Escapade Silverstone Weekend

[paulguitar]

Last weekend I attended the BRDC Classic at Silverstone and stayed at Escapade. This is the housing development that runs from the exit of Copse Corner all the way down to the Becketts complex. I thought I'd do a thread about it, as I think the view we had is probably the best I have had at any circuit anywhere on the planet.


I wasn't sure whether this should be in the F1 section or 'Holidays and Travel', but I thought it might find more interest here. It's relevant, too, as it is, of course, possible to stay at Escapade for the British Grand Prix weekend. The apartment we had costs around £48,000 for the Grand Prix, so start saving... I will come to what we paid later; it was far more reasonable!


The development is futuristic and feels a bit like something from a science fiction film or series:







We had a three-bedroom trackside apartment. This includes garage parking for two cars, although we just left ours outside (but under cover):





The three-bedroom apartment is a very decent size, about 1,000 square feet. The bedrooms are identical, and each comes with its own ensuite:









What it's all about, of course, is the view from the balcony.


And here it is:



The plant pot is on wheels and easily moved out of the way.


The view, 30 feet from Becketts, is absolutely staggering.




And noisy.







After a full day of spectating, plus a quick wander around the infield, we made our way to the on-site restaurant for dinner. For the Classic weekend, it was a set menu, three courses for £65 per person. Here's what I had:












With a bottle of wine and some other drinks, the dinner bill was around £350 for the three of us. We felt that it was a bit steep for what it was.


The room and bed were very comfortable, and I got a good night's sleep. Our rate included breakfast, which was a buffet affair:






We all found breakfast underwhelming and, at this level, felt we should have been able to order something like an Eggs Benedict instead of just getting a Premier Inn-style buffet.


We'd done some shopping ahead of time, and the apartment has a decent kitchen, albeit with just a microwave rather than a proper oven. We'd bought lots of cheese, olives, etc, which we did for lunch. Here is the apartment's lounge:









We had another great day watching the racing from the balcony. Old F1 cars were impressive through there, but the most fun was a couple of original Minis that were being driven through the entire Becketts complex in a controlled four-wheel drift! Lovely to see up close.


After the day's racing, we took a taxi to Towcester and went to an Italian restaurant there. It was crap, and I am not including any photos.


We relaxed on the balcony in the evening, enjoying a few drinks and the night view, which was sort of spooky and very cool.


I mentioned the alarming cost of doing this for the British Grand Prix earlier. However, for the Classic weekend, it was much more realistic. The Escapade accommodation, which was a three-bedroom trackside apartment, came in at £1,900 for two nights.


All three of us loved it, and I can't wait to go back.

Edited by paulguitar on Monday 3rd August 11:44

[paulguitar]

speedtwelve said:

...I'd imagine some kind of tent would be in order.

Thanks for the write-up Paul. What's the occupancy limit for the apartments out of interest?

Thanks.

Sleeps up to six.

[paulguitar]

cliffords said:

I have seen those properties so interesting to learn more .
I wonder what the cost is on the F1 weekend?
Would be interesting to know .

I am guessing £20k but I may be miles out .

It's in my post, about £48k.

[paulguitar]

DeejRC said:

Pmsl, Christ, I didn t realise anybody took the container port at HMS Silverstone seriously!!! Let alone thought it was bespoke or futuristic!!!

A cpl or so yrs back I posted pics (I think) somewhere on here of that sthole being built. They are essentially posh ship containers plonked on top of each other at jaunty angles in a very prison block manner. They look absolutely horrific.

£110/night next door gets you Whittlebury Hall which is infinitely better.

Found one of the pics below

I have stayed at Whittlebury Hall. It was certainly not 'infinitely better' than Escapade, and it is entirely lacking the USP of being located right above one of the greatest corner sequences anywhere on earth, which is the whole point of Escapade.


I have no idea what motivated you to post something so ridiculous, but I suggest a quiet word with yourself in the corner.

[paulguitar]

cliffords said:

paulguitar said:

cliffords said:

I have seen those properties so interesting to learn more .
I wonder what the cost is on the F1 weekend?
Would be interesting to know .

I am guessing £20k but I may be miles out .

It's in my post, about £48k.

Wow. I was a long way out . Actually puts your weekend rental into the very reasonable category.
It's a shame the Italian restaurant was so poor.
I think the food proposition at the circuit could be much better and given the audience it should be . Good write up . Thanks

Thanks.

Yeah, Towcester seems not to be a particularly great place for restaurants, having looked at online reviews. Might have to take Regbuser up on local recommendations if/when I go back to Escapade.

[paulguitar]

Regbuser said:

Good write up OP, and next time you're there can recommend some very decent pub restaurants in the vicinity

Thanks, I will give you a shout next time.

[paulguitar]

Sandpit Steve said:

£1,900 was your personal cost, or the cost of the whole apartment for the weekend?

That was the accommodation cost for two nights.

We spent £900 each altogether, which included the Escapade accommodation, race tickets, taxis, two dinners, a supermarket shop and a race programme.


You may remember that I had previously sold our F1 grandstand tickets due to concerns about superclipping... Concerns that were well founded, as it turned out! Anyway, we had about £3k in the pot from that, and we did the whole Escapade weekend on that and got a little bit back.


Very pleased we chose this instead of the GP.

[paulguitar]

TheDeuce said:

paulguitar said:

That was the accommodation cost for two nights.

We spent £900 each altogether, which included the Escapade accommodation, race tickets, taxis, two dinners, a supermarket shop and a race programme.


You may remember that I had previously sold our F1 grandstand tickets due to concerns about superclipping... Concerns that were well founded, as it turned out! Anyway, we had about £3k in the pot from that, and we did the whole Escapade weekend on that and got a little bit back.


Very pleased we chose this instead of the GP.

I remember you worrying about selling or keeping those tickets. I'm extremely glad you sold them!

It's not on to tell another chap how to spend their hard earned money, but I knew these cars couldn't possibly deliver the goods through that complex of turns as they have done in previous seasons so I quietly had everything crossed that you'd sell!!

Yeah, all three of us were very comfortable with the decision to sell. I ended up going to the Grand Prix by myself on Friday and Saturday, but I selected locations where the battery nonsense was not an issue.

Overall, I think the Escapade weekend was good value for money. It's all about that view, which really has to be experienced to be believed. I'm already really keen to go back there.

[paulguitar]

Castrol for a knave said:

DeejRC said:

Pmsl, Christ, I didn t realise anybody took the container port at HMS Silverstone seriously!!! Let alone thought it was bespoke or futuristic!!!

A cpl or so yrs back I posted pics (I think) somewhere on here of that sthole being built. They are essentially posh ship containers plonked on top of each other at jaunty angles in a very prison block manner. They look absolutely horrific.

£110/night next door gets you Whittlebury Hall which is infinitely better.

Found one of the pics below

They're not shipping containers. They are bespoke modular units . Maybe not to everyone's taste, but not built on the cheap with the help of Maersk.

Each unit sold off plan and overall, the development has been well received.

The whole point of Escapade is the location and those astonishing views.

Quite how that poster managed to miss this so completely and, in an effort to be condescending, write such a foolish post is a mystery.

But hey, this is PH, which is home to all kinds of eccentrics...

[paulguitar]

Sandpit Steve said:

paulguitar said:

Sandpit Steve said:

£1,900 was your personal cost, or the cost of the whole apartment for the weekend?

That was the accommodation cost for two nights.

We spent £900 each altogether, which included the Escapade accommodation, race tickets, taxis, two dinners, a supermarket shop and a race programme.


You may remember that I had previously sold our F1 grandstand tickets due to concerns about superclipping... Concerns that were well founded, as it turned out! Anyway, we had about £3k in the pot from that, and we did the whole Escapade weekend on that and got a little bit back.


Very pleased we chose this instead of the GP.

That s really cool, and not bad value for any event other than the GP. I think we all just have to accept that they can charge random numbers out of the phone book for F1 and the crowd will still show up; they had the largest attendance ever this year, and Sunday was the largest one-day ticketed crowd for any event in the UK this year.

So you get a proper bed to sleep in rather than a tent, and none of the hassle of transport on what s a busy day in the local area, you can bring you own F&B in too. No-one needs to drive home, so you can all have a drink or six. Sounds like a plan!

Were the apartments sold out? Might seriously look at this for one event next year. The proper accommodation definitely makes it wife-friendly.

It was not sold out for the Classic; we could see several balconies unoccupied over the weekend. It was very busy in the restaurant for dinner and breakfast, so I think a lot of them must have been occupied, although some of the dinner crowd would have been non-residents.


One thing that amuses me is that, even after paying £48,000 for Escapade weekend accommodation for the F1, you are still required to buy a general admission ticket for the event!

Edited by paulguitar on Monday 3rd August 09:54

[paulguitar]

CSR Performance said:

That's a very useful review, many thanks for posting!



Thanks.

CSR Performance said:

Price is much more reasonable than I was expecting.

Couple of questions if I may? Do you have vehicle access in and out over the weekend or once the meeting starts are you 'stuck' on site?

At the Classic, we would have been able to come and go as we pleased, although in our case we parked and didn't use the cars again until we left, as we were having a few beers. For the F1 weekend, I'd imagine that coming and going would be impossible.

CSR Performance said:

Is there a televised feed from circuit cameras or any kind of leader/lap times board available?

Thanks!

There are big TVs in the apartment, and they have YouTube, so we put on the racing there. The problem is that 'live' TV is actually a few seconds behind, so it was of limited use, really. As far as lap times, you can just hook up your own devices to the WiFI, and do it that way on whatever platform you usually use.

[paulguitar]

Sandpit Steve said:

I ve also just clocked that there were three of you in a three-bed apartment, so you could have bought wives and girlfriends (or close buddies in sleeping bags!) for little marginal cost should you have wished. So more like £600 a head all-in rather than the £900 you paid.

It's also possible to have the individual bedrooms configured as twin beds. So in 'our' apartment it's genuinely possible to get six blokes in there, if you don't mind sleeping two to a room.

Sandpit Steve said:

LOL at the compulsory GA ticket for the F1, you d think for £48k they might include them! I had assumed that the place is actually outside the venue, so you needed a ticket if you wanted to go in.

To get to Escapade, you drive through the main Silverstone entrance and then either left, passing Woodcote and Copse, or over the bridge to the infield and then another bridge over the Hangar Straight, then left and past the Porsche centre and up to Becketts. I suppose the requirement to buy an event ticket looks comically penny-pinching on F1 weekend, but makes more sense at 'normal' events.

[paulguitar]

Castrol for a knave said:

CSR Performance said:

That's a very useful review, many thanks for posting!

Price is much more reasonable than I was expecting.

Couple of questions if I may? Do you have vehicle access in and out over the weekend or once the meeting starts are you 'stuck' on site? Is there a televised feed from circuit cameras or any kind of leader/lap times board available?

Thanks!

The main leisure building has an open plan bar with monitors that, if I recall, have on site coverage and leaderboards for races.

Ah yes, good point. The 'Gallery' restaurant, which also has a viewing terrace:



We spent a couple of hours there before we could access our apartment.

[paulguitar]

Pintofbest said:

They are great, I m lucky to have a friend who owns one and have spent the last few years there - they come with GA tickets for all guests, parking etc and the food he arranged to be delivered to the house was amazing. As you put Paul, the views are outstanding and it s nice to be seeing it all from the balcony.

This was my view 20 mins before race start this year, having a G&T waiting for the afternoon tea to arrive, just before everyone piled out on the balcony! It s a very civilised way to spend the weekend!

Absolutely amazing to have the chance to be there for the F1 race! And a bonus from Silverstone that owners are furnished with race tickets. Given that they are actually living, at least some of the time, in the apartments, I don't suppose Silverstone has much option there.


Whereabouts is your friend's place? As you know, they run all the way from Becketts to Copse. I think that the one we had, right at the entry to Becketts, would be the exact one I would choose, had I had the chance to do so ahead of time. It was pot luck, and we got extremely lucky, but if/when I stay there again, I will call Escapade first to see which specific trackside places are available.

[paulguitar]

DeejRC said:

paulguitar said:

DeejRC said:

Pmsl, Christ, I didn t realise anybody took the container port at HMS Silverstone seriously!!! Let alone thought it was bespoke or futuristic!!!

A cpl or so yrs back I posted pics (I think) somewhere on here of that sthole being built. They are essentially posh ship containers plonked on top of each other at jaunty angles in a very prison block manner. They look absolutely horrific.

£110/night next door gets you Whittlebury Hall which is infinitely better.

Found one of the pics below

I have stayed at Whittlebury Hall. It was certainly not 'infinitely better' than Escapade, and it is entirely lacking the USP of being located right above one of the greatest corner sequences anywhere on earth, which is the whole point of Escapade.


I have no idea what motivated you to post something so ridiculous, but I suggest a quiet word with yourself in the corner.

Knock it off, it s a bloody container port prison camp! That was literally the running joke whilst the thing was being built. WH is a whole lot hugely better which is why damn nr everybody who can stays there and not at the prison camp.
I m genuinely shocked that anyone thinks it s well, no, I lack the words tbh. Everytime I go there each month I laugh at it as walking round.
Oh well, s a funny old world.

You are really embarrassing yourself.

[paulguitar]

Piginapoke said:

What an interesting weekend, cheers for posting Paul.

Can t get my head around £48k for the GP weekend!

Glad you enjoyed the post.

Yeah, 48k is a bit toppy, but having witnessed the racing from that balcony, if I had the means, I’d love to see the F1 from there. Well, once they’ve fixed it!

[paulguitar]

bergclimber34 said:

I should not be surprised I guess, but I also think posting about it on very available section on this forum is somewhat akin to look at me. Which I guess is part of the package and why you might stay there.

Edited by bergclimber34 on Tuesday 4th August 07:28

I've only posted my report on this particular page. It's disappointing to hear this is how you feel, Luke.


We are all anonymous here; posting for 'attention' would be pointless. I included the various costs from the weekend because I thought it might be helpful to others considering a similar trip. I thought it was surprisingly good value, given how much the F1 weekend there costs. In fact, I originally investigated Escapade only out of curiosity, not believing for a moment that it would be something we'd be in a position to do.


As has been discussed, six people can stay in that apartment. Doing this outside of an F1 weekend is good value, and that view is something that no one will ever forget.

[paulguitar]

Castrol for a knave said:

I just booked for a friend's wedding nearby in November. Worked out £100 cheaper for the fragrant Mrs Castrol and I to stay at Escapade than at Whittlebury Hall

It will be chilly then!

Are you going to be in a trackside apartment?

[paulguitar]

Prolex-UK said:

Excellent post Paul.

Must add it to my bucket list

Thanks.

[paulguitar]

Phoenix said:

Great write up from the OP, thanks for sharing.

What a view of a brilliant part of the circuit, especially for the historics squirming around there.


48k for the F1 weekend! As always, supply and demand. But what a way to experience an F1 weekend.

For a full weekend of historic racing with accomodation in such a location I don't see it as expensive.

Thanks.

Yeah, crazy money for the GP weekend, but sensibly priced otherwise.

There is also a pretty wide choice of apartments, either trackside like ours, or 'countryside'. For me, it was all about seeing the racing from that vantage point, but it would be an interesting place to stay anyway, I think.