More about Whittlebury Hall Hotel And Spa
Good food, bedrooms and spa but poor organisation
by TripAdvisor Member JessicaBerry
I went to Whittlebury Hall with 3 friends for a birthday. This is the 5th year I have visited Whittlebury Hall and each year my review would read the same.
The food, bedrooms and spa facilities are excellent. We always go on one of their special deal packages and I feel it is excellent value for money and I get a lot more for my money than I would at another spa. However, the organisation is always poor, they usually end up sending the paperwork to the wrong address, they charge us incorrectly or forget to charge us for things (this is a plus point!) and there seems to be a general lack of communication between the front of house staff, the reservations department and the spa/beauty department.
Great spa!
by TripAdvisor Member LWFL
We stayed at Whittlebury Hall in Aug 06 on a "heat and ice" package booked through travel zoo. Included was an overnight stay, full board, 2 treatments and full use of the spa and leisure club. Room was very good, food was excellent - buffet breakfast and lunch and a 3 course evening dinner. The spa was very nice indeed. Definitely recommend going there and we will certainly be back again.
Great hotel, shame about the food...
by TripAdvisor Member NCL19
My boyfriend and I recently stayed at the Whittlebury Hall Hotel using a Travel Zoo deal which included the Heat & Ice Experience.
Upon a arrival we were greeted quickly and politely, check in went smoothly, til we got to our room which was suppose to be non smoking but stinking of smoke. We went back down and they quickly changed our room which was much bigger and more impressive and didn't smell of smoke.
The facilities are very nice, the Heat & Ice experience is lovely, very relaxing.
The hotel is lovely apart from the food, it is very poor quality. We had a set buffet in the Bentley restaurant. The service was very slow, the waitress didn't understand english very well which didn't help, the food was not hot nor cold, very sticky and mushy (was meant to be pasta), not a lot of choice if you don't eat seafood or pasta....dessert was cream and glacier cherries, classy? Not!
I have previosuly stayed here with a friend and we ate dinner in the a la carte restaurant which was more expensive and we were just as disappointed with the food, so 2 visits to the same hotel and both times with bad food, I don't think is acceptable for a 4 star hotel.
Overall, would recommend for the spa and relaxtion, but if you want good food then think again and pack a pack lunch/dinner and breakfast!!
Wow!! Fantastic staff, food, room and spa too!! Stop reading this and go now!
by TripAdvisor Member eliyza1
Went with my Mum of 65 and myself 36. Booked thru Travelzoo for a fantastic price of £89 pp inc room, leisure club, dinner, bed and breakfast and spa facillities inc, 2 treatments from a list each! I know, can't beleive what excellent value it was. NB, this offer is still available for Fri/sat or Sun/mon up until end of August 06.
From the moment we entered the hotel reception to book in, we were treated like royalty, bags carried for us, personally walked over to the Spa reception and introduced there, rooms are not ready until 3, but they keep your bags secure for you and give you a lovely waterproof "pump" bag to put in any belongings you may wish to take to the spa so you can enjoy the facilities there whilst you wait.
On the day of arrival you book in at the Spa but are not allowed to use their HEAT AND ICE EXPERIENCE (this is on our specific package) , however you are given a locker key and fluffy robes, towels and slippers and are shown the LEISURE CLUB AREA, this is where you spend the afternoon, plenty of free fruit and water inc. but should you wish to purchase drinks, of frshly made fruit smoothies or tea or many other things, friendly waiters will take your order over the phone at your lounger by the pool and bring it to you!!!!
The pool is 19 m long and is in a huge room which is painted with murals to look like a grecian temple, very relaxing and not too overdone. There are saunas, steam rooms, whirlpools and a spa bath that you can also use at your leisure as well as the pool. should you wish to you can also use their gym facillities and take part in their aerobic classes.
On return to our room, our baggage had already been put by our beds for us. There are plenty of lifts that made the 2nd floor room no problem at all for my arthritic mother.
The room was really really good. Excellent size, with new furnishings, every thing you could ever want was already in the room, no ringing down for use of an iron etc, it is all there for you. Inc. tea and coffee making fac.
Our evening meal was included and we went to the restaurant. Again top notch. Beautiful dining room, waitress service, very friendly and the food was excellent, my mum is a veggie and she enjoyed her selection too. Off our package this meal would of cost £30 according to the menu, which in itself would of been a very good price for the 3 courses and level of service and quality it contained. But amazingly it was included in our £89 package, still can't beleive it!
Next day back to spa, booked in for new locker, fluffy towels etc, now we could play in the heat and spa experience, this is a selection of rooms to heat you up to a ridiculous temp, then to cool you back down. Much better than I make it sound, and is very beneficial to skin and circulation, helping all those cellulite patches tighten up.
We could also use the leisure club facilities should we wish to swim or lounge. The treatments we rec'd were professionally carried out, and whilst it was obvious it was a bit of a conveyer belt with regard to the treatments, the therapists were professional and courteous, and we even paid extra for an extra treatment and felt very pleased with everything that we received. But at no time were we given any sales spele to purchase further treatments or products.
Again, lunch was included overlooking the pool, in a nice bistro type area. This was a buffet lunch which had lots of fresh top of the range salad items and hot dishes and fresh bread should you be really hungry.
Although you have to check out of your hotel room at 10, you are welcome at the spa and leisure club until 6 (i think) and with the fully equipped changing rooms, or hairdryers, comp. shower gel, shampoo and as many towels etc as you like, you really could get ready to go to your next stop without worrying about how you look, ie, a meeting or party or just home like us.
There is even a RELAXATION ROOM, which is a dark room with lots of beds with duvets so you could even get a proper sleep before you leave.
We travelled from Lockerbie in Scotland over 280 miles each way for this spa, (we didn't realise it was so far south) but we are already trying to book onto this package again. The drive down was easy and the end result is worth it.
YOU WILL LOVE IT AND EVERYTHING ABOUT IT!!!!!!
FAULTS.
Air conditioning really needs to be considered, but as everything else is 10/10 this seems quite churlish to mention
Whittlebury Review
by TripAdvisor Member Shirvin
A great hotel and lovely spa facilities create a lovely atmosphere for a relaxing and pampering break. The leisure facilities included a great swimming pool and whirlpool with Sauna and Steam Room.
For guests wishing a little extra pampering, they can pay a charge and use the Hot and Ice experience. This is a truly one off and is great, it combines spa's, massage, facials, ice cave and sauna's. It is worth it and is a good experience, however, I mean it is a good 'one off'.
The only let down in the hotel is the restaurants. They claim to have 2 rosettes for quality, but I must insist the food could have easily been found in the ready meals section at the microwave section in any supermarket. I really feel the whole experience was spoilt by very expensive and very bad food, is they can improve on this, the whole thing would be worth it.
All in all a good place, but under no cirumstances, don't eat here!!!
Fantastic Value
by TripAdvisor Member danandvik
Me and my Fiance booked this as a break from just moving house and at such fantastic value (£85 each) for full board, use of all facilities and 2 treatments, we couldn't wait.
The whole experience was brilliant, but had some minor complaints - when we checked in, couldn't have dinner untill 9pm - we were starving! Bed was rock hard and only had one bottle of shampoo and shower gel between us.
But other than that absolutely brilliant and would definately go back.
Great Internet package price, heat and ice fantastic, service poor
by TripAdvisor Member Bigbadcock
We stayed here in August on one of the hottest days of the year. The deal was £89 per person but included in that was 2 treatments of our choice each, heat and ice experience, buffet lunch, dinner, room and breakfast!! When you consider that each treatment would have cost £35 + this was a pretty awesome deal!!
We had to check in by 9 am for our treatment day so had to leave pretty early to get there and was a bit aggreived on arrival of not being able to go directly to our room which was a pain. They would be ready by 3 which was a bit late we thought. We were shown the facilities and the hot and cold treatments and given a pass and very good quality robes and slippers and a locker.
We had chosen the treatments when we booked and cannot fault the girls who did them, even though I'm a bloke who doesn't really like being touched by other people. The only slight criticsm would be that they chose the time for our treatment which kind of put a dent in the day.
We scoped the place out and then decided to have a drink after a couple of hours as we couldn't go to our room. Ordered a glass of champagne for the mrs which was from a bottle opened the night before and flat as water. Complained and grudgingly got a replacement after speaking to an English barman. The Pole who served it seemed to think this was funny. Seeing that we were the only people in the bar at 10.30 in the morning the service was appallingly slow and I just seemed to be ignored which did not inspire confidence!!
When we did eventually get to our room we were annoyed to find that the key didn't work - back to reception to get a new one. When we finally entered the room we found that there was a cot waiting for us - news to us that we had suddenly got a child!! We were disappointed to find that our bags had not been delivered as promised - more calls to reception. Whilst waiting for bags to arrive there was knocking on the door and people trying to get into our room - obviously the people who though the room was theirs and who the cot was for. After about half an hour of waiting for our bags and getting increasingly hot and pissed of my girlfreind phoned reception and after being passed from pillar to post demanded our luggage immediately - 2 minutes later it arrived along with a fan as there is no air con.
The room was itself a very good size with a decent sized bed, tea coffee facilities, tv, good quality carpet. No view in our room but we weren't going there to stare out the window!! The bathroom was a very good size and good quality with dual basins, large mirror, bath, separate shower and good quality white towels. There was a bit of scum on the countertop which considering the star rating and how long it took for us to get our room shouldn't have been but if you pay peanuts ya get monkeys as was becoming apparent. All things aside the room was nice.
Dinner was included in the package and was good although the service again was weird. Took ages to take our order and then get starter. However after that the non english speaking waitress rushed our other courses through.
The heat and ice experience - the spa really is top notch and the main draw for us of this place, the only real problem was the lack of cold drinking water - another major design flaw when everything esle is great why not install drinking fountains?!!! instead of jugs of water having to be replenished.
All in all it was an enjoyable experience at a fantastic price and we are going to go again even though it is a 2.5 hr drive away - the spa really is very relaxing. But the management really should invest in some decent staff and staff training and customer awareness and I think that the star rating should perhaps be reflected in how the staff treat people.
Recommended at a bargain price - if you paid more then you would be very annoyed!!
Really good break - unbelievable value for money
by TripAdvisor Member JLM36
I found a package on lastminute.com and couldn't believe the price. £120 for two for (wait for it.....) large twin room (which we requested instead of a double), 3 course dinner, very good breakfast, a day in the spa, a buffet lunch with £10 voucher thrown in.
Whilst the hotel on its own would not have gained many plaudits, the spa experience was great.
The management may well have taken on board previous comments about the staff, because we found everything ran extremely smoothly - no problems whatsoever with any service - in fact, it was almost over-solicitous on some occasions.
I was disappointed that the massage and facial we signed up for were so quick that we only had 20 minutes of actual treatment.
When taken with the spa package, this is incredible value for money.
Great treaments, shame about the restaurant staff!
by TripAdvisor Member Alex&Stephen
The treatments and spa facilities are great, the lunch which was provided as part of our 'Hen' package was fine, but the service was appauling! I was the hen of the party and when I arrived after all my friends to the buffet lunch, they all had champagne, so not only did I have to ask for mine, but when I did so I was questioned if it was part of the package I had paid for!!
Also as a large group, all our treatments were at different times so it was difficult to meet up during the day. Probably better for smaller groups.
Very rude and unhelpful waiting staff really took the shine off the day...not to mention the 45 minute wait for a cream tea at the end of the day!! Is a shame as it was a special day my friends and I had really been looking forward to and the staff in the restaurant left us all feeling badly about our experience.
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