Is The Courtyard by Marriott Hotel Luton, Family Friendly - Full Hotel Review

As a parent there is nothing that brings you more joy than seeing your babies experiencing new things and having the time of their lives and for us the best experiences we have with Archie are the ones where we go out and explore new places. Before Archie came into our wold, the hubby and I loved travel - Nothing has changed since becoming a family of three and we are keener than ever now to take Archie to new places and teach him that life is for adventure. However travelling with children of any age comes with its own set of issues, the biggest one for us is finding the right accommodation on our travels and making sure wherever we stay is child and family friendly. There are so many wonderful places to stay, but sometimes it can be hard to tell from a website or photos of hotels if it they would be suited to families. Over the weekend myself, James and Archie were kindly invited to stay at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Luton to see if it was the perfect stay for us and if its a hotel that would be suited to any family on their travels. I can confirm right now we had one of the best weekends this year and I want to take the chance to tell you all in detail why this hotel would be perfect for you and your family if your looking to stay overnight in the Luton area.

Firstly, one of the huge perks about the Courtyard by Marriott hotel is that is located right next to Luton airpot, its less than one mile away and they have a shuttle bus that runs to and from the airport. We’ve never taken Archie out of the UK yet, but one thing we’ve always worried about is those late night or early morning flights and how he would cope with the travelling. The Courtyard Hotel makes an ideal overnight stay before or after flying just because it means you can all get a decent nights sleep - We all know how cranky toddlers can get if they don’t get enough of it or if their routines get messed up, it can put the whole family out of sync, so having somewhere to stay overnight like the Courtyard is ideal and its something we would do if we traveled aboard and faced any flight schedule that would impact Archie’s daily routine.

As for the hotel itself, like I mentioned it can be so hard to get it right when you are travelling with children; Whether that be a long or shot term stay. When I first looked at the Courtyard by Marriott hotel my first impressions from their website was that it looked like a beautiful four star hotel - The interiors are stunning and it has all of those finishing touches that are really elegant, modern and well thought out - But it’s design I felt was very much catered to adults and I wasn’t sure how child friendly it would be. As we all know, children can be as good as gold one minute and terrors the next so I was a little bit apprehensive as to whether this hotel would be a suitable stay for us. However as soon as we walked though the doors to the Courtyard all my doubts and worries quickly vanished.

Upon arrival we were greeted by a friendly receptionist who was so thoughtful and made us as a family feel really welcomed. After going through with us all the details about our room and stay, she went out the back and brought Archie a drink, came down on his level and had a good chat with him for around five minutes. This put me at ease instantly, having that extra reassurance from the staff that Archie was welcomed in this hotel just as much as we were. 

Archie was so excited about the whole trip, its all he had been talking about the week before. Mainly because we had been getting him excited about going somewhere new - As you do as parents. Whilst waiting around in the lobby of the Courtyard, Archie’s excitement definitely came through and he enjoyed having a little run around and explore. If theres one thing for sure, children have plenty of energy, especially after being sat still in the car for an hour. The hotel at the time was filled with guests from all walks of life, from people on their travels, to those who were on business, there was even a wedding party there. One thing I picked up was not one person frowned upon Archie being there in all his excitement, in fact the other guests at the hotel happily spoke and waved to him, which was so lovely and once again this put my mind at ease knowing that this was a hotel for everyone, especially families. 

The most exciting bit for Archie during our entire stay was definitely the hotel room. Our room was every adults dream, clean, sophisticated and minimal but a room with everything you would need and want for an overnight visit. There was a kingsized bed for James and I and the hotel had kindly put together a sofa bed for Archie - Seeing as this was double the size of the bed he has at home he was over the moon and kept taking about his new big boy bed right up until bed time. The room was a really decent size and with three of us being in there, we didn't feel squeezed in and had enough space to put all our luggage in the large wardrobes. The Courtyard also provided a mini fridge, hairdryer, tv, usb plugs and refreshments in our room which meant that we didn't actually have to leave the room for any reason if we didn't want too. What made our room extra special was the little welcome pack left for Archie on the bed which was so thoughtful. The pack contained a book, crayons, a colouring book, teddy, snacks and balloons which kept Archie entertained for hours. I understand that this was an extra touch from the hotel because we were invited to stay; But I got the impression from all of the team that we met that this is a hotel that was more than happy to go above and beyond and I’m sure if you were to let them know in advance of any special occasion or requirements for your stay they would be more than happy to help and accommodate. If you happen to be a family travelling with older children, the Courtyard also gave guests access to free Wifi and there were plenty of plug sockets so that portable devices or tablets could be used.

If anyone asked me describe my family, I would always answer with we are big foodies and food is on our brain a lot. Archie has such a healthy appetite and by no means is a fussy eater. With food on our minds, we were excited to see what the Courtyard had on offer when it came to dinner time. Let me say now, the food was delicious and went above all our expectations. As a vegetarian, sometimes I find restaurant menus really limiting, but there was plenty of choice for me and I decided to go for the Cambodian vegetable curry, which tasted just as amazing as it looked. James had some sort of meat feast, his empty plate at the end of dinner was enough for me to know that the food tasted good. As for Archie, the staff brought out a kids menu for him with plenty of choice. But as with any child, he chose burger and chips which went down a treat. All of the food was really well presented and again the staff interacted with Archie each time they came over to check on our table which was a really lovely touch - A sure sign they were more than happy to have a family stay there. As with any family on their travels, being money conscious is always on our mind, especially when it comes to eating out. The restaurant at the Courtyard was very reasonably priced and was at similar prices to those you would find at a gastro pub. 

When it came to bed time, Archie was looking forward to sleeping in his ‘big boy’ bed. But before any bedtime is complete, its the daily task of the bedtime routine, which we all know this is when toddlers have their mad hour before bed, no matter how tired they are. The hotel room didn't have a bath, but it did have a really large walk in shower section which was perfect for us as it meant we could get Archie washed quickly and ready for bed. To our surprise, Archie jumped right into his bed as soon as he was ready and the first thing he said was ‘mummy I’m nice and cosy now’. If that’s not enough reassurance to let you know the sofa bed was a hit, Archie slept in till 8am - And if you follow me on Instagram you know that I regularly go on about how his usual wake up time is between 4.30 and 5am - So this was a huge bonus for us and as a family we all had an amazing nights sleep.

Breakfast for us the next morning was a very similar experience as dinner, the same great service but with a different menu. The Courtyard had a continental and full English breakfast on offer and with us being the foodies we are, we of course went for both. Archie loves breakfast time, but my gosh he can be a messy eater; He throughly enjoyed eating his pastries for breakfast, but that meant a lot of mess on the floor. Automatically going into mum mode, I felt conscious of the mess, took out the baby wipes and tried to pick up the worst of it. Right away one of the lovely ladies who was serving us our food came over, smiled and told me not to worry about it. It’s the little touches like this that made our stay really enjoyable and we felt as though we were extremely looked after.

Overall over experience at the Courtyard was faultless and the staff couldn’t do enough for us. Whilst this may look like a hotel that caters only for adults, the staff really made us feel a part of the family which is why I would recommend a stay here to anyone travelling with families. You know you have found a good place to stay when the people who work there make the extra effort make your children (the most important people in your world) feel welcomed. For us travelling as a family is not just about experiencing new things but we find its the people who really make a difference and help add to those memories that we cherish and the team at the Courtyard really made this visit extra special, we cant thank them enough.To top of our visit, the Courtyard by Marriott treated us to tickets to Whipsnade Zoo, which really was the icing on the cake, especially for Archie as he’s animal mad.

Overall we had a wonderful weekend and I would recommend the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel in Luton to anyone travelling with our without children, I promise you will have a wonderful stay. If you are looking to book a stay, you can find the link to the hotel directly here.

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