The Spa At Slaley Hall - Hexham

Robyn Parker

My partner booked us a spa day which was a wonderful surprise. However, the excitement soon ended when we arrived and the first thing I could hear were children screaming and running around the pool area.

I appreciate the pool may be open to guests from the hotel however spa days are supposed to be relaxing and this was very far from it.

The towels were old, scratchy and had holes in. There were pool loungers however relatively few.
The changing rooms were very hot, uncomfortably so.

We had a short treatment in the spa itself which was ok and the ladies who did the treatment were lovely.

Once we got to the restaurant we were seated however waited around 15 minutes to even get a drink and we had to ask for it, we weren’t offered one. We had ordered a chicken Caesar salad and I’m not entirely sure what we were served…limp lettuce, poor quality chicken, soggy croutons, anchovies and a Caesar sauce. We also should have received a glass of Prosecco each and despite asking for that with some water, only the water was provided. It was a further 10 minutes before the Prosecco was provided.
The brownie for desert with melon and a single blackberry was dry.

I think for what is advertised as a 4-star hotel, spa and golf resort it is astoundingly underwhelming and very overpriced for the experience and service we received.

I would not recommend to anyone and would advise looking elsewhere if you are wanting a relaxing day with good food and good service.

layla Moan

I booked this as a mother and daughter spa day but was disappointed by the experience, especially as this was a gift.

There was a kids club in the pool as we first arrived so the pool area was very busy and loud. The changing rooms were very small for the number of people who were using them, with very little bench space and seating areas to get changed. There was also only one private cubicle to get changed in.

The treatments were very nice and well done and the staff were lovely.

After our treatments we went back to the pool, which also had a sauna, steam room and jacuzzi. Unfortunately it was very busy with very few loungers that were all on use. We had to sit on chairs that were set out near the juice bar, which was not very relaxing. We never managed to get a lounger even though we were there for a while and there were other people who did not have loungers as well. This could have been managed better with more loungers or better spacing of spa bookings. Due to how busy it was we were not able to use the jacuzzi, as it was always full. The sauna was standard and the pool was quite cool.

We had a light lunch included in the spa day. This restaurant was at the other side of the hotel from the spa and quite confusing to find despite being given directions. There was a limited menu made up of flatbreads and salads. These were okay but I expected more choice given the reputation of the hotel. There was a brownie for dessert, served cold with watermelon and pineapple- a confusing combination and disappointing.

The price charged did not reflect the experience, despite it being reduced when I bought the spa day.

Overall despite the treatments being good, it was disappointing, not very relaxing and I would not return.

tina ayton

The one star is for the young staff who never stopped worked really hard
We had to wait 2 hours to go into pool area.
Bar in pool area shut until it gets quieter
Kids running all over causing havoc adults left pool for this. It was like butlins holiday camp pool attendent on her own kids parents told about there kids, not interested
Pool not heated
Rooms were nice
Food nice
Bar after meal tables full of glasses
plates etc. use your loaf and get staff a trolley so they can Clear multiple tables at same time
Breakfast service disaster ran out of bacon pastries and cakes no supervision at all or not seen
Credit to them kids serving 👏👏👏
Not worthy of a posh hotel fir my first experience
Actions supervisors to guide staff
Get them a trolley keep some stock in food areas instead of the
Having to run from place to place
I cappuccino took half hour howay really
Young staff amazing

Donna Mcbride

Dire, jacuzzi was broken, showers were cold and the steam room had a really bad musty smell. The treatment, a back massage, was OK at best. The spa package included a light lunch. The food was ok when it finally came. Service in the dinning was exceptionally poor, at times there where no staff present. We waited 40 minutes for our pre-ordered lunch, a chicken salad and a flatbread. There were others left waiting for over an hour. Tables from previous guests where left uncleared and the floor and surrounding area in places was a mess. Staff disappeared off in a group at one point and came back 15 minutes later. We even had to hang about until someone eventual came so we could pay. Never again.

ashleigh bell

Positives: friendly staff, food was nice and the treatment's were excellent. The restaurant swapped out the free fizz from our deal for cold drinks without issue. There was a costume spinner and bags to take your damp costume home in.

Negatives: baby classes were going on in the spa pool for the first hour of our 4 hour slot (last 2 hours were treatments and lunch). Spa's are for relaxation not baby classes. The jacuzzi is tiny and only enough room for 2 people at a time which meant we got very little time in it. The food was wrong and missing one of the two fries when brought out. We only got given one towel each, which were old and scratchy. There also was a shortage of sunloungers.

Overall we were disappointed and wouldn't recommend or return

Marie Hepplewhite

Awful,will never go back,They allow 65 people in the spa area,very overcrowded,no seats ,no loungers available we had to stand.They still kept allowing people to go in and when I asked why as it was so full they said they would ask some to leave at 11 am they never did this or removed towels that had been on loungers over half an hour as they said they would.All areas were in need of cleaning,no toilet roll,no towels.Steam room and sauna constantly full so could not use,relaxation room was just for spa collection and form filling in and was full .There needs to be more regulation on bookings for spa days ,maybe only after hotel guests have vacated hotel so that it's not overfull,they still want to take your money but not offer you a good service ,a trip to a leisure centre was more like slaley hall yesterday,but £6.00 at a leisure centre,£102.00 at Slaley hall.

jenny loy

Birthday treat from my children. Spa and treatments.. Upon entering, the staff at the desk were very helpful and polite. Went for my treatments in a timely manner, I had therapist Kelly. She was a lovely lady, I enjoyed my treatments from her.
Then we went for our lunch, a little disappointed with the small choice you get with what you pay in the package. Any meat you want, you pay a supplement..
Spa time.. Was a little busy when we were there, no spare loungers around. Dare to put our things on a bench with one towel down to be scowled at.. Only used the hot tub and sauna was nice. People seem not to spend too long in the spa resulting in a lounger being free. I think for a place which is meant to be high-ish end need to pay a little more attention to detail such as the walls etc

Gloria Watson

My husband and I went here for the day on a wowcher deal, which included 2 full 25 minute? treatments each and a 3 course meal.
We arrived around midday and were led straight to the chill out room, which is lovely to just put your feet up and relax, whilst sipping some iced water and reading a magazine or listening to music etc.
Following the filling in of the consultation form, we were led to the therapy rooms which were warm and extremely relaxing, with a lovely ambience. The massage bed was heated which was great for my arthritis and being a therapist myself, I was interested to see what the therapist was like performing the treatments. My husband had a salt body scrub and a facial, and thoroughly enjoyed it, and I had a back, shoulder and neck massage using Espa products followed by a holistic facial. Lucy was my therapist for the day and she performed the treatment very well, releasing a lot of my tension and leaving me feeling very relaxed. My skin looked and felt so much nicer too.
The meal was a little limited with not many options, but still, very nice, and the waiting staff were very pleasant.
The pool itself is wonderful, surrounded by a tranquil, rocky setting, with plenty of beds, a small bar area, fresh lemon/Orange water on tap, and I came away after a full day of being truly pampered with a bag or two of Espa products to boot, as there was a knockdown sale on the spa products. Lovely clean changing rooms and robe and towel hire is also free with this deal, which it isn't in a lot of other spas. There is also a steam room and sauna as well as a jacuzzi offset to the main pool. All in all, a wonderfully relaxing experience which we intend to repeat, and would highly recommend. Having been to other spas, this is by far my favourite. Thank you for a wonderful day.