Recent reviews Stratford-upon-Avon
[ProfMagellan, 07/11/2011] The Arden used to be an old run done affair owned by a faceless chain. I last stayed there about a dozen years ago and was kept awake all night by a Saturday night disco. Recently someone told me that the Arden had been purchased by new owners who had completely rebuilt it preserving its only charming exterior. I was keen to try it out for my annual visit to the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre itself recently rebuilt. I was not disappointed. From check in to check out I was most impressed. Charming receptionist (Dutch perhaps), an upgraded comfy room (called Apple) and excellent dining. And righ
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[afarmer2011, 28/02/2011] I was very disappointed with my visit. You can get a good view of the house from the street, and I wished I'd left it at that.
The visit includes very little that is "original Shakespeare" other than the house - so for £12.50 you don't get much more than a look at replicas and articles that "might have been what Shakespeare saw / used / went to school." The showcase item is an initial "Complete Works" document - but obviously this wasn't something the Bard created himself.
Hopefully my visit was on and "off-day" in "off-season" - I didn't get any of the "speeches" other people seemed to
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[browneyes6, 09/10/2010] Booked with BLACK LETTER DAYS for a supposed Ghost Walk.Didnt get any further than this museum-could have frightened myself more.Rubbish evening with terryfying???tales.Waste of time and money
[Fritzthecat, 29/09/2010] Ever since our first trip to Stratford-upon-Avon our kids had begged to go and see Mary Arden's farm if we should return. The first weekend of September we were in the area and decided to fulfil their wish.
The farm is located in a small village named Wilmecote, a few miles to the north of Stratford, too far to walk from the town centre (at least for us) but easy to be reached by car or with one of the hop-on-hop-off sightseeing buses you see all around town. We arrived with our own car and the drive took us around ten minutes. Finding it is no problem at all, it is very well signed out.
[Fritzthecat, 04/08/2010] We only had half a day to spend in Stratford-upon-Avon, which wouldn't quite leave us enough time to see all of the Shakespeare properties in town.
The reason why we decided to settle for the childhood home of William Shakespeare's wife is that the properties within town can only be accessed with a rather pricey combined ticket and only the cottage and Mary Arden's Farm, which are both located outside the city centre, offer single entrance tickets.
The cottage is located in the small village Shottery, which is around 1.5 miles out of Stratford. It is possible to walk there and, to the best of
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[Chrisbombay, 05/12/2009] Hey, I didn't have long in Stratford, but managed to visit a few places. One of the best was this walk around the town at only £5, which I though was good value for money, educational and entertaining.
[Chrisbombay, 05/12/2009] I can't believe they are now charging £12 for admission to Shakespeare's birthplace. The whole new audio visual experience is said to have cost a quarter of million yet, although said with an authoratative voice, there is no substance to their self-appointed authority! Shakespeare "might" have lived there (apparently there is very little evidence), the ring they found could "possibly" be his ring etc. etc. So what exactly are we paying for?
[batty01, 26/11/2009] We were expecting this to be one of the must see attractions to take our children. Our advice would be don't waste your time or your money. Three floors of tat and rubbish. Our advice - don't bother!
[us6frombrentwood, 08/10/2009] stayed at avonpark house for a weekend for my husbands 40th birthday.
what a very good choice the hotel was spotlessly clean my husband and i stayed in room 2 which we were told by the hosts was the best room in the house .It was very spacious and the ensuite was lovely.
our freinds stayed in rooms 1 & 2 they were also lovely just not quite as big,the beds were so comfy i wanted to take it home it was better than the bed we have at home! Breakfast was good.
would recommend it ,and go to back one day.
[garymarsh6, 19/09/2009] We stayed in this delightful old hotel for a weekend theater break. The hotel is 300 years old retaining its Tudor style of oaked beams and it looks quite delightful from the outside. The hotel has 74 bedrooms in the main building and annex. The rooms are all named and have some association with Shakespeare.Some of the rooms even have four posters. It was fairly reasonably priced at £174 per night.
We opted for a small suite which was in the main building. The room consisted of a small sitting room with quite dated furniture. A nice large comfortable bed and I got a full 8 hours sleep in it
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[koshkha, 17/06/2009] I'm a member of an industry association that holds a two day meeting every year in spring and moves the venue around between different hotels, typically in the Midlands. Last year we were in Rugby at the Dunchurch Park which had excellent conference rooms but dreadful accommodation. This year, the organisers found a new place for us to use; Ettington Chase near Stratford on Avon.
I travelled down from the North West on the day of the conference and my Tom Tom had no problems finding the hotel. When I pulled off the road into the car park I found a very beautiful old building that looked lik
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[christopher_i, 23/08/2008] Thought I'd go after reading the review - and didn't really think it was worth the money to be honest. Fantastic building, don't get me wrong, but all teh museum exhibits were just a collection of bits and pieces that looked like they'd been picked up from a car boot! Having said that the cobbled street was great - but was really disappointed with the penny arcade as most of teh machines didn't work and the fortune teller was so archaic that it might as well not have been there. I couldn't see the relevance to the Dark History of Stratford anywhere so though the name was a bit odd and there
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[christopher_i, 23/08/2008] I went to the museum and found it full of fascinating stuff and had a really creepy experience! So much so that i went on one of their overnight vigils and it was sooo spooky!!! Had a fantastic time it is definitely the most haunted place I have ever been!
[Janet, 07/08/2008] Beautiful place full of history of interesting nooks and crannies.