Family Friendly Hotel in Aviemore
Sun, Sep 2, 2012Our summer holiday this year was pretty low key – a few nights visiting friends in the north of Scotland and then 3 nights in a hotel in Aviemore. We had the loveliest time catching up with our friends, seeing two new houses and meeting one new arrival. Despite arriving with bags that made it look as though we were moving in for a week we couldn’t have been made more welcome but by the end of the three nights Arran had started to describe us as the travelling Moffat circus! With one boy potty training and the other some kind of a machine who functions on minimal sleep I think our friends probably breathed a sigh of relief as we left. An old family story comes to mind – one of my father in law’s old aunties used to say to guests who had overstayed their welcome ‘if you left now, what time would you get home?!’ That always makes me laugh.
Perhaps the staff in the Hilton Coylumbridge were also thinking that as we checked out but if so they didn’t let on! I couldn’t recommend it highly enough if your’e looking for a reasonably priced family hotel in Aviemore.
The hotel is located in the stunning Cairngorms National Park beside the Rothiemurchus forest, one of the largest remaining areas of Ancient Caledonian Forest. We enjoyed a couple of beautiful buggy friendly walks straight from the door.
Exploring nature on a local walk.
Who needs expensive toys when there are pine cones on offer?
Cameron is happiest when outdoors.
The boys loved paddling in Loch an Eilein,a few minutes drive from the hotel.
We had planned to go for a longer walk around the lake but couldn’t drag Euan away from the water!
We were incredibly lucky with the weather and went on picturesque walks every day but the resort is so geared up for families we easily could have killed more hours there had it rained. We made some use of the two pools and struggled to tear the boys away from the playground. The other playground, the tennis courts and the indoor soft play area remain unexplored until our next visit.
Weeeee!
Euan considering the head first option.
Cameron wishing he could climb this just like his big brother.
For me one of the joys about staying in a hotel is not having to worry about cooking. Our breakfast and dinner were included in the room rate and we couldn’t have been happier. The boys ate so well at breakfast that we only needed light snacks until dinner time. There were two options for families at dinner – an early evening (5.30pm-7pm) Italian buffet or family friendly a la carte served from 7.30pm. We ate at the buffet the first night and it was delicious – a chicken or fish starter, at least three different kinds of pizza or pasta and an extensive salad bar. There were several indulgent options for pudding too. On the second night we gave the boys their tea at the Italian buffet, bathed them upstairs, got them into their pyjamas and then Arran and I ate at the a la carte. Cameron slept in the buggy and Euan was happy eating bread and playing games on the iPad. The food was good but for last night we opted for the buffet again. We couldn’t fault it and prefer to eat early with the kids if we can. My only gripe about the meals was that the wine was pretty expensive but on the whole we couldn’t have been happier.
The boys getting stuck into their second course at breakfast!
A short but utterly lovely summer holiday from beginning to end, many thanks to all. The next stop for the Moffat circus is a winter break in Egypt. Can’t wait!
