Introduction

It was my mam’s 50th birthday last month and we decided to away with my sister, her husband and their children. We’ve never gone on holiday with them altogether before and initially we were going to go for an overnight stay but we decided to make a weekend of it and went for three nights. My dad always books all our holidays online, and this weekend break was no different. We’ve stayed in Marriott Hotels in various countries within Europe, so we were pleased with my dad’s choice. We stayed from Thursday 20th -Sunday 23rd August. My dad booked the two rooms together by phoning the hotel direct.

On Arrival

The hotel looks nice from the outside and the entrance looks welcoming. My sister and the children arrived and checked in before us so we told them we would meet them there.

Checking In

The lady on the check-in desk was not very friendly. She said I wasn’t allowed to stay in the same room as my mam and dad as it wasn’t stated there would be three adults in the room on booking. My dad did specify exactly how many people were staying and the ages of me and my sister’s children so they did know that I was an adult. As it happens, my brother-in-law was unable to make it last minute so we told the receptionist I would stay in the room with my sister, and one of the children would stay in my parent’s room, which is what we did. I don’t know what we would have had to do, had my brother-in-law been there, but it would appear that we would need to pay more. Other than this check-in was quite smooth and my sister said she had no problems with check-in either. The other lady on reception was much friendlier and said hello whenever we saw her.

We asked for someone to help us take our bags to our room, and someone did so within about 10 minutes. It would have been quicker if we’d done it ourselves but my dad asked the reception staff before we really thought about it.

Reception Area
The reception area is bright and spacious. On entrance to the hotel there is a large table with a bouquet of flowers, which looked quite nice. There was a seating area and the reception desks were a good size. The reception area led to the bar and to the lifts and stairs to the rooms.

The Rooms

Both rooms was quite large, each with a king-size bed. They both also had a sofa bed which slept 2 and a camp bed for 1. In our room we didn’t need the sofa bed but it was put up by mistake. My nephews took it in turns to sleep in my parents room though, so it did get used.

There was a desk and TV in each room as well as a mini bar area. The mini bars were not turned on, and there was a note saying that should you wish the mini bar to be filled, you should ring and ask reception. There was a kettle and cups in each of the rooms, with complimentary tea, coffee, long life milk, and biscuits. These were replaced every day as necessary.

The storage space in the room was quite good. The wardrobe was a good size to hang our clothes and it had a shelf at the top. It was tall enough that we could hang our clothes in and still use the floor of the wardrobe for our shoes etc. There was a chest of draws (beneath the TV) which had ample room to store the remainder of our clothes for the two days we were there.

There was also a safe in both rooms, which were free to use. It was locked when we first arrived so my dad told the receptionist on our way out and when we came back to the room the safe was open so we could set our own code and start using it. There were instructions about setting up a PIN number, which my dad found quite easy to do (he's good at things like that! :)

The window in our room looked out onto a little bit of a grass area and another part of the hotel. It wasn’t a bad view, but it wasn’t particularly exciting.

The Bathroom

The bathroom was clean, though it was quite small. The bath was quite long; I don't like long baths as I slip (I'm not really very tall) so I just had showers. The shower was very powerful and refreshing. There was soap, shampoo, body wash and body lotion provided in the bathroom, as well as face clothes and towels.

The Lifts

The lifts were quite small but were efficient. We were on the ground floor and my sister was on the first floor (as is the swimming pool) so we sometimes used the lifts. It was just as quick and easy to use the stairs though, which were located right next to the lifts. I don’t really like lifts so if I was going between floors on my own I just used the stairs.

The Food

The only food we ate in the hotel was breakfast. This was a hot and cold buffet with quite a good choice. We all found plenty of food that we liked and it made a good start to the day. Although it’s self service, there is a chef there and bringing the food out and you can ask him/her to cook an omelette etc. My dad had a ham and mushroom omelette on the first day and he said it was really nice.

There are two bars and one restaurant. One of the bars serves snacks all day and closes at 11pm. The other one takes over as the residents bar at 11pm (but it is open before then).

There is a wacky warehouse about a 5 minute drive down the road from the hotel, which is where we ate as it was more suitable for the children and the meals were 2for1.

Leisure Facilities

The hotel has a swimming pool and gym, as well as a golf course. We only used the swimming facilities. Swimming was free, although you did need a £1 coin for the lockers, and towels were provided. The swimming pool was quite large and had a section in the middle of the pool for swimming only. The pool was clean, as was the surrounding area. There was also a Jacuzzi, but the bubbles were not always on. There were tables and seats next to the pool so you could sit and watch if you didn’t want to swim.

The female changing area was clean and spacious and my dad didn’t complain about the male changing areas, so I assume that was the same. The lockers were large enough for me to share one with my mam (and also my niece, one day when my sister didn’t go swimming) so we found we only needed to take £1. The lockers also had space to hang your clothes too.

There were toilets and showers in the changing area as well as a machine to spin the water out of the swimming costumes, which worked very well. I didn’t know what it was at first but my dad told us about the one in the male changing area so I went back into the ladies and used it.

Checkout

Checkout was smooth and easy and we had no problems.

Cost

The room prices vary depending on the room type and when you go but they start from around £89.00 per night. It’s worth looking on the website or ringing up to see when they have offers on though.

Other

Hollins Hall is located in Yorkshire about 27 miles from York.
There is wireless internet access in the hotel but we didn’t use it as it was £6.50 per hour (or £15 for 12 hours) so for how long we were staying we didn’t think it was worth it even though I had my laptop with me. There are also 2 computers with internet access in the reception area and this starts from £3 for 15 minutes.
The hotel seems to be a popular location for weddings as we saw 4 wedding parties in the 3 days we were there. I can see why though, as the hotel is set in beautiful grounds.

Overall

I thought this was a lovely hotel but we found that it is not as good as the Marriott’s outside of the UK. However, I would definitely still recommend this hotel as we all had a pleasant stay.

Address
Marriott Hollins Hall
Hotel & Country Club
Hollins Hill
Baildon
Shipley
Bradford
BD17 7QW
Phone 01274 530053
Thanks for reading!