Where to stay with my family near Windsor and Stonehenge
 

Hi all. I am in the process of booking our London hotel for our family vacation to London in the summer (2 adults, 2 kids).

Thanks to your suggestions (many months ago), we are staying at the Holiday Inn Mayfair in London.

We want to spend one night near Windsor (Legoland specifically) and then a few nights near Stonehenge to see Stonehenge, Avebury, Stourhead, the mirror mazes, etc.

I'd like a not super expensive hotel that can fit a family of four and ideally have laundry facilities. (Since we'll be lugging our stuff from London to Heathrow to rent a car, I'd like to pack light, so I thought we could pack even lighter if we could do some laundry sometime during our trip).

I cannot find any Holiday Inns/Expresses or Marriotts with laundry facilities, and I am not familiar with the equivalent type of places to stay in the UK.

Any suggestions?

Thanks again for your all your help.

I have had great experiences looking for hotels on Expedia. I found a spectacular farm hotel in the Devon area (not in your location) but there were tons to choose from so give it a try - there are photos and reviews which are very helpful.

If you want to find a hotel with a 'do-it-yourself' laundry room I'm not sure you will find one - at least, I've never heard of one. Expensive hotels offer an expensive 'done for you' laundry service, but you won't get that at the cheaper end of the scale.
A hostel might have a laundry room. Otherwise why don't you look for a cheap apartment for your Wiltshire visit and do your laundry there.

Karen--If you are interested in staying near Windsor/Legoland for one night there are several Courtyards by Marriott or just Marriotts in or near Slough. I stayed in one a couple of years ago and it was convenient to Windsor. I pulled up the Marriott listed below and found that they have a self laundry listed. http://www.travelohotel.org/England_...gh_Windsor.htm

Otherwise you might have to take your laundry to a launderette!!

The place where I like to stay in Stourhead is the Spread Eagle Inn which is right next to the gardens.

Let us know what you find--Margo

You are looking for large international "American" chains out in the country??

Now Windsor is close to LHR so there are lots of modern hotels there - but the LHR/Slough area is probably not what you were thinking of (at least I hope not).

There are several hotels and B&Bs in Windsor - just pick one in your price range and then have your laundry done at the local launderette. They will wash/dry/fold your things for little more than the cost of doing it yourselves.

Then, you can stay the next nights in any B&B/hotel near Stourhead since your laundry will have been done already . . . .

There is a Holiday Inn in Maidenhead that, while bland, is not a bad place for a family to stay. And there is a public laundry about two miles away in Maidenhead--I've never used it, but could check out the hours for you. The rack rates for the HI are way overpriced, but apparently you can dig up good specials.

In Marlow (a nicer base than MD for a visitor to the area) there is a pretty decent Crowne Plaza. However, Marlow doesn't have a public laundry that I know of.

If you are willing to get away from the chain hotels, then the Four Winds B&B in Marlow does allow guests to use the onsite laundry facilities.
http://www.bedbreakfastmarlow.co.uk/Facilities.htm

Margo - thank you!!! I actually called Marriott to book a stay at the Courtyard. The res clerk said they do not have laundry facilities, and she said the Marriott you referenced didn't either. Will need to look into that further!

Janisj- yes, I am looking into American motels, why is that bad? They have many locations around the UK.

You see, I am traveling with two boys, ages 11 and 13, and I didn't think a B&B would be most appropriate.

Also, we have enough points for one free night with Holiday Inn and one free night at a Marriott level 3. That's a significant savings, esp. with London hotel rates the way they are.

Why is it bad for us to stay in Slough/Windsor? As I said, we want to get an early start to Legoland the next day. Our plan is to go from London to Heathrow to rent a car, and then drive out to Windsor. We will return the car to Heathrow b/c that's the airport we're flying out of.

Karen, If you check that Marriott website you will see that they have "self service laundry facilities" listed so I would give that hotel a call. We stayed at the Courtyard a couple of years ago and found it just like the US Courtyards We did it for convenience to visit Windsor Castle before heading to the Cotswolds.

Slough is a sort of industrial area with some busy roads leading into the area and toward Heathrow but the hotel itself was off the busy road. It is the one on Church Street. About 4 miles from Legoland it says. I think this may be a good location to do the things you want and especially after just arriving in the UK. However, your clothes won't be needing to be washed then, eh?

I like to stay in the B&B's but I can understand not wanting to stay there with kids. The "American hotels" usually have bigger rooms and 2 queen beds.

Just to explain -- &quot;B&amp;B's&quot; in England are NOT romantic, overpriced &quot;twee&quot; things like you may be familiar w/ in the States. They are budget accomodations and most are geared for families - they even have <u>family</u> rooms.

Me personally - whenever possible, I try to avoid US-style cookie cutter motels/hotels when traveling in the UK My theory is how do you know you left the the States if you wake up in a Holiday Inn every morning . . . .

Now if I had points for the Marriott County Hall - I'd stay there in a minute. But otherwise - nope.

Probably should have said &quot;<b>most</b> B&amp;B's&quot; in England are NOT . . . .&quot;

We (two adults and two teenagers) stayed this past summer at Oakley Court a couple miles outside of Windsor. It may be outside your price range (we thought it was outside ours originally, but we eventually took it anyway because we were desperate due to need to make last minute reservations). Anyway it is a fantastic place - beautiful, right on the Thames, indoor swimming pool, and they have some family rooms - ours was plenty big for all four of us for two nights. It's actually the &quot;castle&quot; where the movie Rocky Horror Picture Show was filmed a number of years ago. Anyway, they have a &quot;Legoland package&quot; which was really a pretty good deal - we took it even though we weren't interested in the Legoland part.

Lots of families with kids were staying there, so even though the web site makes it sound sort of formal, it really isn't - the dining room in the morning was filled with families getting ready to go to Legoland. Don't know about the laundry facilities, but I really recommend the place..

Go to www.oakleycourt.com and look at all the photos.

Is there a big reason you want to go to Legoland? It's just that I'd say your boys are right at the top end of the relevant age scale - or actually even too old. I think of it as a park mainly for the little'uns. I wouldn't personally go with kids over about 10 years old.
If they are expecting any white knuckle rides they will be disappointed. They'd probably have a much better time at Chessington or Thorpe Park, which are also close to London.

We stayed at the Windsor/Slough Holiday Inn, which used to be the Courtyard by Marriott a few months ago.

Very nice place - huge and super clean room.

My kids LOVED Legoland. I know they are older - they remember really liking Legoland in San diego. And my younger one likes the wild mouse type of roller coasters. My older one was happy to come along for the ride(s)...