We had the pleasure of visiting Bristol and the SS Great Britain; and during our stay we were lucky enough to be able to use accommodation from Saco serviced apartments. Serviced apartments (or Aparthotels) are not something that we have ever used before; but they are self catering apartments, complete with reception and services. Saco are usually located within the heart of some of the most popular cities across the globe.
Where are the Saco Apartments Bristol?
Bristol is located just up from the mouth of the Avon river, a little beyond the Clifton suspension bridge that is such a famous landmark within the South West. The floating Bristol Harbour is a gorgeous part of the city, and the Bristol apartments are just beyond the waterfront, a stone’s throw from all the activity by the water. They are well placed to visit some of the better family restaurants in the town, including Zsa Zsa Bazaar, which my kids adored, the Pitcher and Piano (before 7pm), and Las Iguanas for those with a more adventurous palate. In addition, the key galleries are just a short walk; from the M-Shed, to We are Curious, the Aquarium, and the SS Great Britain.
If you need a little help with your provision, the Saco Broad Quay apartments are ideally located, as there is a local Sainsburys supermarket just a few doors down from the apartments. Perfect for when you forget to bring the apple juice for breakfast 😉
There are also apartments at West India House within the city, just FYI.
What is the accommodation and facilities in Saco Apartments Bristol like?
Saco offer a range of different accommodation to suit your needs; from studio to 3 bed apartments. You can also choose to have one with a quay-side view for a premium. Costs are from £79 a night depending on the season, size and location of your aparthotel room.
We stayed in a two-bedroom apartment away from the quay, but it was still a very comfortable and easy base for our visit. The facilities at the hotel include parking (an extra £12.50 per night), and there were some lovely little touches for when we arrived. There were cereals in our kitchen, milk in the fridge, and very importantly hot chocolate, and cookies on the work surface! The latter were definitely the way to get five gold stars from our children….. 🍪 🍪
The apartment was beautifully presented, with a glorious and bright colour scheme throughout; the red and greens cheering us all up, and getting us ready for the walk down into the town on our first night there.
The apartment was a good size for the four of us, with enough space to store our clothes for the weekend. The only criticism would be that there wasn’t too much space to eat together, with a small table only in the lounge/dining area. However, as the apartment was to be used as a based for exploring, this really didn’t effect us at all. If you were to want to eat your home-made meals here, you might want to consider one of the superior two beds, which would likely have more room for this.
The bedrooms were well turned out, but for us, THE best thing was the bed and the pillows. When we have travelled in the past, particularly abroad, pillows seem to be an after-thought. We’d never had such plump and comfortable ones; and coupled with a firm bed, it was easy to get a good night’s sleep here. Well; it would have been if you weren’t likely to be interrupted by a body clock that always wakes at 6am, or a small child that always struggles to sleep! 💤
The beds were so comfortable, it was possible to chill on them any way you liked! 😉
As you can imagine, WiFi is important to someone that owns their own website; and we were provided with codes to be able to use the premium high-speed broadband within the apartments. This costs £4 a day; but there is standard WiFi available for free in all the apartments.
Even the bathrooms in the apartments were well fitted with rather lovely power showers, which in a city like Bristol, where you do need to get out and about on foot, is a god send after a hard day on your feet!
Overall – 9/10
These apartments are perfect for visiting the city with your family; great location, so that everything is within easy walking distance for relative short legs. The staff are friendly and knowledgeable; giving us precise information for being able to locate key attractions in the town, and a comprehensive map so we didn’t get lost.
The small details in the rooms made you feel that though you were self-catering, there was always someone on hand to help you out if you needed it. From the hotel toiletries, to the welcome teabags, ear plugs, and cookies; it is the small touches that can really make a difference to how you feel about your stay. Saco have clearly embraced this.
There was even a book left on one of the tables to give you information about the city; plenty of advertising in it, yes, but also plenty of really useful info too!
My best advice though is to book your parking in the block well in advance, if you leave it too late, you might end up having to pay for the local NCP car parks in Prince Street or Millennium Square, and that could set you back £46 or £34 respectively for two days. These car parks are cheaper if you pre-book; just so you know.
We would definitely recommend these apartments as a great base for your family; and don’t worry if you forget the milk. They have some in the fridge for you already; so make sure you actually check before you nip to the local Sainsburys and buy your own 🤣!
We visited the SS Great Britain during our stay, so do be sure to check this out; one of THE best museums we have ever been to with the kids. We KNOW you will love it too; and so much to learn there as well.
If you like this review, please do check out the other travel content we have on the site, and subscribe to our newsletter as well; which we offer weekly with all our articles, so you don’t miss a thing. With free printable resources for the kids, giveaways, tips, travel, and other reviews; we’ve got everything you need as a family to keep on having fun!
Thanks for joining us as always!
Helen
Helen
Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!