Last week I had the opportunity to stay a night in the new Brooklands Hotel in Surrey. Built within the original historic race track (and indeed, the foyer is slap-bang on the Solomon Straight), this is a modern contemporary hotel but with many cues from the 1930's racing scene.
Apart from a rather muddled on-line booking system (which I understand is now fixed) I found the hotel experience very positive. The hotel is beautifully decorated throughout (enjoy spotting the motor themes, such as the spark plugs in the lobby flower vases!), with excellent service from the staff, a great choice of drinks & cocktails in the bar, and excellent food. The evening menu is Italian themed, and delicious throughout. The breakfast buffet differentiates itself with a wonderful choice of freshly made fruit smoothies, along with the usual favourites.
On paper, the hotel is situated a little out of the way - you certainly can't stroll out in the evening and find any local bars or restaurants. It is, however, just across the road from Mercedes Benz World, and about half a mile from the Brooklands business park. I imagine then the hotel will be popular with overseas businessmen flying-in to meet in the offices of Sony, Proctor & Gamble, etc. I can also see great potential for a day's entertaining (either business or personal) at Mercedes Benz World to end comfortably at the hotel.
I can thoroughly reccomend the Brooklands Hotel for anyone who wants to enjoy the historic motor racing atmosphere, or just enjoy a comfortable contemporary hotel experience. It is sad, though, to see the Brooklands track in its current state - chopped-up to allow traffic in to the business & retail parks, and the old runway now filled by Mercedes Benz World. Such a shame the track is not still intact so cars old & new can still drive the circuit. And an even bigger shame that, in a site so important to the British 2nd World War effort, a German car company has such a dominant presence. A sign of the times I guess.
Now, if there was only a Bentley World there instead...
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