Travelling period: Mid October 2017
Flight: KLM Airlines (outbound) and Air France (inbound)
Hotel: LEGOLAND Hotel, Billund, Denmark
I was very blessed to have the opportunity to travel to Europe for work. I have never been to Europe and this will be my furthest trip ever.
We are attending the LEGO Education Partner Conference in Billund, Denmark, where the HQ of the LEGO group is. Billund is a small town in Denmark where LEGO was created! It is a relatively quiet town where the first LEGOLand and LEGOLand hotel was built. But I guess it ain't a popular tourist spot especially for tourist from Asia. There were only a handful of Asians in Billund.
Being a not-so-popular destination, there weren't any direct flights available from Singapore so we did a transit in Amsterdam airport via KLM Airlines.
It was a 12-13 hours flight to Amsterdam from Singapore and another 1hr+ flight to Billund from Amsterdam.
Onboard KLM flight to Amsterdam
We only had an hour to catch our flight to Billund from Amsterdam airport, we practically ran all the way to our gate and almost missed the flight. You have to board the bus to get to the airplane and it was pretty cold already, must have been some 9 to 10 degree.
First-time on-board a city hopper which operates like domestics flight.
Beautiful European clouds.
As expected, our baggage was delayed. Mine arrived only the next morning (some 24 hrs later), it's a good thing I've bought travel insurance so I managed to get a compensation of SGD700 for the baggage delay.
There's a high chance of baggage delay on transit flights especially when the layover is so short so make sure you pack your essentials in your hand-carry and get insured. Good thing I did else I'd probably freeze to death in such a cold weather. The temperature was 5 degree when we arrive in Billund in the morning and the wind was so strong, it felt colder than I did when I was in Beijing in a 0-degree weather.
LEGOLAND hotel, Billund, Denmark is a mere 10 minutes taxi ride from Billund airport. Taxi fares are pretty costly here though. The 10 minutes taxi ride cost around SGD30. Credit cards are welcomes on taxis too so that's really convenient.
Although they use Danish Krones in Denmark, Euros are accepted as well. You get your change back in local currency though.
The LEGOLAND mascot will be greeting you once you step inside the hotel.
There's a little play area for children in the lobby.
Plenty of photo taking spots around the hotel lobby
Mexican music will be played as you walk near to the exhibit
Check in area
Official check-in time is at 3pm so our rooms are obviously not ready yet. Since it's my first time in Billund, Denmark and it's a beautiful autumn, we went for a walk around LEGOLAND hotel.
A row of residential houses. Everything looks so quaint. I can't describe how I love the quaint neighbourhood, environment, and weather here.
Like a scene from a painting or sketch
A quiet park with the freshest air ever
An international school located next to the park with beautiful sculptures
The LEGO HQ office is just 10 minutes walk from LEGOLAND
A scene right off a fairy tale
A walk through the beautiful park with a stream running through it
Most of the shops in a 'city center' were closed as it was a Sunday. Most shops do not open on a Sunday here. Wow! Such a quiet and peaceful town where you'd hardly see people and cars around.
Family room with LEGOLAND View - LEGOLAND Hotel, Billund, Denmark Review
Finally, our rooms are ready!
Mini pantry area for coffee and tea making. Love how they have a separate sink here
Being the first LEGOLAND Hotel, you can see signs of aging here and there but that's negligible.
Since this is one of the LEGO themed rooms, you can see LEGO elements in the room as well. There are 2 tubs of LEGO sets for play too.
Love this table! Brightens up everything and adds colour to the room
Plenty of seating area
The bathroom
Basic amenities provided. Toothbrushes and toothpaste are not provided.
A lower sink for the little ones
I presume this acts like a mini bath tub for babies.
Shampoo and liquid soap
I'd recommend staying in the FRIENDS, PIRATES or NINJAGO themed rooms those rooms look so much more fun!
The room comes with a beautiful view of LEGOLAND Billund, Denmark. You can see some of the rides right out from your window! Sticky Bean will be so excited if she's here.
I spent a great deal of time just chillaxing and enjoying the view from LEGOLAND Billund, Denmark enjoying a hot tea or my tom yum cup noodles I've brought from Singapore. So shiok to eat it in this weather! I'd open my windows wide and stick my head out to eat my cup noodles with the cool breeze in your face. Shiok!
The kids were so adorable with their thick winter clothes and rosy cheeks. It's so dog-friendly that people bring their dogs everywhere, including into LEGOLAND. I'll share LEGOLAND Billund, Denmark review in a separate post.
Being in this proximity from the rides in LEGOLAND also means you have to be mindful of changing right at the window or walking around the room uncloth though.
When you're in LEGOLAND Hotel, of course, you'll find LEGO and LEGO figures everywhere! Look at all these life-sized figures!
Love the cool weather so much, I left the windows wide open while I snuggled in bed under the covers. Surprisingly, I slept so well all the way till next morning despite the jet lag. Denmark is 7 hours behind us so at 9pm Denmark time when I was in bed, it would have been just 1pm in Singapore. I was worried about jetlag at first but I seemed to adjust to the time zone almost immediately.
Next morning...
FREE breakfast is provided with all rooms in LEGOLAND Hotel, Billund, Denmark.
LEGO structure just outside the restaurant.
We stayed at LEGOLAND Hotel, Billund, Denmark for 5 nights but the breakfast spread remains more or less the same, day after day.
Europeans seem to like their food cold. There are plenty of cold cuts and meats during meals. I was pretty surprised, given how cold Billund is, I'd thought the locals will prefer hot pipping food.
I'm so glad I packed my favourite tom yum cup noodles along!
Overall, the people in Billund are really warm and friendly and I love the fresh air and peace in Billund town. Everyone here seems to enjoy and know how to relax. Their official working hours start at 8:30 am and they end work at 4 pm typically. The weather was cool and makes our walks enjoyable, we practically walked everywhere here.
Public transportation is almost non-existent though. There are public buses but the frequency is almost like one every hour.
It will be great if they provide bicycles at LEGOLAND Hotel so we can explore the town on a bicycle.
Tips for LEGOLAND Hotel, Billund, Denmark
The prices for the rooms vary greatly with the season. Apparently, when we were there in October, it is during their peak season as LEGOLAND Park Billund, Denmark will be closed in November and December during winter - so it will be closed from November an reopened only in late March. The average rates you can get online for start from SGD400 just for 1 night! Only during Nov/Dec period an winter period (early part of the year) the price dropped by half to just SGD200 a night. But what's the point of staying in LEGOLAND Hotel if LEGOLAND Park is close right?
Speaking from personal experience, there have been times when I had to delay my travel plans. However, no airline offers so much flexibility to cancel flights as KLM Airlines. KLM airlines cancellation policy and KLM cancellation charges its flexibilities has been my savior.
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