With differing routines and a busy family life spending quality time together as a family can sometimes feel like a struggle.  Creating special memories together is one thing that has been really important to me with my second pregnancy, creating lasting memories as a family of 3 before our little lady makes her arrival.  Things are about to get even more chaotic around here and even though Aiden is excited about his baby sister’s arrival, I’m not convinced that he quite understands the impact she’s going to have on his life and the changes ahead.  We’ve been trying to spend as much quality time together as possible and when Chicheley Hall invited us to stay for the weekend, we were so grateful and instantly said yes! 

We made the drive over to Milton Keynes, however, the hotel is set in the beautiful countryside, where the green fields went on for miles.  When we arrived we were greeted by a long gravel driveaway that opened up to a Grade 1 listed mansion that looked like something out of a period drama.  Although we had looked on the hotel’s website prior to visiting to see it in all its wonderful glory still took us by surprise. 

We checked in at reception and were shown to our room that had dual aspect windows overlooking the lake on the grounds. Aiden loved watching the swans swimming from the window, so that was a big plus point for him. Our room reflected the period features of the property with the beautiful interiors.   The hotel had kindly put a single bed in the room for Aiden already, which we thought was a nice touch, showing that they cater to families really well.   After getting settled in we went outside to explore the 80 acres of ground at the hotel, that comes complete with peacocks and a grassed lawn to play Jenga and croquet.

As a family that loves to make the most of the outdoors and with a 3-year-old that has lots of energy, the extensive grounds were perfect for us.  Aiden had great fun running through the gardens and became quite the budding croquet player.  The gardens were in full bloom with vibrant roses and there were lots of places to go off and explore some more.

We opted to have dinner at 7 pm, but we were offered an earlier dinner time at around 5 pm outside because we had a small child. Since he’d napped earlier we knew that he would be OK for a later dinner.  There was a great selection on offer on the children’s menu, all of which Aiden probably would have eaten. He chose the sausages, mash, and gravy for his meal that he seemed really happy with as he polished off the lot!  Alfie and I opted for the 3-course meal as a treat.  I was really full afterward, but my calamari starter, burger and lemon and almond tart were all delicious!

The next morning after a lazy start to the day we headed down to breakfast that was a buffet style affair.  I had a full English, but there was also pastries, fruit, and cereal to choose from too.  The staff was really helpful at finding us a table and served tea and coffee for us.  With full bellies, we headed out to explore the grounds some more, which involved another game of croquet, before heading on our journey home.  We stopped at Stowe as it was on the route home and thought we would make the most of being in the area. 

FINAL THOUGHTS AND WOULD I STAY AGAIN?

If I was looking for a quick weekend getaway to escape the world for a few days I would definitely consider Chicheley Hall again.  It’s in a secluded spot in the countryside and we felt like we were in our own little bubble during our stay - you really wouldn’t need to leave!  The hotel has a nice mix of traditional style in keeping with the style of the mansion, but still up to date with the modern world with its guest facilities.

It can be difficult when traveling with young children and find hotels that are so accommodating, but we never had any issues with the hotel who couldn’t do enough for us.  Even though it wasn’t particularly aimed at children there was still plenty of grounds to explore and run around in, which kept our little explorer more than happy. 

*We were invited to stay at Chicheley Hall as guests for the weekend for the purpose of a review, but all opinions are my own.