Good, not Great. (Whittlebury Hall)

Member Name: angeelu

Product:	Whittlebury Hall
Date:	19/07/04 (3454 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Beautiful location, Spa area looks great, Good breakfast!

Disadvantages: Some disinterested staff who appear rude and unhelpful

Whittlebury hall is a management training centre, hotel and spa located in Whittlebury, which is not far from Silverstone in Northamptonshire. It's a place I'd passed time and time again on my way to University a few years back, and from the road it looked magnificent. Set back from the road with a golf course for a front garden, the building looked enormous and luxurious.

My boyfriend had received a Ferrari Experience from his family for his last birthday, which was to take place at Silverstone... we decided to make a weekend of it as the experience was to take place fairly early in the morning which would mean leaving very early if we were to set off from home on the day. As soon as we decided that we'd go down the day before I mentioned Whittlebury Hall, knowing it was only a couple of miles from Silverstone and knowing (or at least hoping) it would be a real treat!

BOOKING
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Our first port of call was the internet to try and get information about the place and most importantly, prices! Whittlebury Hall has its own website at www.whittleburyhall.co.uk which gives plenty of information and pictures about what you can expect from Whittlebury Hall.
Prices as currently quoted on the internet are £260 per night for an executive suite, and between £95 - £155 per night for a superior twin or double bedded room. These prices are a guide depending on whether you also want evening meals as well as breakfast etc. The website gives you the option to check availability for your chosen nights - this is done by filling in the gaps on a form. Response is not immediate, but within the day we had an email confirming availability of the room and what was included, which requested us to email or phone to confirm the reservation. We phoned up, gave a credit card number to secure the room (no money was taken at this time, they just require a credit/debit card number to secure the room).

WHAT WE EXPECTED
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Our confirmation email and confirmation letter that was received shortly after confirming the reservation explained that we had booked a superior double room for one night - our booking also included evening meal in the Table d'Hote restaurant as well as breakfast. In addition, during our stay we would have free use of the spa facilities, which include a 19m pool, sauna, steam room, jacuzzi, and fully equipped gym. The price of our stay would be £160. This is more than I've ever paid for a night for two in a hotel, but this did look nice, and it did include a posh evening meal and use of the spa. Other spa treatments could be booked prior to the visit or during the stay (e.g. facial, massage, hair cut etc.). All information about the hotel confirmed it was a non-smoking hotel in general, which was good to know - as a non-smoker it's not very nice having to stay in a hotel room where people have been smoking, no matter how much it's been cleaned and aired. However if you requested a smoking room they did have a few available.

ON ARRIVAL
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The place looked as great on our arrival as it had when I'd passed it all those times years ago. The drive leading up to the hotel passed up the side of the golf course and next to a small field with horses in. We pulled up in front of the hotel and made our way to reception. The receptionist who we first dealt with seemed polite enough, though nothing over the top, but she explained to us that we had been allocated a smoking room. We immediately asked for this to be changed to a non-smoking room as this is what we'd wanted, but she said there were no non-smoking 'superior double' rooms available. She said we were welcome to take a look at the room, and if it was not going to be ok she would try and swap our room. Fair enough, we thought, and after she'd given us directions to the room, off we went to take a look.

As soon as we ope
ned the door we could smell stale smoke. The room looked nice enough, but neither of us fancied spending the night surrounded by the smell. If you smoke, it's probably not noticeable, but to us, it was - and when we were paying £160 for the privelege we wanted our room not to smell!

Back to reception then... This time we were met by a different receptionist. We explained the situation to her and she seemed very uninterested in our problem, despite us already having been told by the other receptionist they'd o their best to find us another room. A quick look at her computer screen and she told us there were no other rooms available. This just sounded ridiculous - it's a huge hotel after all. We told her we'd be willing to take any double room, not just a superior one, but still she said there was nothing without even looking us in the eye or apologising for the inconvenience or error in the booking. We asked for a reduction in the charge for the room as an alternative to leaving and for the inconvenience - she still kept her head down, and without looking at us muttered that it wasn't possible. She seemed totally uninterested despite the fact that we explained that this was a lot of monet to us, and we weren't prepared to spend it on a room that smelt, when all the information about the hotel specifically stated that all rooms were non-smoking unless you specifically requested smoking. It's fair to say we were getting annoyed with her by this point - not because she couldn't wave a wand and solve our problem, but because she never once looked us in the eye, or made any attempt to empathise with our situation, or apologise for anything. All of a sudden, however, she decided that actually there was a room, and she thrust a room key onto the counter. I asked if there were two room keys (one each) like we were offered for the original room, and again, without raising her head she more or less threw another one onto the
counter. Then she turned away. No directions, no smile, no nothing.

THE ROOM
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The room was ok. Nothing special, just ok. There was everything you'd expect from a hotel room, but nothing more. I don't know what I'd expected, but it seemed a bit of a let down to be honest. You can get the same standard of room in most hotels / travel-lodge type places. It was clean enough, and fairly spacious. The bathroom was also spacious, with two sinks, shower, bath, toilet and bidet. There's not really much else to comment on - it was just ok.

THE SPA
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We decided to explore the hotel a bit and ventured to the spa, swimsuit and towel in hand! At the spa reception we were to hand over our door key in return for a spa key with a locker key attached. The changing room areas at the spa were clean and tidy and after getting changed and our belongings locked away we ventured to the pool area. This area looks gorgeous, and more like what you'd expect from a posh place like this! The pool area is decorated in a kind of Roman ruin style - there are pillars dotted around and all the walls are painted to look like scenery, carrying on the same theme. There are green leafy plants dotted around and it really does look nice. In one corner of the pool area sits the jacuzzi - it's surrounded by a few pillars and plants, which maes it feel kind of separate to the pool area, but still included, giving you a view of the pool whilst you sit in it and relax.
At the other side of the pool are doors to the sauna and steam room. Unfortunately the steam room wasn't working during our visit, but we still visited the sauna. The sauna was very small, fitting only four people in comfortably, though a couple more could squeeze in.

The treatment area was in another area of the spa. We didn't have any special treatments booked, but went to take a look. The area seemed full of pampered
people relaxing in bathrobes in chairs presumably waiting for their next treatment. It looked luxurious again, and what I would have expected from the place.

THE RESTAURANTS
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As we had family staying in another village not far away we opted out of the evening meal at the hotel. Out initial impression of the staff meant we weren't particularly sad to let this go! However, before we left the hotel to meet up with family we stopped at reception to ask if they had a map so we could work out where we were going - the man we spoke to this time was extremely helpful and photocopied a page out of the map so we didn't have to write directions down.

Our only experience of any of the restaurants came at breakfast. This was a great experience. We were shown to our table and served tea/coffee. Breakfast itself was self-serve, and there was a huge selection. There was plenty of cereal choices and yoghurts, about 5 or 6 different types of fruit juice, about 10 different types of fruit, croissants, pan au chocolate, bread, pastries, and a fry up selection giving you the chance to pick and choose the contents of your cooked breakfast from bacon, sausage, hash browns, mushrooms, beans, fried eggs, scrambled eggs, tomato and black pudding. Toast was brought to our table.

The staff in the restaurant were very polite and helpful, and the food was great.
The hotel offers four restaurants, so there is plenty of choice for an evening meal. Breakfast is all served in just one restaurant, though you can choose to have your breakfast delivered to your room for a charge of £5.00.

CONCLUSION
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I enjoyed my stay, despite the bad start. It's fair to say that one receptionist who was disinterested in us did set a bad tone to our visit, which is a shame, as the other staff were all fine. She gave us the impression we weren't worth the hassle and was trying to fob us off with a room we did
n't want. I couldn't help thinking in the back of my mind that this was partly because we were a young couple (early twenties), and not posh enough! Another middle-aged smartly dressed couple who were swapping their room when we arrived (I don't know the reason why) didn't seem to be having any problems changing their room. Maybe I'm wrong - maybe she was just having a bad day...

I wouldn't go back there. I've been there and done that now. I'd only half-heartedly recommend it too. It's ok, but you can get just as good a room and service in the majority of cheaper hotels. The spa was great, but didn't justify the expensive price, particularly as the steam room was broken. If someone told me they were planning a visit then I'd tell them it was quite good there, but if someone was asking me if there's anywhere worth staying in that area of the country I'd make other suggestions before Whittelbury Hall.

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