Thursday 17th February marked the opening date for the new Emperor Grill at the Alton Towers Hotel. Converted from the old Conference area (adjacent to the Secret Garden restaurant and Dragon Bar), this new addition sets a new standard of dining at the resort, pushing the Secret Garden restaurant into second place and attracting those families without younger children that will enjoy a different, perhaps quieter dining experience. Checking in at the hotel you are provided with an option of booking a table for your evening meal. Opting to dine in the new restaurant, the Emperor Grill, I was expecting a cheap chain-style restaurant with tough meat, cheap furniture and with a hefty price tag for the privilege. What you are presented with is a welcome (and perhaps necessary) relief from the chain restaurants at the Theme Park. It offers something more sophisticated; drawing additional custom from those booked into the conference areas and willing to pay for quality food and drink.
Immediately obvious from the restaurant area is that the new Grill is a converted space. The Secret Garden restaurant has a prominent position within the area (doubled up for breakfast service in the morning) so understandable that it should stand out in an already heavily themed area. However, more could be done to the exterior space to make the new restaurant more apparent as the heavy-set doors, retained from the original conference suite, are kept shut to restrain noise from the children’s entertainment area beyond.
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