(Complimentary stay for the purpose of review - see disclaimer)
We vowed to take more staycations while Joshua was younger and so what better way to start than with a staycation in our home city at one of our favourite places?
Room2 Hometels opened a little over a year ago in Southampton and it's somewhere we've frequented a lot in that year. I actually stayed on the opening night so it was great to come back and see the Airbnb come hotel a year later. You can still view my first post - Room2 A Home away from Home but in this post, I'm going to give you a second look from a family perspective.
We spent the weekend at Room2 Southampton at the end of September with Joshua and honestly had the loveliest time. One of the many things I love about Room2 is that check-in and check-out is at 2pm so you always get a full 24 hours in your room rather than having to rush in the morning to get out on time. Plus check-in is so easy! You check in the old-fashioned way, check in via the Flexipass app which will send your access code to your phone or just head up to the desk and do it yourself. It's so simple and it means no more waiting around with restless little ones!
We were staying in one of the master loft rooms which is perfect for families especially as they can place a cot in the room if you need one too. The room has a fully equipped kitchen, a spacious bathroom, a large dining table, a mezzanine floor with another bed and the most incredible velvet couch stretching the length of the room. It has incredible views over Queen's Park!
There's room for all the family and it's pretty child friendly too, sure you need to keep an eye on the stairs to the mezzanine floor but overall we had absolutely no concerns with letting Joshua run wild and explore to his heart's content.
I love the concept of having a kitchen within the room, especially when staying with children as it makes things so much easier if you need to make food or heat bottles or pouches. We bought some essentials like Oatly and snacks with us so that Joshua could still have some warm milk before bed and I could settle down with a cuppa and a book once he was asleep so it was just like we were at home.
The kitchen features a stove, kettle, dishwasher, microwave and a recipe book if you need some inspiration for dinner as well as everything you could possibly need to cook in your room or you could order Deliveroo to your room. We decided to head out for dinner as a family as Room2's city centre location means you have plenty of restaurants right on your doorstep.
Coming and going from Room2 is a breeze thanks to the handy swipe card and there is lift access to all five floors which meant using the pushchair wasn't a problem. We wandered back to the hotel after dinner around 9pm and popped into the Living Room to get some drinks to take up to our room.
The Living Room is my kinda hometel eaterie. During the day and at night, you can choose from a selection of hot dishes to eat at one of their many comfortable tables or you can grab something from their deli shop and cook in your room. There is also a buffet in the morning where you can choose from a range of warm pastries, toast, fruit and granola including gluten and dairy-free options.
Back in the room, we set the temperature control to exactly how we wanted it and dimmed the lights. Each room has gorgeous blackout curtains so you can block out the city if you need to. Even though Room2 is a city centre location it is in a much quieter end and we didn't notice any disturbances through the night.
We were a little wary of how Joshua would settle but we needn't have had any worries because he had a bottle, cosied between us in the huge kingsize bed and drifted off peacefully. We did have a cot put in our room but it wasn't worth the battle to get him to sleep in it so we all slept in the same bed.
Once Joshua had drifted off, we were able to potter about with a cuppa, read a little and just chill out. The master loft rooms have a mezzanine floor so if you have two or more children, it's the perfect size for a family. I snuck up there myself for a while to read after Arran fell asleep so I didn't disturb them.
After a restful night's sleep, we all woke around 7am the next morning and settled down with Netflix on the TV in bed. Each of the rooms is set up so you can stream things such as Now TV and Netflix from your phone straight to the TV so you won't miss out on your favourite shows or in our case, Joshua wouldn't miss out on his Hey Duggee fix which suited us fine. We let the sun stream through the windows and we all cosied up in bed before grabbing showers and heading down for breakfast.
The bathrooms are fab, with gorgeous tiles, huge mirrors and funky quotes such as Hey good looking and Fix up, look sharp, toiletries from Malin + Goetz and a huge walk-in shower with a choice of two heads. It was the perfect wake up and Joshua loved it too.
Made a change from a bath for him that's for sure!
Breakfast as mentioned is buffet style but you can have certain bits made to order. We were quite happy with what was already available especially as they provided us with dairy-free milk for Joshua too. I ordered coffee which is always good at Room2 then started on my full English which I only ever eat in hotels and it was delicious even if Joshua did steal my hash brown.
It was really nice to sit and have breakfast together and there is so much space to do so at Room2 from tables to super comfy armchairs with views out to the park. It was a pretty perfect Sunday morning.
After finishing up downstairs, we picked up some fresh pastries and headed back to our room for a few hours. We had no real plans other than finding somewhere for lunch so we just enjoyed some time together in our room. Joshua loves dogs at the moment and the views from the windows meant we were in a prime dog-spotting location so while the boys did that, I finished my book.
We could not have had a more perfect stay and the feeling of not wanting to leave set in pretty quickly.
Room2 really is one of my favourite places to stay in Southampton because not only is the location brilliant, the atmosphere and experience is incredible. The staff are friendly, helpful and nothing is too much, they were brilliant with Joshua too.
I also found it interesting to head back after a year and see what the wear and tear was like and to be completely honest, it was minimal! I was super impressed as everything really did look just as it did the first time I stepped through the door in June 2018. The appearance and cosmetic look were still the same, the coffee and food were still great and the staff were just as lovely as ever.
Amenity wise - it's probably the best place to stay in Southampton with children as there's more space, the extra bed is up and out the way and with secure parking, easy check-in, longer stays and the option of cooking in your room it completely takes the hassle out of a night away from home and we all know how anxiety-ridden they can be with small ones!
If you're looking for somewhere to stay in Southampton you really should check out Room2, you can find out room information and more via room2.com/southampton and their social media team is really helpful if you have any burning questions.
We loved our stay and can't wait to visit again soon.
