Retreat East, The Great Barn

This place is expensive for what you receive. What we liked: the accommodation we booked was beautiful and comfortable. We enjoyed lighting up the wood burner, our dog was so happy there. The staff at dinner time were wonderful. The hot tub was nice, we walked with our dressing gowns from our room. What we didn’t like: when we booked over the phone they said to book everything in situ, there was no need to book in advance, however when we arrived they told us we should’ve booked in advance , we ended up having lunch at 17:00 (earliest slot) The place has complimentary features eg wellies and bikes but it wasn’t told to us at reception. I think the most disappointing aspect of it all is that this place doesn’t have a spa. The showers were all out of service, the steaming room wasn’t steaming and the sauna was lacking the water bucket to adjust temperature. Lastly, breakfast included was underwhelming. A poor selection of options. We had to chase for plates, glasses and cutlery, no one offered a menu or even a coffee… If the ‘spa’ gets sorted out and the staff become more attentive of guests it would make the experience so much better but as of now I wouldn’t recommend it based on value for money.

We went for the spa day which we were told was 10am-5pm and told to arrive 15 minutes prior therefore arrived by 9.45. When we arrived we were given our smoothie shot and just left in the barn without being informed of what was going on. We were told there was nothing to do until our first treatment time of 11:30 so we were just sat waiting around until then. I was anticipating that a spa day 10-5 meant full access to the facilities but due to limited facilities they have to be booked on a private basis and we could only use the sauna and steam room on our allocated hour. The massage ladies were lovely and we enjoyed our massage. We then had our lunch and we were told via email that our request for an afternoon tea was included (also states this on the website that you can choose either an afternoon tea or lunch). When we sat down we were just given a two course lunch menu and not asked what we requested, therefore never received the afternoon tea. We also were not asked for our soft drink included and we had to chase this up. Again, our allocated slot of the sauna was not until 3, so from 12:30-3pm we were left hanging around doing nothing. The showers were not working so we could not even shower. I feel for the price you pay - the spa day is not worth it and felt the service was lacking. Most of the day we had been sitting in the barn doing nothing and waiting around. There is also not a-lot to do around the premises unless you stay there.