Sara H
Booked a couples Spa package. ||Spa facilities - basic and small in size (sauna and steam room tiny). Pool also small and too shallow. Jacuzzi had a foam on it that made me think it needed a good clean. ||My actual treatment, however, was very good (scrub and back massage) and the lady that performed it was attentive and professional. ||Lunch in spa - not a great experience. We filled in a form prior to our treatments, selecting our food options. After our treatment a lady from the spa came to look for us citing that the kitchen staff in the spa restaurant had not received our choices, we relayed to her that we had indeed already given them and she said she would go back and let the restaurant know. When we arrived for lunch at 2pm, there was no one there to seat us, so we sat at an empty table. The lady that served us (that we had met and given our forms to earlier) was abrupt, far too informal and quite frankly pretty rude. She approached us and said “I haven’t got your food orders”, we reminded her that we had literally handed them to her an hour previously. Then she said to my husband “oh yeah, you were the bagel?” To which he replied “yes”. She then proceeded to tell us we were sat at the wrong table, by shouting over from behind the bar area. She said that the one we were sat at was set for afternoon tea, so we needed to move. I asked if we could stay there, as we had drinks and there were literally only one other couple in the entire restaurant, to which she replied “not really no…people usually wait to be seated here”. I was very taken aback to which I replied “sorry, but there was no one here when we came in”, in addition there are no signs to explain that is the usual protocol. We carried our own water jug and glasses over to another table. Then shortly afterwards she approached the table we had just left and loudly exclaimed “Oh, I need new glasses here now”. I was astonished that a place that labels itself as a luxury establishment was would allow staff members to speak to guests in the manner she did. I think she realised her mistake, as moments later her colleague, a young man, approached us to apologise for making us move. She herself also came to check if everything was ok and wished us a nice stay as we checked into our room later at reception. ||Room - we found we had been upgraded from a standard room as we were checking in. We assume that the lunch staff member may have suggested this to housekeeping, realising her inappropriate behaviour previously. Initially we were taken to a twin suite. Which was lovely, but we wanted a double bed. We had not realised that my husband had made an error in the online booking and had booked a twin room by mistake. The evening receptionist was very understanding and went out of her way to find us another room with a double bed, also upgraded. We were then taken to a master suite (room 23). It was a very spacious and attractive room at first glance. Unfortunately, we did not realise until we turned off the television to go to sleep that the room had a terrible sound emanating from the right hand side. The noise, like pipes humming/buzzing, is evident all along the corridor outside and stops as one turns left to head to reception. We can only assume there must be some kind of boiler room underneath these set of rooms. My husband had difficulty sleeping and was up multiple times in the night. Just not the relaxing night away we had hoped for. It was such a shame, as the bed was very comfortable and the selection of bathroom toiletries/refreshments available were good too. My husband politely informed the morning receptionist and she said she would investigate the noise, but didn’t seem very concerned. There was no offer of compensation. ||The best part of the stay was dinner/breakfast in the main hotel restaurant. Food was fantastic there with an extensive wine list. Staff in the restaurant were very professional and welcoming. Bar staff however seemed a little out of their comfort zone and struggled to make the cocktails we ordered. Lovely girls, but they appeared very young and inexperienced. ||Would I recommend Brandshatch Hotel and Spa overall as a luxury spa/hotel experience? Definitely not. But there were some positives to the stay, food being the main one and the evening receptionist was very polite and accommodating. It’s just not the luxury establishment it’s advertised as.
