Alexander House & Utopia Spa, Asquith Suite

Went for a wedding and had to stand while family and friends photos were being taken in a nice room with bar. But it was over an hour of standing which we could have been offered chairs or made chairs available during this time anyway, especially for more senior ladies and gents. It was a lovely afternoon and evening and the meal and buffet later was very nice.

I recently booked a spa day for my Mum’s 70th Birthday which included a full body massage and 2 course lunch. Having spent quite a lot on this experience which I had hoped would be luxury and leave us feeling totally chilled out and relaxed, I definitely wouldn’t recommend it if this is what you have in mind. Firstly the changing area, no where to put your things whilst you get dressed apart from one shabby bench and the locker key pads were very temperamental it took several different lockers before we found one that worked. The pool area had tiles missing all over, lights that are broken and there were some jets not working. The chairs around the pool are tired and pretty uncomfortable for lounging on. Outside is a big let down. Don’t let the photos of the barrel sauna draw you in, it’s very run down and not a pleasant area to just chill by the hot tub. Garden is overgrown and the surround of the hot tub is covered by manky black rubber matting which completely ruins the whole appeal. Lunch was tasty although the service was pretty lack lustre to put it mildly, the head server clearly didn’t want to be there and the waitresses were collecting plates when one of us was still eating which is a big bug bear of mine. The massage was excellent however and the masseur was very good indeed so no complaints there. I wouldn’t say that the facilities support a full spa ‘day’. A couple of hours is really enough given how unpleasant it is to just chill out there, there aren’t any really comfy areas to do that in. Plus there was a distinct lack of refreshments, save a water cooler with conical paper cups in the changing rooms themselves. It would be nice to have a drinks area with water available or even a tea station. There wasn’t even the option to buy one… Pretty disappointing to say the least and I wouldn’t recommend not return unfortunately.