Newcastle is quite a happening city now. It is in the north of England, not too far from the border of Scotland.

We have just sold our car and have decided to stay on a couple more days, as we want to give Explorason some time to have some fun.  The past few weeks have been a lot of planning and quite a rush to get here in time.

So now it is time for me to start to unwind and to focus on just having a good time.

We have booked the Superior room at Sleeperz, a rather new hotel a stone’s throw from the train station, and that will be handy for when we come to leave. Yes, we still seem to have way too much luggage.

When we walked down the street when we first arrived at Newcastle, we actually looked up and commented that it would be fabulous to have one of the glass end rooms of Sleeperz.  To our delight that is just what we ended up with.

There are panoramic floor to ceiling double glazed windows, and these offered us outstanding views of the Castle, Tyne Bridge, and the Sage. The wall to our right of the photo view below is part of the historic railway station, but you can’t hear the trains. You do get to do a bit of the odd train-spotting though which Explorason loved.

We were invited to the opening preview night of Game On 2.0.

Oh my – Explorason was SO excited.  We had to walk past the Life Science Centre on our way to Lane 7 Bowling from the Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle, and he just had to have his photo taken like Mario.

When we arrived the next evening we had no idea what we were in for.

We arrived and there were Mario and Minecraft props, and so we immediately started having fun.

The serving staff was all dressed like Mario.  So everyone was in the 🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 spirit.

Because we had arrived early, the kids had time to place in the Science Centre general area, and this was Explorason’s favorite was two turning wheels, and then they would spin wheels on the top. In fact, he came out of the 🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 exhibition and planned it later in the night.

As soon as the 🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 Exhibition was officially opened, Explorason raced in with all the other kids to start to play.  He was joined by Mario, which was pretty cool. This was the original Mario Cart game, so that was very impressive for him.

There are staff available with a lot of expertise to assist with the games, and to talk about the technology behind them.

There were retro games, modern games and all sorts in between.

But the winner for Explorason at 🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 was Oculus Rift. Even I had a try on this, but it made me feel nauseous.  That passed after a whole, but you feel like you are inside the game. It is very surreal.

The game below used hand movements.  The choices of types of games to place was very vast.  I like that there will even be game designers, programmers, and university students and other experts to talk to at various times throughout the coming months.

One of the fun things for the kids was to try on Minecraft hats and mustaches.

As we left the premiere evening, we had a goodie bag with game style iced cakes.

But we also left 🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 with memories of a really good night.

🎮 👾 Game On 2.0 👾 🎮 is on for several more months, so if you are visiting England, make sure you head up to Newcastle and spend a few hours here. Kids and adults will love it!

As we walked back to Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle, we were in a really happy mood. We were having such a great time here.

That night I looked out (about 3 a.m.) and realized that there was a view of the spire opposite.

We sat downstairs in the lobby or cafe of Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle a fair bit. Firstly the internet was just that bit faster, but also it as nice because the staff and management were so friendly. The manager had at one time lived in Australia, so we had a bit of a chat, and a friendly “g’day”. But the staff were so friendly, and it just made us want to ‘hang out’ down in the lobby area.

Folks were enjoying their coffees or drinks.  You don’t often get that feel in a hotel.  They also have an all-day menu that offers the chance for a quick snack or a main meal.

I took a few photos at quiet times, but it was a bank holiday weekend, and at times Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle was packed with guests coming and going.

I listened to Irish, Scottish and broad accented English all talk, and at times I couldn’t understand a word. I was concerned my next few weeks I wouldn’t be understanding a soul, even though we spoke the same language.

We decided to sell our ‘dead’ laptop. We have been dragging it around for months in the hope I could find someone who could replace the motherboard and a few other problems. I spoke to the staff at reception, and they helped us find a shop to go and talk to.

Armed with our coat and a map we set off, and not too far away either, as we were quite centrally located here.  We sold it no problem too. That was one more piece of our luggage we no longer had to carry around now we no longer had the car.

Breakfast at Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle includes a full cooked buffet, cereals, pastries and orange juice. There were lovely warm freshly baked baguettes to slice up, but I laughed watching two rather tired chaps at breakfast. They didn’t look like they had gone to bed yet (maybe out on the town all night?), and they took the whole baguette stick each.  They didn’t realize the bread barrel had sliced bread for toasting.  It was quite funny.

I was really loving the fresh fruit, berries, and yogurts. I decided it was time to start the day in a healthy way.

Explorason hadn’t started his health kick. Rather he had discovered the pot of hot chocolate and the jar of mini marshmallows.

So much for going to the dentist yesterday. This boy really is addicted to chocolate.

We stayed at Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle on a busy bank holiday weekend. There were many out of towners coming to celebrate weddings and special functions.  We found the staff really polite and helpful all the time, even when they were so busy.

They helped us with our many bags of luggage to the room, and when it came time to leave, the nice manager found us a trolley and helped us wheel it down to the nearby railway station. I felt more like we needed a moving van:)

It is a really modern hotel suitable for a business or leisure stay, and we both liked it a lot.

It was an incredibly great service with a smile.

Tomorrow we sadly leave Newcastle. Do you wonder where we will head next? Stay tuned for our next blog!

BOOKINGS and ENQUIRIES: Book this hotel here

Accommodation Name: Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle

Location: 15 Westgate Road, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1SE United Kingdom

Telephone: (0)191 261 6171 F: (0)191 269 2848

Date stayed: May 2015

Breakfast: Yes

Bar: Yes

Wi-fi: Yes

Child-friendly: Yes

More about Sleeperz, as stated on their website:

Room features

Disclosure – I would like to thank Sleeperz Hotel Newcastle and Life Science Centre for all their assistance.  These are solely the personal opinions and experiences of the writer, and are not that of the management or staff referred to for any business in this article and are used as a guide only.  All experiences are our own, as we recall them and are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of publication.  Information is subject to change. Please consult other sources for prices and verification.