Lower Micklam Farm B&B

...proximity to Alton Towers, and Lower Micklam Farm won. This B and B is located in Alton, which is the nearest village to Alton Towers, (the clue is in the name!!) about a mile from the park. The name 'Farm' is accurate of the related holiday cottages, but the B and B is in the centre of the village, and was formerly a house, rather than a farm. The name is rather quaint though, and as it is a combined business with the holiday cottages, it seems ...
.../> Booking a room at Lower Micklam Farm was easily done, I simply phoned up. The person I spoke to was friendly and helpful, and was able to answer all my questions. They took a deposit of half the total price while I was on the phone, and we paid the balance on arrival. I recieved confirmation of the booking, and a visa reciept a couple of days later.

I could also have booked over email. (Richard@alton-BandB.co.uk)

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I recently visited Alton Towers with a group of friends, and living about 3 hours drive away from the park, we decided to drive down the night before, so we could get there early and avoid the queues. (Which worked perfectly, but that is not for this review)

In chosing accommodation, the main criteria was proximity to Alton Towers, and Lower Micklam Farm won. This B and B is located in Alton, which is the nearest village to Alton Towers, (the clue is in the name!!) about a mile from the park. The name 'Farm' is accurate of the related holiday cottages, but the B and B is in the centre of the village, and was formerly a house, rather than a farm. The name is rather quaint though, and as it is a combined business with the holiday cottages, it seems fair that they have retained it.

Alton is a small place, with not much more than a pub and a Londis, and I couldn't help wondering how the locals had felt when Alton Towers was built. Life must have changed from quiet to busy almost overnight. The queue of traffic through the village is long, and I'm sure a daily occurance through the summer months. They don't seem bitter about this at all. As well as traffic, the park brings visitors to Alton who spend their money in things like B and B's, so the local trade is thriving.

-----Booking-----

Booking a room at Lower Micklam Farm was easily done, I simply phoned up. The person I spoke to was friendly and helpful, and was able to answer all my questions. They took a deposit of half the total price while I was on the phone, and we paid the balance on arrival. I recieved confirmation of the booking, and a visa reciept a couple of days later.

I could also have booked over email. (Richard@alton-BandB.co.uk)

-----Arriving-----

As I have said, we planned to drive down to Alton the night before, so we always knew we'd be fairly late arriving. The letter I'd been sent as confirmation of my booking stated that check in times were between 6.30 pm and 9.30pm. One of our party was delayed leaving work, so we quickly realised we wouldn't make that deadline. I phoned up to let the B and B know that we'd be late and they were really nice and very accommodating, saying that the restaurant would still be open, so there would still be someone to welcome us, and all was well.

During the drive down, we were delayed in bad traffic, and made further phone calls to confirm our progress. We eventually arrived after 11.00pm, but were greeted as though we were there by 9.30. The girl who met us was lovely, and didn't seem at all put out that we'd interupted her evening. I was really impressed by this, as in some places you could rightly expect a slightly less friendly attitude, as we were several hours late.

The staff in general were lovely throughout our stay, asking if we had enjoyed Alton Towers, and providing quick, friendly service at breakfast time. (more on the food in a moment) I was very impressed by the welcoming feel of the place.

-----Bed-----

My previous experience of B and B's is that they were furnished in the 80's, have not been updated since, and that the rooms are small and pokey, but have the basic things you need. Lower Micklam Farm exceeded my expectiations in this respect.

We stayed in a double room, which had one of the largest beds I've ever seen. It was really comfortable, and felt really luxurious to stay in such a big bed! The room, however was not dominated by the bed, there was plenty of space. In addition to the bed, we had a wardrobe, a desk and a set of drawers. Plenty of space to put clothes/other essentials, though for our stay of 2 nights, we lived out of a suitcase. There were two chairs, and each side of the bed had a bedside table. All the furniture was modern, and wooden, with the excption of the chairs, which looked like cast iron. The decor was simple, and modern, but homely. It had the appearance of having been really well thought out. There was also a reasonably sized window overlooking the small parking area outside, and other rooftops in the village.

We were also provided with a hairdryer, small kettle and tea/coffee making facilities, and a flat screne television.

Our room had, as I understand each room has, an ensuite shower. This was also of an ample size, with a sink, toilet and shower. The bathroom was tiled in white, and was very clean. The shower was powerful, and warm, but not boiling. It was a 'walk in' affair, where there is no door, and the glass screne was curved theoretically to prevent water escaping, which was not entirly successful, but as long as you didn't leave you clothes on the floor, that was fine.

-----and Breakfast-----

Maybe I've only every stayed in bad B and B's before, but experience has taught me not to expect much from breakfast. Breakfast is served between 8.30 and 9.00 and we dutifully presented ourselves for this meal. As I mentioned, there is a restaurant attached to the business, and it is in this room that breakfast is served.

On arrival, our table was laid with beautiful white china, and already had cold orange juice and a jug of milk. There were packets of cereal, fruit and yoghuts laid out on a table, and we helped ourselves. The waitress offered us hot drinks, and we assumed that this was all breakfast would be. The waitress returned, however, offering cooked breakfast, and having finished our cereal a large plate of food was put in front of us. I was very impressed. We had pancakes, sausage, bacon, eggs, tomato, beans and mushrooms. A feast! I was too full by the end to finish all of this, but the food was lovely. (and I did manage to keep it down on the rides at Alton Towers!)

-----The Cost-----

We paid £70/night for a double room, including breakfast. My inicial thought was that this was quite expensive, however, breakfast was plentiful, and the room was so big and clean that I didn't feel cheated at all, but rather that I'd stayed somewhere really nice as a bit of a treat.

-----Other Details-----

If you don't have a car this will be hard to get to. I did see a bus in the village, but I think it would be hard work to get here without transport, and although Alton is pretty, there is not much to recopmmend it over other nearby villages apart from proximity to Alton Towers, which you could walk to if you were so inclined.

If you don't want to go to Alton Towers, there are plenty of other things to do locally, including:
-Coarse fishing at Freehay, Hales hall and Shawe park. (4 miles away) day tickets available at Lower Micklin.
-Home of the Midlands Grand National (6 miles away)
-Carsington Water for sailing, windsurfing etc. (13 miles away)
-Dovedale, walkers paradise (15 miles away)
-Waterworld Stoke-on-Trent. A fantastic day out with water tubes, flumes and pools (16 miles away)

-----Technical Stuff-----

Website:
http://www.lowermicklinfarm.co.uk/html/alton_towers_bank_house.html

Address:
Bank House
Smithy Bank
Alton, Staffs ST10 4AD

Phone:
01538 702524.

-----Overall Opinion-----

I was very impressed with Lower Micklam Farm. My stay was enjoyable throughout. The facilities exceed my expectations of a B and B, and although the price was maybe not the cheapest, I felt it was worth paying that bit more for somewhere really comfortable.
 

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