The Perfect Start To The Perfect Holiday - The Virgin V Room

Well, it all seems a bit of a blur right now but 3 wonderful weeks in Florida have been and gone.  To say we are all gutted is an understatement. Normally I struggle to get Matt to spend more than a week away from home so I was very surprised when he turned to me a few days before we were due to fly home "I don't want to go back home".

I'll be boring you all blogging about our trip over the next few weeks but firstly I want to talk about our journey over there. Going on holiday with children can be a daunting prospect - I know a few parents who put off taking their children abroad because they can't bear the thought of the airport and plane with a little one. To me, it's a shame - children get so much from travel. I've actually blogged before about a totally perfect child friendly holiday. It was the first holiday we took MC on at 13 months and it was wonderful - in fact, someone I know booked after seeing my post and photos on Facebook. They had an amazing time and are looking to go back! My work was done :)

The Virgin V Room

Anyway, as usual, I digress. Having flown to the US on numerous occasions now and experienced American Airlines, Delta and Virgin Atlantic I have to say Virgin win every time.* So imagine how delighted we were when Virgin very kindly offered us the chance to try out their new 'V Room' at Manchester Airport!

It's run by Virgin Holidays which are the UK's leading holiday specialist for Orlando. Following the success of the first V Room at Gatwick, they opened this one at Manchester during the summer. The V Room is the only airport lounge dedicated purely to people going on holiday so you won't find it full of business people so it has a relaxed and friendly atmosphere about it.

No, that's not Pepsi that MC is drinking -
it is orange juice in a Pepsi cup

Entry to the V Room is priced at £20 per adult and £12 per child (aged 2-11) when booked in advance. Infants are free.

You can use the facilities 3 hour prior to departure and what facilities they are!

We arrived at about 7.45am (our plane was leaving at 10.25am) and we had the place to ourselves for a while. The attentive staff showed us the vast array of hot and cold food available for breakfast and obviously Matt and I went for the cooked option whilst MC had her usual 2 Weetabix!

The X Box Kinect Room

The V Room has plenty of seating options for everyone - from tables and chairs to eat to large comfy swivel chairs and sofa benches. It really has a lovely relaxed atmosphere about it and puts you in the mood for your holiday and it's situated over-looking the Virgin departure gates - they will even let you know when your flight is ready to board.

There's a huge virtual games room offering the latest X-Box Kinect games. There's a room full of laptops for surfing the web (the room also offers free wifi so you can use your own laptop or mobile phone) which is great for older children (and adults) and also has a colouring station and a football table.

Obviously the part that was loved most by us was the room for the very young children. MC loved it the soft play furniture and the magnets - and they were even showing CBeebies on a flat screen TV so she was able to watch if she wanted. As the play room had glass walls, Matt and I were able to relax outside on the comfy chairs without taking our eyes off her.

Play time for MC

Even the bathroom facilities were superb with images of holiday destinations and Disney music being piped into them.

All in all Matt and I thought that the V Room really made the start of our holiday and was such a lovely way to relax before the 9.5 hour flight to Florida. Usually hours spent at the airport before a flight can be a bit boring (and sometimes stressful) and I believe the extra money spent to experience the V Room is definitely worth it.

If we ever book with Virgin Holidays we will definitely be heading back to the V Room.

Laptops and more games - perfect for the older kids

This is not a sponsored post.  

We did receive complimentary access to the V Room

but all photographs, words, views and opinions are entirely my own.

*We did not book a Virgin Holiday Package but we did book our flights with

Virgin Atlantic. However, if you wish to book the V Room you must be part of

a Virgin Holidays Package.