hairball_89
Club Champion
Hill Valley sounds like far too much like hard work to me. I’d give it a miss on that alone!
36 hole golf resort
- Thread starter thomasmark71
- Start date
Just come back from a trip to Carden Park and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
A fabulous hotel with the best room I have stayed in on a golf trip. Great food, good staff and really nice bar areas. The beer isn’t cheap (Guinness £7.40 a pint but guests do receive a 10% discount).
Played both courses and they are excellent. Few weak holes, if any, and a decent test without being overly difficult. The general consensus, after doing two-course resort trips for nearly twenty years, is that this is probably the best we have been to as an all round package. And we’ve been to lots of the big name venues.
A fabulous hotel with the best room I have stayed in on a golf trip. Great food, good staff and really nice bar areas. The beer isn’t cheap (Guinness £7.40 a pint but guests do receive a 10% discount).
Played both courses and they are excellent. Few weak holes, if any, and a decent test without being overly difficult. The general consensus, after doing two-course resort trips for nearly twenty years, is that this is probably the best we have been to as an all round package. And we’ve been to lots of the big name venues.
Jigger
Club Champion
Have to say £7.40 for a massively produce beer is extortionate.
nickjdavis
Head Pro
But you will pay that for so called "craft" beer in many establishments.
I’ll pay good money for quality. But £7.40 for a Guinness is bonkers.
nickjdavis
Head Pro
"Craft" is often overhyped and regularly falls short of "quality". But your point is fair.
However...Carden Park is a self contained resort with only Wrexham and Chester nearby as alternative "entertainment venues", so has a somewhat captive audience and, as well as being a popular wedding venue, is also gets hugely busy with racegoers (horse) and I guess that £7.40 is a rate that they can reasonably charge.
chico
Club Champion
A cold day in hell before I would pay 7.40 for a pint.(Unless it was a pint of brandy)
timd77
Assistant Pro
Wow, that’s extortionate. If I was having more than a couple of pints I’d be getting a taxi elsewhere. We went to staverton a few weeks back, expensive there as well, one chap had a double rum and coke for £12. It was his only double rum and Coke of the trip!
Depends on what they’re hoping to achieve I guess, but you’d think they’d want people to have a few drinks and stay. Nice pale ales at my club are under £4, as are all the other beers/ciders, just no need to be charging more than that.
Depends on what they’re hoping to achieve I guess, but you’d think they’d want people to have a few drinks and stay. Nice pale ales at my club are under £4, as are all the other beers/ciders, just no need to be charging more than that.
IanM
Journeyman Pro
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I seem to be one of the minority who chooses a venue based on the quality of the course, not the drinks prices.
If they charge £7 a pint, don't buy any. It isn't difficult.
If they charge £7 a pint, don't buy any. It isn't difficult.
Jigger
Club Champion
Nope. A pint of any beer is expensive at £5 but I can understand the extra costs that craft breweries have as they don’t make the huge profits of mass producers. That and you find an expensive craft beer is expensive everywhere. You can get straight Guineas for more than £3 less than that is some places.
D-S
Well-known member
If I’ve paid, let’s say, £150 pounds for a couple of rounds plus dinner b&b then the fact that beer is a pound or two over what I pay elsewhere is immaterial. I might overpay by a tenner or so for the beer 
- however had the beer been cheaper but the deal £10 more expensive I would never have known.
When you look at the prices abroad these days that sort of pricing is a bargain.
- however had the beer been cheaper but the deal £10 more expensive I would never have known.When you look at the prices abroad these days that sort of pricing is a bargain.
Bazz
Q-School Graduate
Didn't want to start a new thread, but we like doing 36 holes in a day and Forest of Arden is relatively close, I've just priced it up and if booked directly it's £107 for both. Any idea if that's worth paying? Never been there before.
I’ve never played the Aylesford, so can’t comment on it, but The Arden course is one of my favourites. That said, £107 is at the very upper limit of what I would pay to play both.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
For £100 for both it’s not bad
The Aylesford isn’t great
The Arden is decent - holes on one side are ok , once you go through the gate on the deer side the holes are very good
srixon 1
Journeyman Pro
As above. There are some great holes on the Arden.
Imurg
The Grinder Of Pars (Semi Crocked)
Arden is a fine course and has hosted ETour events in the past
The Aylesford is OK but not as good..I suspect the 36 is on there at that money....haven't played it for years so can't comment on it as such.
Played the Arden a couple of years back and the course was great...service and food left a lot to be desired though..
Bazz
Q-School Graduate
7 minutes and 4 answers. Superb 
The main course is £80 and the other is £27. So sounds like they've got it price right. Cheers.
The main course is £80 and the other is £27. So sounds like they've got it price right. Cheers.
The Squirrel
Well-known member
I’d agree with Imurg that the hotel and food side of things in Arden is lacking investment, both in hard product and in staff quality/training. It was a bit shambolic at times.
Bazz
Q-School Graduate
Packed lunch it is.
FuzzyDuck
Assistant Pro
The site has been sold to Warners and they are just about to start building an entertainment complex. How this affects the golfing side, I have no idea.
