The Spa at The Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel & Spa Reviews
Parkgate Road, Chester, Cheshire, CH66 9PB
Check availability and book onlineReviews are written by customers after their visit.
311 reviews
Enjoyable stay and location perfect as close to the town if you want to venture out for food or drinks.
The staff made our stay complete we were made welcome from the moment we checked in to the moment we left really impressed. Facilities and accommodation first rate SPA excellent👍👍👍👍
Absolutely loved our day, the place was spotless, the staff very friendly and we left feeling very relaxed! We would definitely come back. The afternoon tea was delicious! The only negative was trying to get in touch via phone beforehand to book and confirm the treatments, nobody was answering the phone and the voicemail box was full.
After visiting Craxton twice before and being really impressed, after this latest trip we've decided we probably wont return. The facilities are really beautiful and everything you would want from a spa (apart from the toilet in reception, which is loose from the wall and feels like its going to fall off when you sit on it) The management of it was somewhat lacking on the day of our visit, and leading up to it. From day one I had trouble contacting and getting a return phone call or email from Charlotte who manages bookings, after about 5 or 6 attempts I finally got through, it took a couple of days of 'she will call you back'. She didn't.
On arrival, we were given robes and towels yet no slippers (as stated in my paperwork) so I was barefoot all day. I was looking forward to my hot stones massage, which once begun was quite rough albeit with great technique: the masseuse brushed my body down with what felt like a wire brush, tipped cold oil onto me without warning and then applied lots of pressure without checking how I would like it done. It then appeared to be cut short, as the shoulders and chest were missed off. I've had the treatment many times before and always had that included.
Then it came to our lunch, although nice food and wine, it took hours. We were dining from around 2pm to just before 4pm and you could see that there just weren't enough staff as they were under so much pressure, trying their best. I had to cancel my desert through waiting far too long for it to arrive. We wanted to use the pool and relaxation facilities and time was running out so we decided to take our coffee outside to the rear of the spa; it was a sunny day and there were loungers there, however, they were filled by a few people who weren't even having a spa day, they had come in through the dining area wearing gym gear, then went out to the back and we watched them park up on the loungers, take a bottle of wine from their bag and sit there drinking it. There was limited room for spa goers because of them. We finally managed to move some free loungers so we could use the area and at this point families descended on the pool area and were making such a noise, any kind of relaxation impossible. Now we aren't against kids playing and having a good time but it sounded like we were sat at the side of the community swimming pool, not at a relaxing spa, which we had paid nearly £200 to be at. To avoid the noise, we shifted to the sauna and steam room, but it was so busy with families in the pool area we could still hear the screaming in there. We gave up.
Maybe the place was suffering from Bank Holiday Monday blues and was just too busy, or the spa is being compromised by sharing the facilities with gym memberships. Who knows. Either way we were left quite dissatisfied. At the beginning of the day we talked of coming back with our partners for an over night stay, at the end, not a chance sorry.
we were greeted by the spa manager, who was a little bit rude - she wouldn't book us in until we had sent our email conformation of price (even though a staff member told me when i called to book my treatments in said i didnt need to bring any conformation) luckily i had an email on my phone from lastminute,com, i tried to send the email to the spa manager however there is no signal in the spa so it wasnt sending through - she then said if i could sign up to the wifi so she could receive the email - and did not let us go into the spa until we had done this , this took an hour, i then informed her our treatment was at 11 as it was 11.05 - she said dont worry they wont mind (presuming this was the beauty therapists) we sat down as instructed and waited 45 minutes for somebody to collect us (as advised) nobody came until i asked, the therapists then apologised and sorted us out.
The spa itself was beautiful and really top spec, we enjoyed some lunch and relaxed in all the saunas & our treatment was amazing. I cannot fault the spa - i usually go to a different spa but i was really impressed by Craxton Wood & the value for money on the deal was better than anywhere else i have been.
It was just unfortunate that the Spa Manager put a downer on the whole experience (we soon forgot after our lunch & a swim though)
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