We chose this hotel purely on location and local area knowledge for a weekend spa break. This time I booked through lastminute.com as they offer a cancellation policy whereby booking direct with the hotel none is offered. I booked it at least a month in advance and immediately contacted the hotel to pre book our treatments and dinner as advised on my booking confirmation, and having stayed here previously I knew how important it is to pre book anything! However contacting the hotel is easier said than done...the 0845 number lets you choose the department you want...I choose the spa only to be greeted with a voicemail saying the mail box if full please try later. I tried later, it went to voice mail and said a member of the team would respond as soon as possible. I did not get a returned call, I eventually got through and spoke to a real person in the spa only to be told that the spa is very busy that day but they could squeeze us in...didn't convey much confidence in us receiving a relaxing treatment if we were going to be squeezed in. We had the same problem booking dinner...left several messages on the voicemail, emailed and then eventually spoke to a real person who again said the restaurant is fully booked, they could only give us a table at 9pm, when I questioned why they are still offering spa packages with treatments and dinner when they are obviously full she told me I would have to take that up with central reservations. The general manager was quite alarmed to hear that I had left messages on the restaurant voice mail - as she said "they do not have any answering machine facilities" I get the impression that what ever you challenge them with they are always in the right and will never admit to doing wrong.
Our spa break date eventually arrived and I must say it all ran smoothly despite the booking hiccups. We arrived slightly earlier than our check in time but this was not a problem our room was ready, reception staff were attentive and friendly (more so than on a previous visit), however I did make a point of stating what spa package we had booked as it included a cream tea and a glass of fizz, if I had not of asked we would not have got the voucher to exchange at the bar!
Our spa treatment was booked for later that evening and it was very nice, we chose not to visit the swimming pool as on a previous break we were very disappointed to find that childrens hours were 3-6pm sat evening and 9-11am sunday morning (prime time in my opinion for any one on a weekend spa break). Our last visit the pool was over run with gym members and their children, a warning would have been nice so that we could have planned around those times. Having spoke to the manager his attitude was "we are a hotel not a spa"!! The spa facilities are very nice and there is a lovely relaxation room with loungers, blankets and dimmed lighting where you can chill after or before treatments however it is no where big enough for the amount of spa guests-has about 10 chairs and management could do with some signs enforcing the "relaxation" aspect of the room - a hen party overtook the room, ruining the ambience by being very loud and inconsiderate. Dinner was what you would expect from a hotel, nicely presented and tasty and over priced.However as expected because we were booked in at 9pm, a lot of the menu was unavailable and were not even told until we came to order, this could have been pointed out when we were seated with the menus. Service was slow, drinks took along time to arrive, we had to ask for dessert but I really do not think its the waiters fault-they really do their best but there simply is not enough staff.
Bedrooms are pleasant, well equipped and adequate, a bit more sound proofing would be useful as we were woken several times by large groups coming back from the bar up until 4am!
Overall it was a nice hotel, nice area, and a nice time was had. don't go expecting spa standards as it is Quote spa manager "a hotel with spa facilities"
