The Spa Hotel

My partner and I stayed at this hotel as a last minute romantic/chill out break, and we really enjoyed our stay. I booked on the morning of our arrival, (Saturday), and there was only one room left - a deluxe twin. At £150 it's a bit pricey, but if you use the facilities and make use of the hotel features, such as walking in the grounds, going for a sauna/steam or sitting by the log fire reading the papers, it's worth it. I asked if we could check out a couple of hours late on Sunday and this was allowed at no extra charge. Our room was spacious, pleasantly decorated, with a good size bathroom, although a bit too warm, even with the radiator turned off. There is a safe in the room, tea and coffee and complimentary toiletries. The staff were spot-on: attentive without being overbearing and friendly without being insincere. One of the gym members left her lunch to come and show me where the jogging track was outside. The pool is a bit on the small side, so more for a dip than a swim, but the gym is fine, there are also tennis courts. The hotel provides a wide range of services - will frank and post your mail, arrange babysitting, prepare you a picnic to take out, etc. Dinner was lovely, the dining room is large but still warm, so with a (low key) pianist and friendly staff the atmosphere was 'relaxed smart'. Wines are available by the glass as well as bottle, so we were able to have both red and white with our meal. There were 2 weddings going on there when we were there, but this did not impinge on our stay, (although it did create a somewhat boisterous atmosphere at breakfast the next morning when some of the guests clinked their plates, in the Italian tradition to encourage the bride and groom to have a kiss!) The food at dinner is a bit overfussed, (eg flowery menu descriptions and quite rich), but tasty, and the cooked breakfast was perfect. Tunbridge Wells is a few minutes away by car, (or about 20 mins walking), so if you didnt want to hang around the hotel you could go there for shopping or dinner. For a relaxing break in a 'country' (ish) hotel, with a choice of activities both in and outside of the hotel, this is a good choice.

The Hotel Slogan ' The English Experience' is really quite apt for this hotel in the historic town of Royal Tunbrudge Wells. The hotel was very clean and well appointed but with reminders of an English hotel of yesteryear. The room was quite acceptable, reasonable spacious with a nice bathroom (irritatingly poor quality toilet paper!) and with A/C. The furnishing was rather old fashioned but we understand that a programme of room rennovation is underway and flat screen TVs were mentioned!! The room was let down by an uninspiring view over the roof of the spa but a room at the back only to be expected on a weekend deal package (which mysteriously included £10 of Marks and Spencer Vouchers thrown in!?!). The Spa and Gym facilities were very acceptable and the free tea, coffee and fruit made an impressive addition. Non-guests are also members of the Spa and it can apparently get quite crowded at peak hours. The Equestrian Bar made us smile, a veritible time warp into the 1970s but clean and pleasant with tasty upmarket snacks on each table. The restaurant had a nice atmosphere complemented by the pianist and extremely attentive staff. The evening meal was acceptable, a large choice of nicely constructed and present ed dishes. My meal was slightly let down by a flavourless piece of beef but overall not bad. Those pretent vegtarians who actually eat fish should note that 2 of the 3 fish dishes contained meat although there was a seperate vegetarian option. The deserts were a real triumph and the Chocolate and Nut Symphony is not to be missed by chocolate lovers. Breakfast was a bit of a low point. A small buffet of fruit, meats and cheeses not well stocked - he pain-au-chocolat was foul. The cooked breakfast was restricted to a full english (no fish or vegetarian option). The poached egg and black pudding were overcooked, the sausage poor quality and the potatoes were clearly mass produced frozen affairs. It also took three attempts to get a variation on the standard breakfast with no meat. However, the service both in the restaurant, lounge and throughout the hoteland spa was excellent and everything you would expect from the best of hotels. In summary, not perfect, but not bad!

The Spa Hotel in Tunbridge Wells is nothing short of perfect. Its a fantastic hotel. The rooms are lovely, as are the facilities. The staff are extremely friendly and professional. In addition the food is absolutely out of this world and the service in the dining room second to none. I booked 3 rooms for a family celebration and had many requests regarding the types of rooms and the fact we wanted one decorated with Happy Birthday banners. All requests were met. Nothing is too much trouble for the staff at this hotel. I stay in a lot of hotels, many good ones but I do feel the Spa Hotel is the best ever. It is highly recommended!

Stayed for one night, standard room was decent but very old, large bathroom, no AC or Internet. Hotel does have a great gym and breakfast. Good location to town. Only problem was staff crashing around the hal ways in the early am oblivious that people may actually be sleeping.

Just returned from weekend spa break at The Spa Hotel, Tunbridge Wells. We had been so worried as had read awful reviews of this hotel, but as soon as we arrived our worries disappeared. The hotel is very elegant and decorated in traditional English style with log fires in the reception and plenty of well mannered helpful staff on hand. We arrived at 11.30am and enquired whether we could check in realising we were very early. No problem at all, our room was ready, really lovely room and immaculate bathroom overlooking the hotel grounds. It included all the necessary amenities you might need, including slippers and tea/coffee. We were not disturbed at all by functions going on in the hotel, even though there was a wedding and an evening event taking place. Our break included breakfast and dinner, both were excellent. Plenty of choice and good wine list. The hotel does have bar but this was very smokey, so we chose to have drinks in the reception area round the log fires, much nicer. The hotel also has gym and pool facilities, both were excellent with spotless changing rooms and even a ladies only sauna. We both had various spa treatments which we enjoyed and these were great value for money. We will definately be returning to this elegant and friendly hotel in the not too distant future.

What a disastrous stay, and it was only for one night. My husband and I were booked in as part of a family wedding group, staying there one night before the wedding, and moving to the Hotel du Vin for the wedding and the second night's stay. What a contrast! Firstly our room was impossible to find, and we had to give up and return to reception for help. The man led us up and down unfinished corridors that were not even marked with room numbers (exposed wooden floorboards, unpainted walls) and which were no doubt in breach of health and safety. Our room turned out be a converted attic room, which was so hot and airless we tried to get our room changed. Unfortunately they were packed that night! So they gave us two dirty fans to use. The bedspread was stained, the trouser press cover was filthy and there were no views out of the windows, because we were stuck in the attic on our own, away from everyone else. Whoever awards hotels with stars could not have seen this horrendous excuse of a room. Breakfast was a disaster as well. We were served the strangest microwave porridge that I have ever seen. What a relief it was to reach the Hotel Du Vin the next day! In the end, we complained at check-out and the manager took £50 off the bill (it was an extortionate room rate anyway). Not at all recommended if you want a decent stay away.

I spent a week here in Sep 2005 and it was a bit of a Jekyl and Hyde place. The foyer and reception desk ('porter's lodge') looked quite opulent - all polished brass and woodwork but the rooms were very old fashioned. I had a ground floor room behind the bar, which was very large, light and airy, but the soft furnishings were all yellow and red rose chintz and the furniture looked as if it had been top of the range - amongst 1950's utility furniture. It was clean and tidy with two beds, chairs, occasional table etc and a large bathroom. The TV had the terrestial channels plus the sky sports channels and movie channel (a plus) but there was data port, few power sockets and no desk that I could work at. The real downside was that the walls were paper thin so I could hear next door's TV all night long, once the noise from the bar had subsided and had there been a function on in the function room behind I'm sure it would have been totally impossible to sleep (so avoid rooms 12 & 14 unless you're an all night party animal). My collegues were upstairs and said their rooms were fine but very, very small (so avoid room 43 if you need some space!) All the staff encountered were pleasant enough, no bad experiences but then no particularly good experiences to report either. The breakfast and restaurant room is all high ceilings, chandeliers, high backed chairs and liveried professional waiters, but breakfast was quite standard: just cereals, juices, croissants and an offer of cooked food. The evening set menu started at £26 so I went into town to eat instead. I'm told by colleagues there is a reasonable room service menu but my room was devoid of any hotel services guide or other any other information. The 'pool' is little more than a hip bath - barely 25ft long so there's not enough room to swim but the gym is very well equiped with modern equipment and air-conditioning. The Equestian bar also seemed very pleasant. There's also ample parking and the grounds are lovely but it can be difficult to get out of the place as you need to find your way down three small lanes before you hit the main road and in rush hour people aren't keen on letting you out of sideroads! It is however on the edge of Tunbridge Wells, which means it is relatively quiet and stress free but if you want to walk to the Pantiles it's 15-20 minutes through the common/park. Overall there are many good points but almost as many not so good points. This was obviously a great hotel once and could be again with a little bit of effort and a little refurbishment. It was pleasant enough for a few days.

Pricey. No internet broadband connection in the rooms (disaster). Although the Rooms are and functional, they certainly lack imagination, layout and modern style. Actually its a throw back in design to the early eighties. The Hotel seems to have positioned itself as a function Hotel, Business, Weddings etc. and actually the tariff is more expensive for people who are staying in the Hotel overnight and attending a function than for other customers staying there. Really bizarre. I would have thought they would have wished to incentivise people to stay there if they were considering staying over after attending a function? Because rowdy party goers cause more damage and cleaning. But thats the nature of the business, get used to it, or get out of it. When you look at the check in and check out times you realise the place actually is run for the benefit of the Hoteliers. Check out 11.30am (its usually 12pm) and check in by 2.30pm (its usually 2pm). Naturally every hotel varies a little in times, but clipping half an hour either side of the norm for check in/out times comes across as plain mean. Overall a fairly unremarkable experience for the money, excluding the Spa which has, dare I say it, very reasonably priced treatments compared with the prices of major capital hotels, but thats Cities for you.

We have just returned from a 3-day break at the Spa Hotel, which included the New Year's Eve celebration. We had a wonderful stay. Our room was spacious, light (including the bathroom), clean, attractive and well equipped- all this in just a standard room. Despite overlooking a main road our room was quiet as the hotel stands a fair distance back from the road. Beyond the road was a pleasant view of woods. All staff were courteous, good humoured and efficient. We enjoyed all our meals, from the grandeur of the New Year's Eve banquet through to simple afternoon tea in the lounge. The public rooms (we saw) were all clean, well decorated and well maintained. The chandelier restaurant is bright and elegant and has the added bonus of an excellent pianist who plays during evening dinner on Saturdays. The Victorian lounge was cosy, peaceful and has a charming collection of old books. We enjoyed visiting the leisure club (that overlooks the hotel's extensive grounds) particularly our swims in the hotel pool. We noted that the changing rooms ranked as some of the cleanest we've ever been in. The New Year's Eve banquet and dinner dance held in the ballroom (George Kelly Suite) was a most enjoyable occasion that I really could not fault, indeed we all hope to return next year.

The Spa Hotel it located in acres of luscious grounds and itself is a beautiful building. However my pleasure with this Hotel ended when I was allocated a Ground Floor twin room directly opposite a function room room. Where a function was in full swing until 2.00am. After discovering the location of my room the stuck up staff told me this was one of the quitest rooms in the hotel as it wasnt near the other functions rooms! I was also informed that there wasnt even one room anywhere else in the hotel available for me to switch to. At this point I was also informed by the manager that as I got a reduced rate when booking my room, I was only entitled to stay in the room I was allocated. So I guess the position of the room could be over looked after all the party only went on until 2.00am. But then the real noise started with staff yelling and running up and down the corridor for what felt like all night, I was only so concerned about this as I had a baby and toddler trying to sleep. Now the morning arrived and I was looking forward to breakfast, as I was convinced a Hotel this expensive would put on a at the very least good display of breakfast! Wrong again it consisted of Fatty bacon,runny scrambled egg and and cold toast mmmmm! Just as well I checked out straight after this culinary disaster and put my stay at The Spa Hotel down to experience, a one time deal never to be repeated! ever! But I must point out not all was bad, we had a lovely Barman in the Equestrian Bar who served us drinks & food on the house as we were celebrating a birthday!! Good Points: Clean Spacious rooms Swimming facilities good Beautiful grounds Sweets at Reception Lovely Bar & Bar Man Some ramps for buggies/Wheelchairs! Bad Points: Bathrooms too dark Busy main road at front of hotel Awful, rude receptionist Noisy Staff at night Only one lift for entire hotel- not great for buggy users! Bad breaksfast!