There is a rustle and a roar coming from the bushes and suddenly a dinosaur emerges from the undergrowth. Explorers race to track the impressive beast, studiously taking notes in their logs.

Surprising as it may sound, this is not a clip from the latest Jurassic Park instalment but the scene in a spectacular London hotel suite, designed especially for young dinosaur lovers.

Painstakingly created in collaboration with the Natural History Museum (NHM), it gives budding palaeontologists the chance to go on an epic adventure, ending in a specially designed kids-only hotel room.

On arrival at the Park Plaza Riverbank, Lottie, four, and Max, two, are handed special explorer hats and lanyards (as well as goodie bags with NHM cuddly stegosauruses) and challenged to embark on a mission to find the lost study of biologist and NHM founder Sir Richard Owen. They are also given a log of all the different dinosaurs hidden all over the hotel, with the promise of a reward if they can locate them all.

After cracking a secret code, we venture to the 10th floor and uncover the study, which also doubles as a primary bedroom for grown-ups. It is beautifully decorated with museum artefacts, complete with drawers filled with butterflies, shells, fossils and minerals (lepidoptery, conchology, paleontology and mineralogy if we are being formal) as well as a showstopping floor to ceiling view over the Thames of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben.

But the real magic lies hidden in the secret second bedroom. The study is lined with leather-bound bookshelves but push the concealed door in one of the bookshelves and a dinosaur lair-meets-children’s wonderland is on the other side.

The walls are covered with dinosaurs, while ominous prehistoric claw-prints cover the carpet. An enormous T-Rex skeleton looms over a bunk bed, with two twin beds nestled beneath to comfortably sleep three little explorers.

Bean bags are strewn on the floor and there is a bookshelf full of dinosaur books to read, as well as a stack of dinosaur games. Dinosaur top trumps, snap, monopoly, connect four? It’s all here.

It turns out the rustles and roars of the hungry T-rex are coming (reassuringly) from the Toniebox audio player thoughtfully left on the bedside table, complete with a selection of NHM Tonies to enjoy while in situ.

No detail has been overlooked to make this as dino-tastic as possible. In the bathroom, egg-shaped bath bombs have been supplied, that reveal tiny dino toys when they dissolve. There is a fossil box to “excavate” chocolate bones and in the wardrobe there are mini green dinosaur bathrobes.

These come in handy for a trip to the lovely pool, which is open to families between 8am and 8pm, and which also provides the first opportunity to hunt down one of the many dinosaurs hidden around the hotel, waiting to be ticked off.

If locating the pesky Spinosaurus gets too tricky, the friendly staff are more than happy to offer up some clues.

All that adventuring really works up an appetite but luckily the hotel’s restaurant Chico Latino, has something to offer even the most ravenous paleontologist.

A set menu of sushi and dim sum offers reassurance that there is still plenty for the grown ups, while spaghetti and meatballs, burgers and katsu curry are tempting options for littler tummies.

We had worried we might need to rush through our delicious dragon rolls and miso cod once the children found the dinosaurs hidden in the restaurant but luckily the live music offered on Saturday nights keeps them entertained until we are all ready to retreat upstairs to the T-rex nest.

After a slap-up breakfast of pancakes and omelettes back in the restaurant, the hunt for dinosaurs resumes in the morning. It takes us to the 12th floor River View Lounge (access costs extra but is included with a stay in the suite), where there is the opportunity to get some food and drinks away from the noisier offerings downstairs.

We find the Diplodocus hidden in the potted tree and can’t resist the chance to venture out onto the balcony, which offers spectacular views up and down the river. The Tate Britain is nestled behind trees just on the other side, while the London Eye looms down the road and there are buses and boats galore to spot for eager vehicle enthusiasts.

The hotel’s superb location means that great playgrounds are also a mere stone’s throw away if the paleontologists need a spot of fresh air. Jubilee Gardens, tucked away right under the Eye, is a welcome spot, as is Horseferry Playground in Victoria Tower Gardens, right next to the Houses of Parliament. On the other side of Parliament Square is the excellent playground in St James’s Park, all offering adventurers the chance to burn off some energy outside the hotel.

We take the chance to pop into the Paddington Bear Experience, just a short walk from the hotel by Westminster Bridge, for a brief alternative to dinosaur hunting. This outing offers adventure of another kind as we are tasked with helping Paddington track down enough Peruvian oranges to make marmalade for his Marmalade Day celebrations in Windsor Gardens.

The immersive experience is utterly captivating and the children are thrilled at the chance to hunt for lost teapots in the Brown family’s kitchen, seek out a lost map in the Peruvian jungle and make it back to London in time for the festivities with Paddington himself, who delights my daughter by hula hooping with her.

Then it’s back to the hotel to seek out the spoils of all our hard work of dinosaur-hunting. The children are presented with a certificate and stickers making them official Junior Paleontologists and they are delighted they get to keep their special explorer hats. The staff make such a fuss of their bravery and diligence that the children are positively beaming with pride by the end.

As we head off down the street, I swear I can hear the faint roar of a T-rex behind us.

The Natural History Museum Dinosaur Family Suite is available for stays from 8 October, from £650 per night. Book at parkplazariverbank.com/dino.