Arrived approx 4pm, lots of parking space, impressive foyer, nice room with tea and coffee and hairdryer, view over drive/garden. Went for walk in sunshine round the grounds, found swimming pool, then walked around Alton itself, found good bookshop with lots of secondhand books and bought some! Browsed a few shops, then when they were closed we found a nice pub which did reasonably-priced food and ale - which we enjoyed. Sorry, forgot its name but it was like Wetherspoon's. Then did what we came for - a Real Ale Train (RAT) trip for 3 hours on Watercress Line. Great fun and lots of real ales to enjoy; they also did food, eg curry, etc. Will definitely go again. Only 5 minutes' or less walk back to the Alton House Hotel. Slept it off, got up just in time for a late breakfast but unfortunately most of the buffet had gone as there was a wedding party in and the supplies were not replenished, even though there was at least half an hour before the breakfast time finished. Nevertheless we enjoyed our visit. We were allowed to leave our car in the car park whilst we had another walk around, and we walked to the Showground just out of the village where there was a Bus Show. This had other vehicles besides buses and was enjoyable as we like looking at older vehicles. There were plenty of refreshment stalls and the toilets were ok, too, so altogether we had a very good weekend in Alton.

The best part of the trip was spent in the bar in the hotel where there is a standard size snooker table. Snooker is a hot issue since the World Championship final took place during my stay in the hotel. One can have a game here while enjoying one's favourite drink.