Macdonald Berystede Hotel & Spa - Ascot

Daizy W.

Our stay at the hotel was a bit of a mixed experience. The hotel itself is in a beautiful location, and I can imagine it would be an ideal wedding venue. The atmosphere was lovely, and our room had everything we needed, though we couldn’t find a hairdryer—perhaps it was available on request. There was no bottled water in the room, but it was available on tap in the hallway. The bed was comfortable, which was a plus. We didn’t have time to check out the spa or swimming facilities, so we can’t comment on those.

The biggest disappointment of our stay was our dining experience at the Acanthus Restaurant. We sat down at 8 PM, and our order was taken at around 8:20 PM. Our starters didn’t arrive until 9 PM, and we had to chase for our drinks, which eventually came a few minutes later. Other couples who arrived after us were served much faster, with their drinks, starters, and mains all arriving in a reasonable time, while we were left waiting. At 10 PM, we asked again about our food and were told they would check, but no one ever came back with an update. Finally, at 10:15 PM, our mains arrived. My steak, which I had asked for medium, was so overcooked it was like chewing on a car tyre, while my partner’s chips were undercooked. When the waitress cleared our plates and asked how the food was, I told her it wasn’t great and the wait had been unacceptable, but she said nothing and just walked away. We asked for the bill as we didn’t want to risk waiting even longer for dessert. No apology was given, and there was no gesture of goodwill for the poor experience.

Breakfast the next morning wasn’t much better. We ordered breakfast in bed, but the scrambled eggs were a sloppy consistency, the toast was cold, the tea was cold, and the so-called “pastry basket” was just three mini croissants on a plate.

Overall, the hotel itself was lovely, but the dining experience really let it down. The service in the restaurant was slow and dismissive, and the food quality didn’t match expectations. If the restaurant service and food were improved, this could be a fantastic place to stay, but based on our experience, I wouldn’t return for the dining.

Tahir K.

Disappointing Experience – Unhygienic, Outdated, Poor Service and unreliable.

We booked a spa experience for Sunday, only to have it cancelled on short notice—completely unprofessional. After a heated conversation with the manager, they finally honoured our booking, but I wish they hadn’t.

The rooms were straight out of the 1990s—outdated, dirty, and poorly maintained. We found blood stains on the pillowcases and skid marks in a toilet that wouldn’t even flush. The morning spa staff were shockingly rude, and the entire facility was filthy. Mosquitoes and dragonflies hovered near the pool, the showers reeked of urine, and there wasn’t even a proper clothes dryer available. The cupboards and doors were broken, and the place looked like it hadn’t been cleaned or maintained in years.

The TV in our room was from 2008, and despite booking for two people, we were charged an extra £75 for a child….. our room had three beds and the manager mentioned it should be fine to bring the child free of charge on the phone. On top of that, they refused to let us use the facilities the next day because they were “too busy,” according to the spa reception staff.

The only saving grace was the food, which was decent but extremely overpriced. Overall, I’d rate this place a generous two stars at best. The staff, especially the assistant reception manager, were rude, unhelpful, and completely unprofessional.

Do not be fooled by the charming “English country” appearance—this place is a health hazard. I left genuinely worried I’d catch athlete’s foot from the filthy floors. There are far better spas out there—avoid this one at all costs.

Anja O. O.

I really enjoyed my stay on New Year's Eve. I chose to stay here despite many bad reviews that I read, and I do admit that some of those things were true. It was quite noisy, I could hear my room neighbours in the evening, at night and in the morning. There were quite a few loud people there. Also, there was someone's dog roaming around in the restaurant during breakfast, which made me uncomfortable.

Breakfast was so busy that I had to sit in the bat and wait around for them to replenish the food. I'm not sure why they don't do breakfast slots if they're so busy. I waited 20 minutes or more, probably because I was on my own, because the families that arrived after me ended up seated first.

It's also not very accessible for any wheelchair users. My guess is that they will put wheelchair users on ramp accessible floors, but the car park is very steep. The rooms could use updating. My curtains had a mysterious stain on it.

As you can see, I only knocked off one-star thought because all of these things didn't ruin the stay for me... I rather enjoyed my stay. The bathroom was very clean, and a toothbrush and toothpaste was brought to my door when I asked if they had any. There was the option of breakfast in bed for a fee. The bed was very comfortable and the room overall was clean.

I thoroughly enjoyed the facilities, the swimming pool was lovely. I also enjoyed the steam room, sauna, and ice room. The only downside was that the steam room machine was making a loud grating noise when operating... and the thermal beds weren't working. The staff at the leisure centre were lovely although I'm not sure where everyone got a robe, because I wasn't given one. Either way, I did enjoy my time there... it was very relaxing!

slurp T.

Stayed here for a spa overnight. The main entrance and oldest part of the building is the most impressive, inside and out. The restaurant, which is modern, is also excellent. Staff were helpful and the service levels were overall very good. Our room was in some extension building to the original house, which was nice but seemed to be slightly lacking in general maintenance. Now don’t misunderstand, the rooms were a decent size and comfortable, nice big window, all the small equipment there. Kettle, iron, hairdryer, tea and coffee. Wardrobe, fridge and a safe. The bathroom was lovely big size with a bath and shower and the mattress felt expensive soft and I slept deep. But the corridors seemed a bit knocked and corners worn and in our room a little of the same. The bathroom seemed to be missing grouting between tiles in places which seems odd for a 4 star hotel. The spa and swimming pool were nice and overall very happy with my stay.

Emily A.

Visited for access to the spa. Had use of the spa for the full day - 10am-6pm and had a really great time. Had such a lovely experience, use of the gym, free tea and coffee and going on a Monday it wasn't too busy so we had a choice of facilities.

Most of the people that go I assume are members (slightly older age demographic) and so I felt there was an assumption that everyone should know what they are doing and where they are going. A bit of direction for first timers would be great. Didn't find the sauna/ hot beds/ ice room area until an hour before we had to leave. Saying that, staff were friendly enough and being outside in the hot jacuzzi in winter cold was lovely!

Website could provide more info - wanted to see if there were any gym classes while we were there but couldn't find the info. Went up for lunch, again felt uncomfortable as we weren't sure of the etiquette, but food was nice enough and easy to access.

Great value for a relaxing day, would definitely return.

Joao P.

Booked a SPA afternoon session with a massage for 2 people.
Place is quite decent, a nice swimming pool and SPA facilities.
The outside pool is quite nice, at least on a cold sunny day.

As of Jan/25 the place was is fair maintenance (hot water showers broken though), staff very friendly and robes and sleepers given to us clean and in good conditions (was a bit scared of other reviews, but it was fine for us).

Afternoon tea was also very nice, and we both liked the food.

Zoe B.

I cannot recommend the events team at the Berystede Hotel Ascot highly enough! A huge thank you to Sunil and the wider team for their amazing help today. Sunil was incredibly fast, efficient, and helpful – nothing was too much trouble, and his attention to detail was second to none. The level of service we received was absolutely outstanding and made a huge difference to the smooth running of our event. If you're considering hosting an event here, rest assured you’ll be in excellent hands. Thank you again, Prem, Sunil and team and for going above and beyond!||Zoe

Denys B.

We attended the NYE Gala dinner dance. It exceeded our expectation by some considerable margin. The staff were absolutely outstanding. The food was terrific and potion sizes generous. Our water jug was never allowed to run out (possibly why I didn’t have a hangover in the morning 😃.