Eastwell Manor, Champneys Hotel & Spa

Breakfast was very good and service was excellent

Booking in and out at reception was bad

Room was lovely and grounds are beautiful. Spa treatments and spa pool and facilities are very good. The spa customer service was very good.

The service unfortunately was poor in the main hotel, particularly at breakfast, a pre booked time was needed, yet when we arrived for breakfast we were made to wait. We were then sat at a dirty table, had to ask for menus and the service generally was poor. This was not expected at this calibre of hotel and for the price paid.

Loved our experience at the Sage restaurant, lovely atmosphere, the food was delicious and staff were wonderful. Hakeem was brilliant, polite, friendly and couldn’t do more. We would definitely recommend this restaurant.

So I am writing this review for people thinking of visiting Eastwell Manor not because I think it will make a difference as Management do not appear to read these reviews. So we were a party of 3. This was a special birthday treat for my husband and myself from our friend. She booked an overnight stay with breakfast, lunch and dinner and a number of spa treatments. On arrival an arrogant member staff immediately informed my friend that she had underpaid when booking. She was embarrassed and very upset and paid this alleged amount due. She rechecked her invoice later and this was incorrectand although she got a refund there was little in the way of an apology. She had been informed by email the day before that the Gardenia restaurant did not open mid week and we were now eating in the Sage restaurant. This has an extremely limited menu not to our taste so we cancelled the booking and went out to dinner meaning we had to take a cab so my husband could have a drink. We then went to the spa which is looking very tired and needs a good clean. Lunch at the Sage was OK but not memorable and the server explained that the package we had was only to a certain value (which limited the choices even more if you did not want to pay extra). We had extras which could not be added to the room but must be paid now! Then she insisted we book a time for breakfast as they cannot just allow you to turn up as the restaurant is not very big! Then we got our rooms assigned and despite my friend clearly asking for as few steps as possible ( she had a knee replacement operation in January) we were put in the mews and both bedrooms were up a long flight of stairs! The mews accommodation was ok but the bathroom was tired and the heated towel rail very hot! Next morning we arrived at the Sage restaurant for breakfast as booked and were told we were not booked in! I pointed out the server who had insisted we book but he ignored that and went off to check if we had paid for breakfast. He returned and seated us and then we were told how much we had to spend which only covered the price of the toast and jam. Everything else on the menu would incur additional charges...again! A couple sitting next to us were clearly regulars as all the staff knew them. They asked how we had found our stay and they said...'its gone to pot and we will not be returning'. Neither will we. The treatments were fine but overall a very disappointing experience. Staff need some customer care training. Management need to start a refurbishment programme. Such a shame as it could all be wonderful.

My partner and I stayed at Eastwell Manor on Sunday 3rd May, and unfortunately the experience was very different to what we had expected. We would like to share our experience and would be keen to understand what you would be able to do to help put this right. We booked a package that included “accommodation for the duration of your stay, 3 course dinner, lunch and continental breakfast”, arrival from 3pm on the Sunday and departure by 4pm on the Monday. Our experience didn’t start well – at around 12.30 on the Sunday we received a brief and blunt call to say that “there were lots of turnovers, so please don’t arrive until 4pm”. We delayed our arrival as requested but were still greeted by a large queue of people waiting for their rooms to be ready/to be checked in. After we had been waiting for a while somebody did then offer us a drink and apologised for the delay, but prior to this it hadn’t been a particularly friendly welcome – the staff were very clearly overwhelmed and stressed. Surely the hotel knew in advance how many people would be arriving/when and would have been able to arrange for rooms to be ready (or alternate solutions if there was a sudden bout of staff absence?) There was lots of confusion over what meal package we were entitled to – I understand that this may be the result of the “Sage” restaurant opening recently, but it was clear that what this meant for guests hadn’t been shared consistently with staff. We received multiple different interpretations of what was allowed, and heard other people similarly being offered different things again. Regardless of the changes within the hotel, as the package had been prebooked, surely what we had bought should have been honoured? Or if this wasn’t possible for logistical reasons then this should have been outlined in advance. The level of credit that was offered for use was not appropriate given what the package had been sold as. We ate dinner in the Gardenia restaurant and fortunately did not experience the horror stories that other people shared with us. Due to the level of credit offered, the only option we could consider to remain “within budget” was the set menu. The restaurant was relatively busy and service could be improved but overall it was acceptable, albeit not of a standard that one would expect when (without offers) our package should have cost £450 for the night. Having said this, I do feel that the dining room needs some attention – we were sat at the back corner and there was wallpaper peeling off with silverfish crawling around. Not what you would expect to see whilst eating in a luxury hotel/restaurant. The breakfast experience was appalling. As a starting point, despite booking a time as advised we needed to wait 10 minutes to be seated and then were waiting over an hour for some water/a pot of tea. Our package should have included a full continental breakfast, but we were told that we had an allowance of £6.50 each which would be taken off the bill. This didn’t cover the full cost of the majority of the items. Another member of staff told us that we could choose from the starred items at no additional cost - this extended the choice slightly. When thinking about a continental breakfast, I would normally assume this to be a buffet – to include water, juice, hot drinks, fruit, cereal, yogurt AND pastries as a minimum. We were allowed to choose one of the above only. Again, it appears that we were some of the lucky ones – after around 90 minutes we did receive our food – a small fruit salad with a spoonful of yogurt, and a pre-made (?) waffle with a couple of pieces of fruit on. The table next to us needed to leave before their food arrived – but had still been waiting 1h30 before they gave up. The staff were exceptionally stressed and were very much overwhelmed/in panic mode. The poor waiter who was responsible for the drinks was wandering around seemingly not sure what he needed to do/in what order. The majority of breakfast dishes available are very simple and could have been pre-prepared if you were wanting to do table service rather than a buffet option. Given that breakfast times were booked in advance and staggered, I am very confused as to how this went so wrong. Our lunch was a better experience than we were expecting given breakfast – the food was nice, although we were very limited with our budget. I don’t know what “lunch” was included before Sage opened but the credit available didn’t cover the cost of a sandwich for example. There was, however, an exceptionally long wait – this was better than breakfast but it is unclear how it possibly took so long for a relatively small number of people to be served from a fairly simple menu. The spa area is looking very dated/tired. I understand there is a hole in the ceiling of the ladies changing room and we were told that more than half of the lockers didn’t work. In the gents, there was constantly water all over the floor from the shower/toilets and the extractor fans were covered in rust. I understood that the spa was meant to be very luxurious – but I have had much better experiences at my local leisure centre. The indoor hydropool was too cold to use, there were tiles missing in the steam room, just to highlight a couple of things. In any event, we were somewhat restricted in our ability to use the facilities given the delayed check-in times and excessive time over breakfast. The bedroom was functional, but again somewhat tired looking. It was excessively hot due to the towel rail in the bathroom being on at full blast without a way to turn this off. The skylight in the bathroom was mouldy and clearly hadn’t been cleaned for quite some time. Additionally the hot water tank (?) which is outside the bedroom door made noises throughout the night – presumably when our neighbours used their bathroom. This led to an exceptionally poor quality night’s sleep. It was clear that we were not the only people impacted, and overwhelmingly the conversations that we overheard throughout our stay were exceptionally negative. Guests that had stayed previously remarked that this was not the usual experience – and that whilst they had previously been very keen to return they were less sure if this would be the case had been their first experience, they also expressed that they would need significant incentive to return again. For us, this was intended to be a very special, relaxing stay following on from the good reviews we’ve heard over the years. As well as local praise from friends, my parents were regular guests at Champneys in Tring 30 years ago and were always exceptionally positive about their experiences. After a very stressful period of time, and to help celebrate my partner’s birthday, we were finally in a position to experience this for ourselves. Unfortunately our stay fell far short of our expectations. Our feeling is that we booked a package, the content of which was subsequently changed. Guests were not informed effectively and clearly of what this meant for their stay resulting in a lot of confusion. Communication of the changes with staff was evidently not effective as several were stating differing options adding to the confusion. Ultimately several guests were very angry and unfortunately took this out on the staff. While this is inappropriate it is also not acceptable for a company to put their staff in such a position. Unfortunately everyone working at Eastwell manner looked like they were having an incredibly stressful weekend which felt a direct result of poor management and communication with staff.

The location and the staff

All meals had to be taken in the spa, which resembled a cafeteria. No fine dining was available in the house.

One of the best aspects of our experience was Will, the maitre d’ in the Gardenia restaurant. He was welcoming, attentive and so helpful in making our dinners there a great experience. In addition, the food was excellent quality and the venue spacious and lovely. We had some difficulty with the room, however. The safe was not functional and we asked three different employees to please fix it as it was probably just left unusable by a previous tenant. Three days and three requests and it was never dealt with. The bathroom only had a high tub with shower over but adequate space for a separate shower which would be far better. Water pressure barely acceptable and bath drainage poor. The bathroom sorely in need of renovation. The hotel itself requires numerous repairs to peeling wallpaper, damp spots, old carpet, grubby lift and aging furnishings but it still exudes a great deal of charm and we enjoyed our stay. The grounds are beautiful and well-kept. The spa is pretty basic compared to continental spas and too spread out and far from the hotel to be easy for those with mobility issues. The water in pools and jacuzzi not exactly warm and the spa facility also shows signs that an upgrade would be beneficial. Definitely not impressive.

We had a lovely dinner at Sage restaurant. The service was excellent. Special mention to Asman for being so helpful and accommodating. We would definitely return.

Excellent, attentive service from Manoj and colleagues. Very well prepared and tasty food with a good choice of options. Highly recommended.

We stayed the night to attend a charity event. Whilst the staff in the hotel were helpful on the night our room was very disappointing. We stayed in one of the Mews lodges rooms, on arrival there was an odd smell in the room.. at 4am walking into the bathroom it became clear what the smell was.. Drains! the bathroom stank of drains. The room in general was very tired, the door frame and door to bathroom dirty, generally all the paintwork was tired, the basin plug stuck down, the taps loose, the bureau missing a knob on the front, and the bedroom carpet had multiple stains. No plugs at bedside to plug in a phone charger. Things didn’t get any better in the morning..We were booked for breakfast included and on meeting a very officious lady at the restaurant in the morning were redirected to the spa restaurant.. no idea why as our friends were in main restaurant?! The spa restaurant had a very limited menu and only 1 staff member working service was dreadfully slow! After a very enjoyable night the room and the morning experience was really disappointing. Not at all what i’d expect from Champneys!