REVIEW – Sands Resort Hotel and Spa, Newquay
#AD – Press Trip
Introducing Family Friendly Holidays at Sands Resort Hotel and Spa… When it comes to family holidays here in the UK, I find there is some kind of magnetic pull to the glorious Cornish coastline. Having spent many a childhood family holiday in Devon and Cornwall in the 80s and 90s, it’s so lovely to be able to return as a grown up with my own family of four. Since the girls were born, we have spent many a Summer visiting Newquay and Watergate bay – a beautiful location for making memories, and as a city dweller, there is nothing better than to escape the mad hustle and bustle of Birmingham and enjoy the sound and sight of the ocean.
This summer we were invited to Sands Resort Hotel and Spa in Newquay for a two night stay (which we extended for another two nights at our own expense). Boasting a great location and packed full of family friendly facilities, I couldn’t wait to see what Sands Resort Hotel & Spa had to offer.
About Sands Resort Hotel and Spa
The Sands Resport Hotel and Spa is located just three miles away from Newquay airport and is ideally located between the beautiful family friendly beaches of Porth and Watergate Bay.
A family owned hotel for more than 40 years, Sands Resort Hotel & Spa prides itself on offering a whole host of family friendly facilities but the ideal balance of support for parents who may also want some adult alone time and peace and quiet.
With a range of rooms to suit all family sizes and budgets, and stunning sea views so you can watch the sun set before you go to sleep, Sands Resort Hotel and Spa offers the ideal base for enjoying everything Newquay has to offer.
First Impressions of Sands Resort Hotel & Spa
We arrived at Sands Resort after a fairly epic four hour drive down from Birmingham and arrived in the middle of a huge downpour, running into reception a little like a small family of drowned rats. Despite the weather initially not being on our side, we had a warm welcome and were greeted at reception by a very friendly staff team. We arrived prior to the allocated check in time of 3pm, but they took our details and advised that they would call us as soon as our room was ready, and that we were welcome to explore and use any of the facilities whilst we waited.
The layout of the hotel at first can appear a bit of a maze, with lots of long corridors and doors which lead in all different directions, however once you have learned your way around it becomes far easier to navigate. There is no lift and quite a few stairs, however the hotel do have porters if you need assistance with your luggage. There were quite a few people inside when we arrived due to the weather, with lots of comfy communal areas for people to sit and relax.
As we were pretty wet already(!) we decided to take the girls for a swim, and were surprised to see that despite the rain, the indoor pool was not busy at all. We collected our towels from reception (you borrow these and pop these in the laundry when you are done) and headed straight to the pool. We then had a missed call around 1.30 to advise that our room was ready, which was a really pleasant surprise.
Read on to learn more about our stay or if you prefer to see it in the flesh, check out our video review of Sands Resort here:
Accommodation / Rooms
We stayed in a Contemporary Sea View Suite, which comes with 2 separate bedrooms to suit families with two children (with a cot as well if you have a third). We had an absolutely gorgeous view of the ocean with a wide large floor to ceiling window that gave us the ideal vantage point to watch the sun set and rise from our bed. This was a stunning sight to wake up to and a real positive of the suite at Sands Resort.
The Contemporary Sea View suite was a large two bedroomed suite, with a huge queen size bed in the main bedroom and then two singles in the second room.
For some reason our rooms front door didn’t dead lock, and as the children’s bedroom was closest to that door, we ended up with both girls sleeping in with us – I didn’t feel comfortable at the thought of Erin opening the door on her own during the night. We didn’t report this, so I imagine this could have been easily fixed with a call to reception, but we were happy having them in with us as a holiday treat. As the main bed was MASSIVE and the mattress so comfortable, I slept the best I have slept in weeks, despite the two extra additions!
The Contemporary Sea View Suite also came with a small fridge and tea and coffee making facilities, a TV in both bedrooms, a DVD player and PS2. Games and DVDs can also be loaned from reception, which is great option if the weather really does take a turn for the worst. For those traveling with younger children, you can also hire baby equipment from reception free of charge including cot linen, pushchairs, baby carriers and bottle warmers. This is a real positive, particularly if you struggle to pack everything you need into a small family car!
The bathroom is the suite was very small, with no windows or natural light and in all honestly was looking a little tired. It also felt a bit clinical with toilet roll dispensers like you would find in a public restroom and as such, this felt a little less luxury than I would have expected from a suite.
Despite this, we were really pleased with the rest of the room. There was a large sofa at the end of the bed and two chairs with a table, meaning lots of space for the girls to chill out and relax before tea or after a busy day at the beach. The room had plenty of storage space, with a large warbrobe and shelving unit which could be hidden away behind a curtain, and even a small desk area, which I did actually use for catching up on emails whilst the girls and Mike were still snoozing!
The room was cleaned daily, and the standard of the housekeeping was very high, with even the sofas and chairs being vaccumed (leaving a pretty design) and towel creatures created on our beds!
The room also comes with complementary Wifi, however as is common in Devon and Cornwall, the connection, at times was a little on the slow side, but as we spent very little time in our rooms, I didn’t find this a problem. . The stay has really made us want to explore a list of campsites in Cornwall for next time.
Facilities at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa
When it comes to family friendly facilities, Sands Resort Hotel & Spa really does go all out – with pretty much everything you can think of to entertain the children, whatever the weather. With a great maintenance team (who we saw out and about every day looking after the grounds), the resort has something to offer for every age group and every energy level.
For those wishing to visit one of the two local beaches (both just a short walk or drive away), Sands offer free hire of wetsuits, bodyboards, buckets and spades. We felt this was a really lovely touch, as not living by the sea at home, we always seem to spend a fortune buying them at the beach and have no room in the car to take them home with us! We visited Watergate Bay beach a few times during our stay, both during the day and early evening to watch the tide come in. The beaches are dog friendly yet super clean and tidy, and the girls had lots of fun jumping in rock pools and building sand castles whilst we took in the glorious view!
We were really lucky that the only day we had rain in Cornwall was on the day we arrived, but Sands Resort have lots to do even when the sun isn’t shining.
Outside of the nursery and creche times (after 12pm) there is a large indoor play area with a (very deep!) ball pit and climbing nets, teamed up with cozy coupe cars and a toy kitchen for creative play.
There is also a huge soft play zone for children under 4, with loads of huge obstacles to climb and clamber over, and this went down a real treat with Neve.
The indoor games area has lots of fun activities including table tennis (free to play) air hockey, pool and table football, the latter of which just required a £1 coin to play. Erin was a big fan of the air hockey, and would quite often ask to head down to this area for a while before bed. Again despite the hotel being fairly full during peak season, the variety of options for families meant that nothing ever felt busy or crowded – this was a real positive.
Outdoor Fun
The fun at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa continues outside, with a wide range of options to keep us all entertained.
The girls were massive fans of the Enchanted maze, which I thought was really beautiful and something a bit different to the usual facilities you can expect to find at a family friendly hotel.
We picked up a copy of the Enchanted Maze quiz at reception, which had a number of questions and riddles to solve as we worked our way around spotting magical creatures, giants and fairy gardens. Once complete (and once we’d finally managed to locate the way out!), we were able to hand it back in, with the girls exchanging their correct answer for a prize (a lollipop). You can see more of the maze in our video above!
There are two large outdoor playgrounds at Sands Resort, the first including swings, rocker chairs, a 3 seater seasaw and a sand pit, as well as a huge pirate ship boat with portholes and steering wheels.
The second children’s playground is perhaps more suited to older children (Erin was in her element here), with wooden obstacle courses and climbing frames as well as a huge zip wire which was a real hit with all of us (including me and Mike!)
For active families, there is also a large football, tennis and basketball courts with a fantastic view across the Cornish countryside behind. The girls also really enjoyed the on site Bouncy Castle (weather dependent) which had benches opposite, allowing us to chill a bit in the evening sunshine whilst they bounced off their last bit of energy!
Evening Entertainment
Being more used to self catering accomodation, one of the elements of Sands Resort that we really appreciated was the addition of a daily entertainment programme, with a different activity on every evening between 5-6pm in the main room off reception. We found this was a lovely way to draw the day to a close, and Mike and I were able to have a drink and watch as the girls played and enjoyed the show.
We visited twice during the week, attending both the magic show and the silent disco, both of which went down an absolute storm with the girls.
The magician, whilst very cheesy, was a real hit, and both Erin and Neve sat happy as larry watching as Billy Wiz and his cheeky assistant Dusty the rabbit as they raised lots of laughs. Watching the children in the audience shouting out and calling Billy Wiz out when he tried to trick them (some of whom did so with quite some personality!) was really amusing to watch, and it was lovely to see even Neve at just 3 years old sitting cross legged and mesmerised, giggling away.
The silent disco was absolutely hilarious and I can honestly say I hadn’t laughed so much in weeks! Watching the children all dancing around to two different tracks at the same time, singing out loud and at one point doing a “runaway conga”, was just brilliant, and I can hand on heart say that I think the parents enjoyed this one as much as the children did!
The Pools at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa
There are two swimming pools at Sands Resort Hotel, one indoor and one outdoor, which although are relatively small in size, were never particularly busy during our stay. Both of the pools were heated but the indoor pool was slightly warmer than the other.
The indoor pool was clean and well maintained, with lockers to stash belongings safely away, a number of family sized changing rooms, showers and a range of poolside seating areas for those preferring to sit and watch.
Mike enjoyed spending some time relaxing in the steam room whilst the smaller baby pool was great for Neve, who enjoyed running around in circles and making waves in an area shallow enough for her to stand up and splash.
We were lucky that we had some really lovely sunny days during our stay, and so the girls were keen to check out the outdoor pool too.
Split into two parts, one a more traditional swimming area and the other a fun splash pool, the girls had a fab time zooming down the slide and splashing around in the water jets. I’m not gunna lie, I even had a go on the slide myself, taking a moment to embrace my inner child. It was lots of fun!
There were a good number of seats around the pool area to sit and watch as well as a huge expanse of sun loungers and seats on the grass behind the pool, which I imagine in the height of Summer would be a great place to soak up some sunshine whilst the children play. That said, neither of the pools are manned by lifeguards, so you need to take responsibility for supervising your own children.
Food and Drink at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa
We stayed at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa on a bed and breakfast basis, and with breakfast served until 10am, it was definitely something to look forward to when we woke up and a great way to fuel the busy days ahead.
Breakfast time included a self service hot buffet with your traditional sausage, eggs, hashbrowns, bacon and beans as well as a wide range of cereals, yoghurts, fruit and toast, and more continental options like croissants and pain de chocolat. There was a huge amount of choice on offer, and at times the breakfast service could feel a bit hectic, but nothing that I wouldn’t expect in a family restaurant. A couple of times we had to ask for milk or butter as they weren’t obvious or had ran out, but the restaurant team were very friendly and efficient, and very quickly bought things over to us when asked.
At Lunch time we ate out on the Atlantic terrace, which offered a range of lighter options such as paninis, jacket potatoes and wraps. We really enjoyed this as it felt very chilled and relaxed and meant the girls could get up and move around if they got restless or full. My roasted vegetable pannini was delicious, served with vegetable crisps on the side and Mike particularly enjoyed the sticky toffee pudding, demolishing what was quite a generous portion!
In the evening, the Beachcomber Restaurant has a couple of dining options, including an early dining service for those who prefer to eat early with the children between 5pm and 6.15pm. This early service has a hot buffet for the children with chips, fish fingers, chicken nuggets, pasta and other child friendly options, but does come with a more restricted menu for adults. If you prefer to have the full adult menu, you can visit after 6.30pm.
6.30pm was a little late for the girls, and if you want to enjoy a sea view whilst you eat, the Beachcomber Restaurant reserves this side for the adults only dining. We found this a bit of a shame, as whilst we completely understand the joy of having a more peaceful dinner, it would’ve been nice to share the epic views with the children too. For that reason we chose to eat elsewhere in the early evening, making the most of the sight of the ocean before we returned home to the city.
Family Friendly Support
Sands Resort Hotel & Spa take the view that family holidays aren’t all about the kids and offer a range of options for parents who may want to get a bit of child free time too.
There is an on site creche and Ofsted approved age appropriate kids clubs at Sands, both with trained and experienced childcare staff. Each child has a free daily morning childcare session should you wish to use it. As we were only visiting for a short break, we decided not to make use of these, but saw many families that did and spoke highly of it, with children coming back smiling and laughing showing off something they had made during craft club! You can also pay £5 per session for additional visits, which is ideal if you want to book in for a spa treatment or two.
Sands also offer a baby listening service in the evening (from 7pm-11pm) so that you can head down to the restaurant whilst the children are asleep. I will be honest and say that this is not something I would personally feel comfortable with doing, but it is good to have the option for those that would.
Overall Experience at Sands Resort Hotel & Spa
Overall we had a really lovely stay at Sands Resport Hotel & Spa, and when it comes to family friendly facilities, I think you would be hard pressed to find a hotel that offers anything more; there really is something for everyone, come rain or shine.
With friendly and helpful staff, a great central location and so many places to explore right on its doorstep, Sands Resport Hotel & Spa is definitely somewhere we would visit again.
Pros –
- The huge range of child friendly facilities is fantastic -even when the weather does take a turn for the worse.
- Great location close to some of Cornwalls most beautiful beaches.
- Glorious Sea views – without a doubt this is something that is an absolute joy to wake up to!
- Friendly, family feel about the hotel with the entire staff team from the reception to the restaurant staff being incredibly friendly and polite.
Cons –
- Some of the hotel is in parts a little dated, and in particular the bathrooms in the suites could do with a bit of modernising in my opinion.
- Whilst the restaurant does offer flexibility of dining times, we would have loved to have been able to enjoy a sea view with our girls too, as we enjoy all eating together. We instead opted to venture out into Newquay where we were able to do this.
You can learn more about Sands Resort Hotel & Spa and their family friendly Cornish breaks on their website here.
*Disclosure: We stayed at Sands Resort Hotel and Spa for two nights on a bed and breakfast basis in exchange for this review. We paid for the additional two nights stay and all other expenses. All images, thoughts and opinions are my own*
