Frequently Asked Questions

Bookings for larger groups

If you are looking to book for larger groups, simply enter the total number of adults and children into the search bar. We will then show you how many rooms and packages you will need to book. The maximum capacity in our standard rooms is two adults and two or three children, depending on the hotel, plus a cot for a 2 years and under infant.

Our self-catering option also offers a two-bedroom suite that can accommodate up to 6 people plus a cot in one apartment.

If you need help, please contact us.

I can't find/did not receive my tickets/confirmation

If you can't find your confirmation email and tickets, please check your spam or junk folder, they sometimes end up there. If you have your confirmation email, the tickets are attached as a PDF document.

Our website allows you to create an account and manage your own booking including adding extra nights, children and resending your tickets and confirmation.

Information for customers with additional needs

We believe the best people to help you with information that you need to ensure you get the most from your visit are the venues themselves. Therefore we have provided links to websites, email addresses and phone numbers where available for all our attractions and hotels. Please check their websites and if there is information you cannot find, please contact them directly prior to your visit.

Do I have to pay all in one go?

You can spread the cost of your holiday across three months using the Paypal 'Pay in 3' facility. This will be offered when you check out your holiday.

What's included in my holiday?

The details of what is included in each holiday is shown on the website.
All facilities listed should be available during your stay. However, from time to time facilities may become unavailable for reasons beyond our control. This includes availability of swimming pool and leisure facilities at the hotel. At times it may be necessary for one of our partners to alter the provision of services they provide. This may include among other things, changes to meal services, opening times of specific facilities, availability of services. These items are out of our control. No compensation will be due for any changes beyond our control.

Is parking included?

Charges for parking at hotels and attractions vary according to the venue's own policy. Please check the individual listings for details. As these policies can change, you should check directly with venues if this is important to you.

How do I book my holiday?

All bookings are made through this website. If you have any problems, get in touch via email and we'll get back to you.

I have a voucher, what do I do?

Make your booking through this website as normal. At the checkout page add the voucher code into the appropriate box. This will reduce the cost of your holiday by the amount on the voucher. If there is a balance left to pay, you will be asked to enter your card details.

What about a family with 1 adult?

Our family short breaks are for up to 2 adults and 2 children sharing a family room priced from £169. Our maximum room capacity is 4 for most hotels and 5 for some (for an additional cost). Some rooms can accommodate a baby age 2 or less on top of this. See individual hotels for details. There must be at least 1 (and no more than 2) adult over 18 in each room booked. We are happy to welcome groups of 2 adults plus 1, 2 or 3 children and also 1 adult plus 1, 2, 3, or 4 children in appropriately sized rooms (there may be an additional cost), subject to availability. Please note that our rooms can never accommodate more than 2 adults and the maximum stated capacity of the room must not be exceeded. Individual attraction tickets can never be used for more than 2 adults in any group.

How many people can stay in one room?

Our hotel partners have rooms of varying sizes. Most will comfortably sleep a maximum of four people, usually in two double or queen size beds. Some rooms will have a sofa bed that can be made up and, some properties can place a temporary rollaway bed in a room, depending on space. Sofa beds and rollaway beds are not full size and are only suitable for younger children.

Our self-catering option can accommodate up to 6 people plus a cot in a two-bedroom apartment.

Most of our partners will provide cots if pre booked and subject to availability. However, many rooms will be too small to accommodate a sofa bed or an extra rollaway bed as well as a cot. Our partner hotels have family rooms which can accommodate a maximum of either 2 adults and 2 children or 2 adults and 3 children. Look at each individual hotel for details of their rooms types, bed types and maximum capacity.

If your party is too large to be accommodated in one room, we have special rates available for a second room. Please contact us before making your booking and we will be in touch to arrange this for you.

If you are booking with friends and would like your rooms to be close, please ask every party leader to request this is the box on their booking form, listing the names of the other families, however this cannot be guaranteed.

IMPORTANT: You must enter the exact number of adults and children (including their ages) on the booking form. All people that will be in the room must be listed - even children below 3. If you arrive at your hotel with more people than on the booking, it is likely that you will not be able to stay.

If you are looking to make a booking for a party of three or more families and need help, our group booking advisor will be pleased to help you. Please contact us with your requirements.

Air conditioning/room temperature

Some of our hotel partners offer air conditioning in the bedrooms. Details are given for each hotel. However, please note that for operational and other reasons, this cannot be guaranteed for your booking. If this is particularly important to you, please call the hotel first and discuss this with them. Unfortunately in hot weather, it can get very warm inside. This is beyond our control and our normal policies will apply should you wish to change your plans due to the temperature.

Does the price include the attraction/experience ticket?

Yes, your break includes at least three tickets, depending on the holiday booked.

Can I visit attractions in other areas?

You can only visit the attractions listed for the package you have booked. Therefore, you cannot visit a Coventry package attraction if you have booked a Leicestershire package, for example. Each of our packages has a selection of attractions usually within approximately 40 minutes of your hotel. The attractions you are able to visit in each package are listed on the explore page and also on your tickets. It is not possible to visit any attractions not listed on your ticket. Your ticket will show as not being valid if you present it at an attraction that is not part of your package.

Are meals included?

If you choose a hotel, your holiday includes breakfast for the whole party each morning of your hotel stay. No further meals are included, but many of our hotels have special dining offers for StayPlayExplore guests. Just ask at reception.

There are no meals included with our self-catering apartments at The Gresham but there is an on site restaurant where breakfast can be purchased for an additional cost.

Can I get a VAT receipt?

The confirmation email you receive contains all the information needed to be used as a VAT receipt.

I'm worried I will not be able to book for my preferred attractions after I have booked my holiday.

As a result of the pandemic, many attractions continue to operate differently and now ask that you pre-book tickets. To find out if you need to pre book the attractions you are interested in, and how to do that, see each of the attraction and experience pages on the website.

Generally speaking, the availability of tickets for StayPlayExplore guests is not restricted. Therefore, it is highly unlikely that you will not be able to book your preferred attractions, as long as admission is not restricted on a certain day due to a special event etc.

If for some reason you are unable to pre-book a specific attraction, please contact us and we will do our best to fix it. If we are unable to arrange access for your preferred attraction, you will be offered a full refund. However, it is very unlikely that you will not be able to pre-book once you have booked your holiday. Just follow the instructions on each of the attractions and experiences pages and book as soon as you can.

Do I need to pre-book my visits?

Most attractions are continuing to require advanced bookings and visits should usually be prebooked. Details on how to do this are listed on each of the attractions/experiences pages. However these guidelines may change at short notice and we would advise you to double check directly with your preferred venues in advance by checking their own website before you book. Once you use your ticket to book a visit, your ticket will be redeemed and cannot be cancelled and reused elsewhere.

How many times can a ticket be used?

Your tickets are valid from the first day of your holiday. Each venue may only be visited once. Tickets are security protected.

Please do not embarrass the staff at attractions/activities/experiences by trying to use your ticket more than once at the same venue, or at more venues than permitted by your break as your e-ticket will be refused. Any person found to have breached these rules will be charged £60 per incident.

How long do I have to use the tickets?

Tickets are valid for 12 months from the day your holiday starts.

Are there any dates when tickets cannot be used?

Occasionally, your ticket will not be able to be used for admission when there is a special event on at an attraction or at certain times of the year. Please check directly with venues to be sure.

What if I lose my tickets?

You can view and re-print your tickets by logging into your account on this website. You can also check if/where tickets have been used and how many you have left to use.

What if I am unable to print my e-tickets?

You can request that copies of your e-tickets are printed and posted out to you by recorded delivery. An administration fee of £10 will be charged.

Do you have to do all the visits during the stay?

No, you can come back again to use any remaining tickets as long as they are still valid.

Can I keep an image of my tickets on my phone/tablet to be scanned at each attraction/experience?

Some of our partners are able to accept digital tickets, but not all. It's best to have printed tickets for now.

I am at an attraction and they will not let me in

If you are at an attraction and have a problem gaining admission, please check –

  • If you are part of a large group, make sure you are using the tickets allocated to your family. Each group of tickets have a 'set' number on them. Each family must use tickets from the same 'set.' Please ensure that your 'set' is for the correct number of adults and children.
  • Each ticket can only be used once
  • You must use each ticket at a different attraction
  • Tickets are not valid for use until the day of your hotel stay
  • Tickets expire after 12 months – check the date on the ticket
  • If you have made alterations to your booking, especially if you have changed the date, your tickets will have been updated. Make sure you are using the correct tickets

If you still cannot gain entry using your ticket and it is out of office hours, we advise you to pay for your admission at the gate and contact us ASAP. We will investigate as soon as the office opens and if there is a problem that we are responsible for, we will arrange to reimburse you.

Can you add on extra nights?

Extra nights can be added to your holiday at the time of booking for a special discounted rate, simply add the number of nights required in the relevant box. To add extra nights to an existing booking, log in to your account and amend your booking there.

Do you offer any discounts?

If you compare our prices, you will see that they are already among the most competitive available. We discount all our holidays for all our customers and therefore cannot offer any further discounts of any type, including NHS/Blu Light.

In line with standard hotel policy, the pricing is on a 'per room' basis up to the maximum capacity of the room and package booked. No further reductions are available for fewer people occupying a room.

I can't find the rooms I want for my chosen dates?

Our hotel rooms are updated regularly and the website will always have the latest availability. New rooms are added daily. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please do keep popping back on to the website and checking if more rooms have been added. Please note that hotels sell rooms through a number of different sites. If you phone a hotel directly and they say they have rooms available, they may still not be available to book for a StayPlayExplore holiday.

Our hotel rooms generally go on sale no sooner than 4 months in advance. If you are searching for a date beyond 4 months from now, please try again a little closer to your departure date.

How do I find hotels and attractions with specific facilities?

Use the search button to select either hotels or attractions and then simply tick the boxes of the facilities you wish to check, for example dogs accepted, free parking, electric car charging point etc. Not all facilities may be available at all times or in every room. If you have a specific requirement that is important to your booking, you should speak directly with the hotel or attraction in advance to confirm it will be available.

Dogs are accepted at the following hotels with prior notice and for an additional fee payable directly to the hotel:

Ramada Hotel & Suites by Wyndham Coventry City
Best Western Plus Ullesthorpe Court (Perfect Breaks)

Holiday Inn Leicester - Wigston

Hotel Brooklyn Leicester (Perfect Breaks)

Sysonby Knoll Hotel (Perfect Breaks)

The Charlecote Pheasant Hotel

Can I amend my holiday?

Yes! Simply log in to your account on this website and edit any existing booking. There may be a time restriction or administration fee. These will be calculated automatically and if there is a balance to pay, this will need to be done before the change is confirmed. To check if there will be a charge, see the relevant section below.

Amendments and Cancellations

Depending on how close you are to the start of your holiday, it may be possible to amend or cancel your booking by logging in to your account on this website. Any administration fee will be shown and will need to be paid before the change is confirmed.

Amends can be made according to the following conditions -

Cancellations:

0 - 48 hrs before your first night - it is not possible to make any changes to your booking

48 hrs - 7 days before your first night - a £50 administration fee per room will be charged. However, you will have the option to take your refund as a credit voucher to be used on a future booking. There is no administration fee charged if you take a credit voucher.

7 days+: a £25 administration fee will be charged per room. However, you will have the option to take your refund as a credit voucher to be used on a future booking. There is no administration fee charged if you take a credit voucher.

(Gift Vouchers and Credit Refund Vouchers are never refundable under any circumstances)

Amendments to existing bookings:

0 - 48 hrs before your first night - subject to availability, you can increase the number of nights/guests, however, you cannot decrease either the number of rooms or guests

48 hours plus - subject to availability, you can make any amendment to an existing booking on this website without any administration fee.

Any holidays booked using a voucher can only be refunded with vouchers.

Illness

If you need to change your holiday due to illness, our standard terms and conditions apply concerning amendments and cancellations. You may wish to ensure you have a suitable holiday insurance policy in place to cover any losses.

Ages of Children

All children aged 3 and older need a ticket for attraction entry and will be counted into your party size. Unless otherwise stated, the maximum age for children sharing a room with adults is 16. However, some hotel partners have a lower age limit than this. Please check the individual hotel pages for details. If you arrive at the hotel with children of a different age to the booking form, or children that are over the maximum stated age for sharing a family room, you may not be able to stay.

Comments, compliments and complaints

Please use the contact us form. We will get back to you as quickly as possible, usually within 4 working hours but it may take longer at busy times.

StayPlayExplore is a very small team, we are sorry, but we cannot offer a telephone enquiry service. This helps us to keep our costs down which allows us to sell holidays at such a competitive price.

If you have a complaint, we wish to resolve it as quickly as possible. Please email us at help@stayplayexplore.co.uk with full details within 10 days. Complaints will be investigated by an appropriate person. You will receive an acknowledgment within five working days. We aim to fully reply within 10 working days.

Is my money safe?

Yes – very safe! All tour operators and travel agents are legally required to provide consumer protection. We protect your money by working with a company called Serenity Travel Trust.

What about ATOL and ABTA?

Because we do not sell flights, we do not need ATOL. ABTA is an insurance policy that agents take out in case they need to refund customers. We go a step further and ensure customer's money is not used for any other purpose until the event is done and dusted. So, your money is also safe and secure.

Are we secure?

Yes, being part of a travel trust means the money you pay goes into the trust account and not to us, we only receive your money once you have travelled and received the services paid for. Meaning this is the safest way to buy a package.
If you would like to verify that we work with Serenity, visit their website.

Why use a travel trust?

Using a travel trust means the money the customer pays goes straight into the trust and not to the company until travel has happened and services have been provided, meaning the customers money is always safe and secure until after travel.

What does it mean when I see the Serenity Trusts logo?

Who are Serenity Travel Trust?

Serenity Travel Trust have been running for over 25 years, they are the gold standard in travel trust provision and that is the reason why we chose them to protect our customers, knowing your booking and money are always safe.