot as they get very busy.

Savannah Splash Pool 

This is included with the Premium themed rooms and also the Animal themed rooms. For standard rooms it is £3. Sessions are 45 mins long and again its advisable to prebook. It features a 15m swimming pool, Kids splash pool with jets and water canons, a Steam room, Spa pool & Sauna.

Evening Entertainment

On the evening you’ll find entertainment downstairs opposite the reception desk. Ours were always too tired to go but there was some children’s entertainment followed by a movie.

Early Ride Access

Lottie loves the Vampire roller coaster and she was able to ride this several times on the Early access, Holly got to ride the Gruffalo river ride adventure (a Lazy River ride where the bubble works used to be) which she also loves so it worked out well, other rides are available but this varies.

OTHER HOTEL GUESTS FACILITIES:

• Free WiFi in all rooms 
• Free Parking directly outside the hotel and next to the park entrance
• Breakfast included with all rooms

Summary of our stay at the Gruffalo Room Chessington

There is a massive novelty factor with these rooms, you do get some extra little perks but I’m not sure they really justify the additional cost.

We are glad we stayed and all the kids had a great time but we probably wouldn’t be in a hurry to stay in these rooms again.

We will of course be back though as this is our favourite of the resort hotels, they have rooms that accommodate our whole family and we love an overnight stay before a day at the park.

ChrissyJ xxx