Charming Chessington

For Christmas I decided to book a surprise adventure for my photographer as a thank you for taking pictures of me on my adventures. I decided on a trip to London to see the Tutankhamun exhibit as we both have a big interest in ancient Egyptians but a media caused fear of visiting Egypt. Due to the prices of London, I decided that we were to travel with National Holidays. This turned out to be a great idea because everything was planned for me and the hotel was away from the busy city centre. The hotel that the tour was using whilst I stayed in London was the Chessington Safari Hotel.

The drive to London was around six and a half hours in total; including two stops and the infamous London traffic. I have to say, I had a lot of room on the bus and great views out of the window. It was nice to see more of the UK out of the window, I usually fly so don’t get to see much (I have a few plans for more adventures too!).

The Hotel

Chessington Safari Hotel is a part of the Chessington World of Adventure; a theme park and a zoo. In all honesty, it isn’t a hotel I would pick for myself because it is aimed at families with young children. However, I loved the fairy light giraffe in the entrance and the fact you can see animals running around whilst you eat breakfast.

The Room

The room was huge, sadly I wasn’t in a themed bedroom but it was still decorated accordingly. There were animals on the bunk beds. I was so excited to get to try the bunk beds out, my photographer had to have the king size bed instead.

The room had a really powerful shower and vegan friendly products. I really liked having coffee and tea facilities in my room so I could relax with my book in a quiet space.

The only real issue with the room was the floor. In the corner nearest the mirror and plug was a nice covering of hair. Human hair from shaving. That my bare feet walked through. Eeeewwwww. It would have been nice for the cleaner to have hoovered the whole room. Maybe next time.

The Food

The food was standard resort food. The zafari restaurant was reasonably priced, which was a lovely surprise. The vegetarian meze was delicious (we all know carrot sticks and hummus is the way to my furry blue heart).

Breakfast was a great spread of a buffet, including vegetarian sausages and other cooked delights. The fruit was all fresh and delicious. I like how there was a place to fill up bottles of water. The coffee out of the machine also filled up my reusable cup which is something I would love to see in other hotels I visit.

The best part about breakfast wasn’t the food, or the blackout. It was watching the animals running around in a nice open space. There were deer/gazelle (esque creatures) and a crocodile! I thought it was real but my photographer wasn’t sure.

Location

Situated just outside of (and in theory a short drive from) London. It is about 15 miles from central London but it can take up to two hours to drive because of the sheer volume of humans driving through the city.

Surrey sseems like a nice place, well the part I saw from the bus window. I hadn’t realised how close it is to Hampton Court and other great places to explore. Sadly, I only had one night in this hotel so I didn’t have time to try out the pool or search for other animals. I think if I ever return to London I would choose a hotel out off the city centre.

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