AD|Press trip
Yesterday we checked out the grotto at Strand Palace. While I thought it was beautifully set up, I do have a few criticisms that I will share further down.
The grotto comes in five parts.
Part 1: You’ll head downstairs (there’s a lift available) to where you’ll meet a member of staff that will scan your tickets. You’ll be given a candy cane(fake one do not attempt to eat it 😅) if you’ve prepaid for your printed photo. It’s also a great opportunity to get some cute pictures.
Part 2: an elf will escort you to the next part where your little ones will have the chance to write a letter to Santa. This space was quite small and there was only space for around 3 kids to write their letters. This would’ve been fine if there weren’t families waiting behind us. I felt really bad because their kids were patiently waiting for our kids to finish writing their letters.
There should’ve been more tables available or better time management so that we didn’t feel like we had to rush so the other families could have a go.
Part 3: Once you’ve posted the letter to Santa, another elf will escort you to Santa’s toy shop. There’s a cute rocking horse that your kids can have a go on.
Part 4: You’ll then cross the bridge into a winter wonderland. Your little ones will have the chance to have a snowball fight. It’s another nice opportunity to take some cute photos too!
Part 5: The Elf will then escort you to Santa’s grotto. Santa was absolutely lovely! His grotto was beautifully set up too! He gave the kids 2 presents each! I didn’t let little miss open hers, but I had a quick glimpse of another child opening theirs and I think there might be some crayola bits in there, which is fab!
This was the only part of the experience that didn’t feel rushed to me! Santa kept the kids engaged throughout, which was lovely to see!
At the beginning of the experience, you’re told you’re unable to take photos inside as you’re expected to pay for them, which is totally understandable, but unfortunately, the quality of the printed photo wasn’t great at all. It’s a shame they don’t offer digital photos because that would’ve been a lot better.
I had a look on the photographers screen and the picture he took was lovely but the printed version had the kids’ faces looking a little compressed.
Prices
Child ticket – £25
Adult ticket – £5
Printed photo – £8
Children’s afternoon tea – £10
Adult afternoon tea – £29
Unfortunately, we were unable to check out the afternoon tea because I was told that they basically don’t cater to those with nut allergies, which was extremely disappointing. We’ve been to a load of afternoon teas in London and they’ve always made an effort.
📍 372 Strand, London WC2R 0JJ
It’s near Covent Garden, where there are plenty of festivities going on. It’s also a short walk from Somerset House, so you could also consider checking out the ice rink there.
Overall, I thought it was a good experience. I personally wouldn’t pay for the photo, though.
You can book tickets here.
Thank you for writing such an informative review, much appreciated, we have booked.
Author
Amazing! Enjoy 🙂
Great review as was looking to book this one. Can you take photos all the way around but not with Father Christmas?
Author
That’s correct. We were told that at the beginning but no one stopped me from taking photos with FC at the end
I booked before reading your review and now I am a bit dubious and think maybe we should have booked the national gallery one instead.
All the main ones are now sold out
Author
It’s a good grotto. It just needs to be a bit more organised.
Thank you for such a detailed review, I was in two minds about booking but will definitely be booking now have seen this. We to unfortunately won’t get a chance to do afternoon tea due to the amount of allergies our children have.
Thanks again.x
Author
No worries! Hope you have a good time 🙂
Was queueing for an hour, avoid
Author
That is very unfortunate. I would make a complaint
I went today with my 5 year old boy and we had an amazing experience. Santa is definitely very engaging with the kids and even his voice is like from a typical Santa, completely unrushed and made feel my little boy very special. The elves were also very lovely and the afternoon tea was very nice too 🙂 I feel like for the price I paid In general for everything was definitely worth it. I was not expecting this to be this good to be honest.
Author
Glad to hear you had a good time! 🙂
We went today and there was a 1h wait to get in even though you book a time slot. The trail to get to Santa looks alright, but unfortunately has deteriorated some due to all the visitors, I guess. We’d already paid for a photo but we had to tell them when we got to Santa as nobody seemed to know. I feel like it should have been a bit more organised and the letters written by the kids to be passed on to Santa so he would know the kid’s name, or for him to be informed of the kid’s name in advance. My son straight up told Santa that he should know his name as Santa knows all kids and is watching them through the year 😅. He got only one present not 2 like yours. Honestly, the wait was not worth it! I wouldn’t recommend it. We had a better experience last year at the Bluewater Shopping centre grotto. Good thing I didn’t book the ice skating at the Somerset House as we wouldn’t have made it.
Author
Wow so sorry to hear that you had to wait 1 hour! I agree with you. They definitely need to be a lot more organised
Thanks for the review! I was thinking about this for our holiday trip to London. About how much time should I allow for the whole experience?