Manley Mere is a Sail Sports and Adventure Trail in the heart of the Cheshire countryside. We found it on AirBnB and its location and closeness to Chester Zoo was what made it stand out for us. And boy we weren’t disappointed.
Upon arrival we were met by our host Jane who was lovely. She showed us to the accommodation itself, which is a 2 bedroom, ground floor annex attached to the main building of Manley Mere with an open plan living space. The living area had a 2-3 seater sofa and TV with some Freeview channels. There was a very modern dining table and chairs to one side.
The kitchen was adequately equipped with a washing machine and basic cooking equipment. However, there was no microwave nor any ovenproof cookware, which made cooking one of our dinners interesting.
There is a double bedroom and a twin, and one family bathroom. There was just about room to put up a cot bed in the twin between the beds but it was a squeeze.
There is private parking behind gates with room for two cars, although you do need to be careful of the roller shutter doors off the main building that back onto the parking area of the annex.
The patio doors on the living room were bifolding doors and were a really nice touch. Overall the accommodation is clean, modern and well decorated.
What we loved about the Manley Mere accommodation
- Great location for Chester Zoo, the Blue Planet Aquarium and Cheshire Oaks Retail Park.
- Nice bifolding patio doors, ideal for summer evenings.
- Secure private parking.
- Clean, modern and well decorated.
- We had the whole place to ourselves after 6pm which is the closing time for the public. This includes the lake and surrounding area. It was very quiet after 6pm. The only time this would change is if they are hosting a wedding at the venue.
- There is a bar and restaurant on site, open between 9.30am (for breakfast) and 6pm. They serve food, drinks, snacks and food, all at reasonable prices. We opted to use the self-catering facilities and cook for ourselves.
What we didn’t like about the Manley Mere Accommodation
- There was a wedding on the Saturday during our stay. This meant some guests were walking through our parking area after 6pm and the music was quite loud until 11pm.
- There is no WiFi nor 4G data signal. 3G is very patchy. There wasn’t enough strength in our mobile data connection to watch Netflix or even for WhatsApp or Facebook for that matter. Great if you want a weekend free from social media, not so much when you are a blogger.
Overall, despite the lack of mobile signal, we really enjoyed our stay at the Manley Mere accommodation we found via AirBnB and would consider staying there again if we were Chester-bound. It’s location is ideal for everything you need without the hassle of being directly in Chester. The accommodation is really good and the setting is just fabulous. If you have older kids they might just want to try surfing on the lake or exploring the woods.
At the time it cost us £150 per night plus a service charge (as is customary with AirBnB). Our 3 nights stay over the August Bank Holiday cost us £512 in total. Would I recommend it? Absolutely!
Thanks for reading,
Cath x
*We were not asked to write this review.
This looks like a very pretty location. And I like that there is a restaurant onsite for when you can’t be bothered to cook (or more likely in my case, have been too disorganised to bring food supplies) #wanderlustkids
hanks, it really was a great surprise. Worth the money though!
We’re taking the kids this summer to their first AirBandB holiday. We hope its a good one!
We’re staying in no less than 3 when we do our America road trip in September. And I’m staying in one next weekend in London. They’re the way forward I think, especially with kids in tow.
We love Chester zoo and have been to the blue planet aquarium once and definitely want to go back. Sounds like a nice alternative to staying in a hotel, and the grounds look lovely. #wanderlustkids
It was brilliant as apart from a microwave it had everything we needed and was really conveniently located!
Looks great. We’ve never been to that part of the world. Sounds like there’s lots on offer for kids. #wanderlustkids
There’s quite alot around Chester for the whole family, so definitely worth a visit x
We had awful wifi last year on our holiday, fingers crossed it is better where we are staying this year! Shame about the wedding but great location and accommodation. #wanderlustkids
Yes it took a bit of getting used to, the WiFi situation but it was a nice break in the end!