En Voyage - Issue #8

Travel
THE HOTEL REALLY IS STUNNING
– A FOOTBALL LOVER’S DREAM BLENDED
PERFECTLY WITH SOPHISTICATED
SERVICES AND DÉCOR
There’s a 4D Lego cinema
experience, an indoor play area,
Lego driving cars, rides, a café at
the end, and there’s a fantastic
gift shop where the prices
are reasonable. I strategically
packed a cup of Lego wheels
for my nephews and Poppy and
Reuben managed to spend an
incredible 40 minutes constructing
just three Lego figures each
at a pick’n’mix style station,
which was quite a novelty.
THERE'S A 4D LEGO
CINEMA EXPERIENCE,
AN INDOOR PLAY
AREA, LEGO DRIVING
CARS, RIDES, A CAFÉ
AT THE END AND A
FANTASTIC GIFT SHOP
We moved from Lego bricks to
concrete bricks in the search of
the ideal hotel and boy did we
find it. To level the playing field
of child-orientated attractions,
we booked in to Hotel Football
Manchester – the footballthemed
hotel part-owned by
Gary Neville and Ryan Giggs –
which overlooks Old Trafford.
We had a room on the seventh
floor which, to everyone’s
delight, overlooked the stadium
entrance itself and offered
fantastic views of the area.
The hotel went above and
beyond; leaving the children mini
footballs, HF bags and sweets and
a well-stocked (child-orientated)
mini bar featuring favourites such
as Wham bars, space raiders
and Vimto. The hotel really is
stunning – a football lover’s
dream blended perfectly with
sophisticated services and décor
that make sure it’s appealing to
those less enamoured with the
beautiful game than their spouse.
In the morning, following a quick
wander around the outside of the
Theatre of Dreams, we headed
back to the Intu Trafford Centre for
an entirely different experience.
Build-a-Bear Workshop.
Somewhere I’ve never been
and had no plans to visit until
multiple people told us we
should and I am so glad we took
their advice. We were greeted
by a lovely shop assistant called
Amy who was determined to
make sure the whole experience
was as magical as possible.
Children can take as much
time as they want – or as
little in Reuben’s case as he
clocked the Marvel section
immediately – picking out the
bear they’d like to build. They
then get to control the stuffing
via a foot pedal and choose a
heart to place inside before it’s
sewn up and ready to dress.
You can try the outfits on your
bear to see if you like them.
Poppy tried various Disney
princess dresses on hers before
picking out a sequin dress and
microphone and naming her
Rockstar. As an avid superhero
fan, Reuben’s Spiderman bear
received a Batman outfit. Because
who knows when you’ll need a
second set of superpowers?
54 En Voyage | Aurigny’s Magazine