Last week we were invited to a child-free evening of food, fun and fireworks at the Thistle Hotel in Poole by Joe Bloggs Network.
The plan for the evening was a welcome drink followed by watching the fireworks in the harbour aboard the 50ft President Motor Boat, Good Times from Poole Boat Charters and then a three course meal in the Anchor Bar / Restaurant.
The Thistle Hotel is situated on Poole Quay offering stunning views across Poole harbour over to Brownsea Island and the Purbecks behind. Sadly for us it was dark when we arrived and the rain was hammering against the window, but we could still see people milling around the stalls outside waiting for the evening’s entertainment on the Quay to begin.
Our room was clean and tidy but sadly in need of some updating, especially in the bathroom, but a small box of Truffles and two bottles of water waiting for us won us over straight away as we popped on the TV to watch the news in peace.
At the welcome drinks we were introduced to the hotel manager who in turn introduced us to Kate who would be our host for the evening and Simon and Drenagh, the owners of the boat we were heading out on. They explained that due to the high winds they were not able to take us into Poole Harbour to watch the fireworks, but that we were more than welcome aboard the boat to watch them from its mooring.
The boat, Good Times, was spectacular with three bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen and living space plus the outside deck areas which were covered for the evening and had heaters to keep us warm. We chatted for ages about what it is like for them to live on the boat and about their charters which cost from as little as £65 per person. It is something we hope to look into when the weather warms up!
Poole Tourism does a fantastic job with events on Poole Quay and the fireworks were no exception despite the weather. We watched from the flybridge of the boat which had an amazing view away from the crowds lined along Poole Quay. Joanne from Charliemoos even managed a royal wave to the crowds!
The fireworks over for the evening it was time to head back to the Thistle Hotel for our meal. Hubby and I chose very similar dishes with Mushroom Soup to start, steak for our main course although he went for a sticky toffee sundae for dessert and I had Eton Mess. It was all well presented and delicious and I would happily eat there again.
After to chatting with fellow bloggers for what seemed like hours we headed off to bed, with our alarm set for an early morning wake up call as we had to get back home to take the kids to school and off to work.
Sadly we were up and gone before breakfast was served at 7am, but it looked amazing – probably the best hotel breakfast choice I have seen. We didn’t eat in the Harbour restaurant the evening before because it was booked for a wedding, but I can see why it was chosen with spectacular panoramic views over Poole Harbour.
The Thistle Hotel offers rooms from as little as £59 but they have several offers currently on. Probably my favourite offer is their room, breakfast and dinner offer from as little as £95.
I was also pleased to see that our room could be used as an inter-connecting room which would make travelling with the family much easier. I hadn’t considered staying in a Thistle Hotel before, but I will certainly be using them again.
Disclaimer: We were guests of the Thistle Hotel Poole, all opinions are our own
Was such a great night! Shame you and Andrew had to escape early! We ate breakfast until 10!! Love a lazy morning! Thanks for the great pics!
What a memorable night to watch fireworks from the boat! Sounds like you had a lot of fun!
Sounds like a lovely evening! Hotel sounds like it has amazing views
What a great event/display! Watching the fireworks off a boat sounds amazing
What a lovely looking place to stay and the fireworks sound spectacular. x
Wow looked fab! The food looked nice, I thought that hotel was closing?!? Its nice of the older Poole to still be intact!
A childfree evening of fun, food and fireworks sounds amazing to me 🙂
Wow what a superb place to see the fireworks. It looks like they were amazing
oh wow this looks like you had a really lovely adventure! the hotel does look stunning (so did that sundae)
I love the look of the boat, I would have expected that to have been much more expensive. And what a great place to watch the fireworks from! Sounds like a great evening.
Oh wow Kara those fireworks on the quay look amazing, bet the atmosphere was great too. That’s a good rate for the Thistle, shame you couldn’t make that yummy looking breakfast!