I want to leave a fair honest review. Booking our spa day was a nightmare, and took for a complaint to actually get booked on, was a voucher so already paid for.
Things started to look up at this point, as we had our spa treatments at the same time and afternoon tea booked in, only to receive a phone call 2 days prior to say we can no longer have our treatments at the same time and they was hours apart meaning we had to change our afternoon tea time, this put a damper on everything because we’d be spending 2 hours apart.
On arrival, we went to the main entrance where a lovely guy greeted us straight away, gave us a map, circled all the places we needed to go and was just lovely, so we go to the leisure facilities where another lovely man (Star Trek fan) was also so lovely, showed us around, really polite, just great. The spa facilities are disappointing, and there was grandmas with their loud grandchildren splashing and making a lot of noise, which was not relaxing. We went in the pool doing lengths only to be splashed constantly by these kids and couldn’t hear ourselves talk so we just got out. There’s not many lounges there, and not much to do. We went for a cup of tea and the bar staff was all so lovely, fast service too, though we felt uncomfortable because we was in robes, some was in normal clothes, others golf clothes, and then some in suits and nice dresses, so we was just uncomfortable being sat there. Then we decided to walk together to the treatment room, and luckily there was a relaxation room and there was 2 women in there also waiting for treatments, then a lady come up and said basically one from my party and one from their party are booked on now, and the other from my Party and the other from theirs was booked on at the same time too so did we want to swap so we get ours together and they get theirs together, which was obviously a massive yes but begs the question why they rang us with bad news to change ours so we had separate times, when they could of rang the other party with good news that they can now be together? (They originally booked different times because it’s all they had when booking as they told us) Anyway, rosher, my masseuse, was incredible, funny, made you feel comfortable, and really good at her job. Then was the afternoon tea, there was ample staff on but service was quite slow yet really good when they did come to you, which sounds bizarre, there was only 2 tables dining in the restaurant. Afternoon tea was tasty, well presented, plenty of, could of done with Yorkshire tea though… the tea was just really weak, but didn’t ruin it. We got to take our cakes home as we didn’t manage to eat it all. The music was really bad though, it was top topic of our conversations. I wouldn’t book again, only because the little spa facilities and the loud kids, which is a shame because the treatments and afternoon tea was great.
Mark Kent298 days ago
What a lovely Sunday Spa overnight at the Priory.
We started with a very relaxing massage and were not disappointed with anything during our overnight stay there! The three course meal was delicious (try the cheesecake). The gym was brilliant with a weights room, a large cardio studio, and a fitness studio. The pool is in close proximity to the jacuzzi, a sauna, a steam room and tanning room. None of this was very busy and we never had to wait.
All of this surrounded by the gorgeous Priory grounds and two lovely golf courses.
We definitely plan to be back.
Andrea Myers298 days ago
We have just come back from a week's stay at this pretty hotel and have had a lovely relaxing time. I had stayed here over 15 years ago and so was worried it wouldn't be as nice as I remembered but it was just as good. The grounds are superbly maintained, the room well appointed and clean. The team on front desk were swift checking us in and anytime we rang down for anything responded swiftly, including bringing buckets of ice and a 'care package' when my ten year old had a migraine, nice touch. We were missed by housekeeping on a couple of days but once we rang to alert them, they were on it swiftly. The spa has to be the hotels biggest selling point, beautiful pool, outside sunbathing area and great jacuzzi, steam and sauna. The spa dressing rooms are the best I have ever used, they thought of everything! The only reason I can't give this place 5 stars is because of how it is ran, mainly as a golf club. The sports bar, which was one of the few buildings with air conditioning ( it's been 30 plus degrees this week) shut at 6pm most days which meant all the hotel guests and golfers were all using the main hotel bar and restaurant. Some evenings, the language and behaviour of some of the golf guests was not appropriate for a family hotel and that for people with young children is a issue. Also, the sports bar said it did snacks at lunch but only once did they have a chef there to facilitate, again meaning you had to use the expensive main resturant if you wanted a midday snack. There is no air conditioning in the main accomodation block so a bigger pedestal fan might have made our stay more comfortable, the little desk fan in the room did nothing and at times, the room was unbearably hot. Otherwise though, a good stay and we enjoyed it, we would book again but maybe in the off season when there are less golfers.
Val Wells298 days ago
Stayed here over the weekend to celebrate a friends 60th birthday. 10 adults with 4 playing golf, we fully understand that this is a golfing venue hence our choice, however it was rowdy and noisy with large groups of men that were playing golf, we couldnt hear ourselves think over the noise let alone converse in our group in the restaurant. This is not a complaint but a snapshot of our experience, and for anyone wanting to stay and not be playing golf this is not a relaxing venue. The hospitality sector is struggling to recruit and staff shortages are evident here too, the bar staff were under great pressure, and I applaud their patience with some of their not so patient drunk golfers. There is a golf etiquette on the course, and this should be applied to the hotel too. To note, the golf guests should be restricted to the back area of the hotel with use of the bar facilities here. Whilst other guests have the front restaurant and bar, it would make a better arrangement for all Fine dining this is not. 4* is questionable.
Jeff Perrin359 days ago
A group of eight of us, stayed for two nights with golf, as a 70th birthday treat for a colleague. On arrival we gathered in the Tempo bar for coffees mid afternoon, we asked which food was available, only to be told that there would not be any food available until 6.00 pm, then that would be in the main restaurant. Our evening meal was great and the staff were pleasant, after the meal we retired to the bar area, probably about 9.00 pm. When we tried to order drinks, there was nobody in sight, not in the bar area or restaurant. After about ten minutes, another guest approached us and said that she wanted to pay her bill, but couldn't find a member of staff either. We banged on the kitchen door and a member of staff appeared, with an apology I might add, At 10.15 the barmaid, came to tell us that it was last orders and that they would now stop serving as the bar was closing. I explained that the closing time was stated as being 11.00 pm, so why were they now closing the bar? I was told that she had been instructed by the duty manager to close the bar, we asked to speak to her for an explanation, however she was too busy apparently. She would also not disclose the duty managers name, as she said 'she wasn't allowed to'. As it was last orders, I asked for four drinks. She replied that she could not serve four drinks to one person, even though it was a round for four people.....unbelievable! We were not drunk or rowdy either as we are all quite old and just wanted to celebrate a friends birthday. After much discussion we were served our drinks, then going to bed early. The next day after golf, we again went into the Tempo bar, this time a snack menu was on show, when we tried to order food, the staff informed us that, it seems only toasties were available, as nobody had been trained to cook the chips or the pizzas, even though they were on the menu board. On a plus note the staff were very helpful and did what they could, it seems that the problems lie elsewhere with this business.
Rajeev Chopra1 year ago
We booked a spa day overall it was a nice relaxed day. We had the inclusive breakfast buffet and the lunch. We had treatments booked together, the full body massage was great. The gym and wet areas were good unfortunately the hot tub went out of order while we were there so we were not able to use it for long. The atmosphere and history of the building was really nice and a great experience.
Sue Davies2 years ago
Absolutely amazing place. Came here for my Birthday Suprise. Nothing to fault. Friendly welcome from Charlotte. Our room 353. Stunning views. Spacious. And food was excellent, plenty of choice at Breakfast. Thank you for such a lovely birthday weekend. The grounds are amazing too. Definitely recommend and look forward to coming back soon. Lovely touches box of chocolates and the happy birthday in chocolate on the. Thank you.
Arthur Barnes2 years ago
Family weekend, with a mobility restricted adult and a picky teenager. The welcome was warm and professional- we needed a room that was easy to get to with a person of limited mobility and our requirements had been understood and addressed.
The sprawling site was a little off putting but the hotel thoughtfully arranged a golf buggy (and driver) to help ferry the less mobile member of the group around and were responsive when asked at 10 mins notice when we needed to get around.
The staff are friendly and engaging, the food is very nice and the menu was varied.
The pool is a nice size and well maintained with decent changing rooms and pleasant staff.
Wifi is fine and easy to access.
None of us are golfers , but the golfers seemed happy enough... so if that's your thing I'd say go for it.
Special mention to Charlotte who was an absolute gem!
Things started to look up at this point, as we had our spa treatments at the same time and afternoon tea booked in, only to receive a phone call 2 days prior to say we can no longer have our treatments at the same time and they was hours apart meaning we had to change our afternoon tea time, this put a damper on everything because we’d be spending 2 hours apart.
On arrival, we went to the main entrance where a lovely guy greeted us straight away, gave us a map, circled all the places we needed to go and was just lovely, so we go to the leisure facilities where another lovely man (Star Trek fan) was also so lovely, showed us around, really polite, just great.
The spa facilities are disappointing, and there was grandmas with their loud grandchildren splashing and making a lot of noise, which was not relaxing. We went in the pool doing lengths only to be splashed constantly by these kids and couldn’t hear ourselves talk so we just got out. There’s not many lounges there, and not much to do.
We went for a cup of tea and the bar staff was all so lovely, fast service too, though we felt uncomfortable because we was in robes, some was in normal clothes, others golf clothes, and then some in suits and nice dresses, so we was just uncomfortable being sat there.
Then we decided to walk together to the treatment room, and luckily there was a relaxation room and there was 2 women in there also waiting for treatments, then a lady come up and said basically one from my party and one from their party are booked on now, and the other from my Party and the other from theirs was booked on at the same time too so did we want to swap so we get ours together and they get theirs together, which was obviously a massive yes but begs the question why they rang us with bad news to change ours so we had separate times, when they could of rang the other party with good news that they can now be together? (They originally booked different times because it’s all they had when booking as they told us)
Anyway, rosher, my masseuse, was incredible, funny, made you feel comfortable, and really good at her job.
Then was the afternoon tea, there was ample staff on but service was quite slow yet really good when they did come to you, which sounds bizarre, there was only 2 tables dining in the restaurant. Afternoon tea was tasty, well presented, plenty of, could of done with Yorkshire tea though… the tea was just really weak, but didn’t ruin it. We got to take our cakes home as we didn’t manage to eat it all. The music was really bad though, it was top topic of our conversations.
I wouldn’t book again, only because the little spa facilities and the loud kids, which is a shame because the treatments and afternoon tea was great.
We started with a very relaxing massage and were not disappointed with anything during our overnight stay there!
The three course meal was delicious (try the cheesecake).
The gym was brilliant with a weights room, a large cardio studio, and a fitness studio. The pool is in close proximity to the jacuzzi, a sauna, a steam room and tanning room.
None of this was very busy and we never had to wait.
All of this surrounded by the gorgeous Priory grounds and two lovely golf courses.
We definitely plan to be back.
The hospitality sector is struggling to recruit and staff shortages are evident here too, the bar staff were under great pressure, and I applaud their patience with some of their not so patient drunk golfers. There is a golf etiquette on the course, and this should be applied to the hotel too.
To note, the golf guests should be restricted to the back area of the hotel with use of the bar facilities here. Whilst other guests have the front restaurant and bar, it would make a better arrangement for all
Fine dining this is not. 4* is questionable.
On arrival we gathered in the Tempo bar for coffees mid afternoon, we asked which food was available, only to be told that there would not be any food available until 6.00 pm, then that would be in the main restaurant.
Our evening meal was great and the staff were pleasant, after the meal we retired to the bar area, probably about 9.00 pm.
When we tried to order drinks, there was nobody in sight, not in the bar area or restaurant.
After about ten minutes, another guest approached us and said that she wanted to pay her bill, but couldn't find a member of staff either.
We banged on the kitchen door and a member of staff appeared, with an apology I might add,
At 10.15 the barmaid, came to tell us that it was last orders and that they would now stop serving as the bar was closing.
I explained that the closing time was stated as being 11.00 pm, so why were they now closing the bar?
I was told that she had been instructed by the duty manager to close the bar, we asked to speak to her for an explanation, however she was too busy apparently.
She would also not disclose the duty managers name, as she said 'she wasn't allowed to'.
As it was last orders, I asked for four drinks.
She replied that she could not serve four drinks to one person, even though it was a round for four people.....unbelievable!
We were not drunk or rowdy either as we are all quite old and just wanted to celebrate a friends birthday.
After much discussion we were served our drinks, then going to bed early.
The next day after golf, we again went into the Tempo bar, this time a snack menu was on show, when we tried to order food, the staff informed us that, it seems only toasties were available, as nobody had been trained to cook the chips or the pizzas, even though they were on the menu board.
On a plus note the staff were very helpful and did what they could, it seems that the problems lie elsewhere with this business.
The sprawling site was a little off putting but the hotel thoughtfully arranged a golf buggy (and driver) to help ferry the less mobile member of the group around and were responsive when asked at 10 mins notice when we needed to get around.
The staff are friendly and engaging, the food is very nice and the menu was varied.
The pool is a nice size and well maintained with decent changing rooms and pleasant staff.
Wifi is fine and easy to access.
None of us are golfers , but the golfers seemed happy enough... so if that's your thing I'd say go for it.
Special mention to Charlotte who was an absolute gem!