Ardencote Spa - Claverdon

Lindsay

We had high expectations for Ardencote Spa, which had been booked for my birthday, but my experience was nothing short of shocking. From start to finish, the staff were rude, dismissive, and completely incapable of handling a complaint professionally. Instead of addressing concerns with basic customer service, they were defensive and unapologetic.

The spa itself is more like a dated leisure centre than a luxury retreat. It lacks any sense of relaxation—tired décor, unclean facilities, and absolutely no nice views. The pool area is a complete joke, the showers were freezing, and the outdoor pool and bar gave off an uncomfortable, sleazy vibe. The treatments felt like a rushed conveyor belt operation, completely impersonal and lacking any attention to detail.

The food was poor quality, and once again, the staff were inattentive and disinterested. Even the robes and slippers were cheap and uncomfortable. For a place that markets itself as a top spa, this was beyond disappointing.

If you’re looking for a truly relaxing and luxurious experience, avoid Ardencote at all costs. Absolutely would not recommend.

R B.

I stayed in the hotel for one night and have a mixed bag of feelings about it.

The destination spa and facilities were great, the staff were lovely and welcoming. It’s a shame the main pool in the hotel building was cold.

The hotel itself needs a bit of tlc. You can see signs of age, wear and tear all over. “Tired” was how one of my party described it.

The restaurant was nice and the food was good. Food pictures included are tart, turkey parcel and cheese board.

Breakfast felt like a free for all, with no real control over the buffet and half the staff working in the morning, I’d seen working in the bar and restaurant the night before.

The room, like the rest of the hotel was a nice size and comfortable, but obvious signs of wear and tear. Again “tired” would be the best way to describe it.

The main thing I noticed was how over busy everyone was. It felt like they didn’t have enough staff to cope with the demand, which lead to a mixed guest experience.

Alison

I booked a Spa ritual and went today and had Chanel. The whole experience was wonderful from start to end. Chanel was very knowledgeable and excellent at the treatment. She was also professional but warm and friendly also. I highly recommend if you want to spoil yourself and come out feeling relaxed and pampered.

Fiona F. C.

Outstanding!! A hidden gem! I love this place!
Great service, small family run hotel, so has genuine good vibes unlike those big corporate chains. A place of peace. Great swimming pools! Unique and peaceful!

Adam W.

Staff were lovely and generally a nice day but all the spa facilities seemed quite tired and a little dirty.
Had a massage and the legs of the table and floor under the table were dirty and dusty, there were tiles missing in the foot spa... One of which was cold and there was dirt all around the bottom of the foot rears in one of the saunas.
The light lunch in a brasserie was great but the white wine we ordered wasn't cold enough.
Nice enough but wouldn't visit again.

Claire P.

I came away with mixed feelings about this place. It appeared to be great value for money on paper but please be warned, you get what you pay for with the spa!

HOTEL ROOM
We paid extra for a refurbished room, so had high expectations. We were both disappointed though, it looked old fashioned. The TV was Biut 20 years old and we had these chintzy curtains with no blackout blind so was really bright at 6am (see images). Furniture & carpet looked new, that's about it. Room was very spacious but our beds were odd. We had a twin room & the single mattress was bigger than the base so we felt like we could topple out if we slept on the edge (which I do). Unusual to provide no biscuits in the room, but there was plenty of coffee sachets!

THE SPA
We booked a Spa package which seemed great value, until we had the treatments and realised how substandard they were. Worse yet, was the disgracedul after care from the Spa Manager, Holly. Worst customer experience I think I can remember having anywhere.
Back massage - disappointing, like a gentle stroke I had to keep asking her to apply pressure.
Facial - now this was lovely and relaxing but there was no description of what she was putting on so we had no clue. It was just a wipe on wipe off for 25 minutes.
Pedicure - both myself & my Mum opted for the full pedicure & polish. Mine was alright,had much better but my Mum's was terrible. There were large gaps between the cuticle & polish, her previous colour polish was still visible. It had smudged before she had even left and by the end of the day (after allowing to dry for 90 minutes and then wearing flip flops) it all chipped. We sent images to the spa to highlight how bad it was and they just blamed my Mum and said she should have waited until the polish had dried. 90 minutes sat bare foot in a cafe and 8 hours in flip flops should have been enough drying time, so this had nothing to do with it! No apology, I was disgusted. We spent in excess of £500 in less than 2 days & she couldn't even muster an apology or partial refund. We just had patronising emails accepting no responsibility whatsoever. She couldn't even be bothered to respond to my last correspondance.

The pool was small & pretty cold but because there were quite a lot of people in it, it was difficult to swim which was a shame as was hoping to do quite a bit of swimming. It's only about 8 meters long. The jacuzzi, steam room & sauna were good. We headed to the Destination Spa in the afternoon which was nice but a lot of the same thing with just different names. The outdoor hot tub was huge & so warm but had no jets in it so a giant bath basically - relaxing but was expecting more. The outdoor pool was shut, disappointing as that looked a good size & it was a nice day so would have loved a swim.

RESTAURANT
What would have brought me back to Ardencote if the Spa Manager wasnt so poor, would have been the food - wow, it was sublime! Lunch was very light but you don't want much is you're having treatments really. Evening meal was just delicious, they even had a very good vegan menu with lots of choice. I had vegan pea risotto to start followed by blade of beef & the cheeseboard - cannot fault it. The buffet breakfast was brilliant too, proper big tasty sausages. Produce felt fresh and high quality. They did great cocktails and nice wines too. The bar needs comfy sofas and chairs, as felt more like a daytime cafe, not a go to place on the evening so we headed back k to our room.

Probably great for a golf break or just to relax and use the facilities. I certainly wouldn't recommend the spa after our experience (see images of the terrible pedicure).

Ana R. D. H.

Great place. Great service. Great everything!

They have a great customer service via email and in-person. The “spa tour” is easy to follow, and if you have doubts the girls there are very helpful. I had a massage and it was just lovely!

Thank you

Amy L.

We stayed here for 2 nights after our wedding. We had booked a room with basic spa access and a treatment. Our stay was lovely and the Destination Spa was very good. However, I would say that we didn't feel like anyone explained anything to us. The hotel is very big and we weren't sure what areas we could eat in with what we had booked. The Destination Spa we paid £25 extra for which was fine but we had to beg for information on what was actually inside. The receptionist just kept saying it's Destination Spa, like we were supposed to know. People were walking around holding cards with the information on which we had to ask for. We just felt abit ignored to be honest. It's a shame because it's a lovely hotel with beautiful grounds. We just think you need to up your game a little with the personal touch and really welcoming people who haven't been before and don't know how to two spas work.