Ruthin Castle Hotel Reviews 

We have been to the Ruthin Castle wedding, and we always thought we go back and stay in the hotel for one night. It was disappointing all around. The room phone didn’t work at all we had to walk back to reception few times. The chose of tea coffee selection was poor and no biscuits. The whole hotel and the rooms are not maintained by means of falling plasters and stains on the walls. The room wasn't cleaned properly either as we have found few items like used milk containers side of the bed and tennis ball under the bath. We tried to have a bath, but the tub plug decided to not to function (again poor maintenance). Leaving us without facilities. They give us another room key to use but if was only a shower not a bath facility. The dinner was awful as the chicken they cook was so dry even the sauce they brought with didn’t help. The breakfast was not any better as everything was cold. They used very cheap food, you can always tell when they serve a yellow coloured water and call it an orange juice. 😉

Myself and my partner have just got back from doing a ‘Castle Escape’ spa break at Ruthin Castle and it was fantastic!

We had the Face and Body ritual treatment which was absolutely amazing! The therapist was so good and left myself and my partner feeling so relaxed and cleansed… we will defo be going back for more!!

The food in the restaurant was delicious, we had the beef courgettes and pate to start, followed by a smashed burger with pulled pork and a chicken dish in a spicy sausage sauce which was unreal!! Such excellent food, Nom nom!

Special mention to the barman who also brought some clotted cream and jam for our scones up to our room, he is an absolute credit to the hotel. To be honest every single member of staff was professional, courteous, attentive and just brilliant from the moment we arrived yesterday till checkout at 11 this morning.

Yes the castle and hotel may have a couple of areas in need of a little maintenance, but the vibe, atmosphere, quality of food and service certainly outweigh this.

We will 100% be going back and would highly recommended Ruthin Castle to any of our family and friends, even if just for the amazing food!!

Thanks to all at Ruthin Castle for making our stay and my partners birthday celebrations exactly what we hoped for and more!

As soon as we arrived we had the warmest welcome on reception and throughout our 3 nights here the thing that really stood out are the staff, all were extremely friendly and welcoming.
Our room over looked the grounds which are lovely, lots to explore with the dogs.
We visited the spa and had massages and hot tub package experience which was definitely needed after climbing Mount Snowdon.
Every meal we have had there has been exceptional, they had a new menu on the second night of our stay and we tried the majority of it while we where there and everything was so good especially the lamb rump!
Overall we had an incredible time here, great location, warm and friendly atmosphere, incredible staff and great food. Would definitely recommend and will be staying here next time we are in wales.

We spent 2 nights here recently. Paid extra £30 for the dog only to be put in the very worst part of the hotel with no facilities at all for the dog! The hotel is being renovated but our long corridors to our room were the shabbiest I have ever seen, the paint on doors looked as though it had been attacked with hammers and in parts the plaster was falling. Found we had been given a double room - we had asked for a twin so I had to wait for 15 minutes standing in the shabby hall for this to be sorted before my friend arrived. The room was adequate but the sink smelled.
The worst horror though was the so called Spa. We had booked for a Spa break but didn't use it. We had decided to book when we arrived as we were both visiting from different areas of the country. We were directed to go through a Black door - more hammer attacks, we went down 2 sets of stairs as if to the dungeon, grubby, plastic back stairs, blank walls opening onto a bright and friendly place that cheered us up for a couple of minutes. Met by smiling receptionist and when we asked about facilities told us to look on the internet and seemed unable or unwilling to help. Frustrated we asked for the WIFI address to look on the internet - surreal! She told us the password which in front of her I entered into my phone, incorrect it said, I asked again she told me, a second time, incorrect password oh she said you need a capital letter!!*** We dispiritedly left without booking as were not allowed to use anything other than the GYM. The hot tubs were outside but we could find no robes in our room so didn't fancy wandering through public woods in our costumes in late September. Our reception at the Spa had been so awful we could not face HER again! The rest of the staff at the hotel were wonderful especially at the restaurant and they could not have been more hopeful and the dog loved the dog biscuits at reception, thankyou. The restaurant menu was limited (if you wanted to eat there for 2 nights as we did) as my friend was vegetarian and I was wheat intolerant. However the warmth of the staff made up for that and the food was good. The grounds were lovely and made up for a lot but on balance we were disappointed.

Overpriced spa experience.
Changing rooms tiny and unable to accommodate multiple people arriving at the same time.
1 shower broken, all the drains stank.
Steam room and sauna were the only spa facilities worth using. The floor outside of them was deathly slippy we watched a man fall. ‘Quiet room’ consists of garden furniture with blankets on in a mouldy room. Hot tub was cold, jets were coming out and floating to the top covered in mould.
The dial on the tub was rusty and didn’t work, a staff member came to try and fix it then never returned.
Our disabled friend was told she had to walk up 2 sets of stairs to avoid a wedding party if we wanted our afternoon tea.
Having to get dressed entirely to walk over to the restaurant for afternoon tea in the middle of your ‘spa experience’ makes no sense. Afternoon tea itself was disappointing.
Go to kinspa in kinmel bay for half the price and a better experience.
Awful customer service - complained and followed up 5 times only to be ignored.

Room spacious and clean. Nice room, overall.

Evening meal was excellent, breakfast very good. Afternoon tea not so good though. Spa also decent.

However, what has turned a likely 4 star review into a 5 star review is the massage I had from Michelle.

Michelle identified and treated my long-standing back and neck issues in a comprehensive, caring and extremely effective way. After years of pain, my back and neck pains have almost entirely gone. Michelle identified the actual issue, dealt with it accordingly and gave me helpful tips to deal with it going forward.

I am so grateful to Michelle. She is an absolute credit to her profession and the hotel.

Thanks very much, Michelle!

Just wanted to say that we originally had a 2 night stay booked at Ruthin castle hotel and tafarn… it was that good that we’ve extended it by an extra night…,Rory ….Izzy…Nathan… absolutly brilliant, professional… accommodating members of staff made us feel welcome. Wonderful place, wonderful staff 10 out of 10…. Thankyou so much for an amazing stay.

I booked this hotel on a package to include an evening meal and then read the reviews which worried me! How wrong they were. A truly fabulous experience from start to finish. Friendly helpful staff, a comfortable bed, tasty food, a great shower, all in a wonderful historic building set in acres of grounds and a sense of peace. It's just metres away from the pretty town of Ruthin and in a stunning area of North Wales. Go give it a try!

So my fiancé and I went to the spa last summer (2022) and it was fine. We then returned in the winter with friends and the hot tubs were way too cold.
I had to get out of mine, shivering, on the phone to reception, who sent out the maintenance guy. The old man proceeded to come out and it's worth noting that there were only two tubs in use. Ours (me, fiance and two friends) and another with two pretty girls in.
He proceeded to go straight to the tub with the girls in with some kind of meter in his hand. Had a laugh with them and walked off!
There were various other issues like dirty changing rooms (I mean come on, any idiot can clean) and out of service this and that. Mouldy walls etc. ran out of flip flops so had to bring our own. Bla.
So we complained and go a complimentary session for a later date.
Came back a few months later. Nothing had changed whatsoever. In fact, the hot tubs were colder. We were literally thinking of using them as a cold plunge after the hot sauna.
Emailed in saying we still weren't happy, expecting a refund and they just.. well... didn't do anything.
Staff acknowledge that management changes frequently.
Please, someone with some decency, buy this business and take it out of the hands of these disgraceful owners. Sympathies for the staff who must be ashamed of their bosses as it's not just the spa, take a look at ALL of these reviews.
Only giving it 3 stars because the staff themselves are helpful and one chap did give us a free mud treatment for when the hot tub was particularly cold.

This hotel is mascarading as a 4* star hotel when it is anything but. We were supposed to have our wedding venue here and we have tragically had to cancel 3 weeks out from the date. The rooms are filthy, from blood on the sheets, ripped bedding, carpets that haven't been cleaned in literally years. The kettle was leaking and broken, the shower was mouldy and the £400 per night luxury suite we'd booked had a broken bed (springs had gone) and 2 single zip lock mattresses pushed together. Beyond abysmal.

To add to the insult and emotional distress, our wedding planner's (Jodie) attitude was appalling. She failed to notify us about the kitchens 0 hygiene rating it had received when we were booking our wedding, due to the suite being untenable she simply offered us with 'there are 58 other rooms available.' She is the nicest person in the world while my debit card was paying for everything, now that we have the audacity to complain she is falsifying the account of what happened in our meeting to her Deputy Manager. She even offered us to still have the wedding venue at Ruthin but because the rooms are in such a state we could look into staying over elsewhere!

This will not lie until we have our money refunded in full as Denbigshire Council are involved along with environmental health. Legal action will take place in due course unless all of our expenses are paid back in full as we were downright lied to by this place.

On sunday 11 dec 2022 my friend treated me to sunday lunch to celebrate my 70 th. Arrived we where shown to the dining room , couldnt find the bar ,so straight to our table , place was freezing cold , no heating on .there was a portable heater it didnt work ,radiators were stone cold . Tables where drab chairs tattie . Food was nothing special.Over cooked veg . When we left i complained to reception with not much of a comment .

I am not a guest but a local resident. Sadly what should be the Jewel in the Crown for visitors to our town is let down by an establishment in need of significant investment.
The building is of,tired and run down. Leaking roof and outdated rooms. Beautiful gardens and once upon a time,an excellent restaurant.

Skeleton staff manage the property which is basically run via the Shrugley Hotel where customer support is now based. They know little about the castle!

Early this year I complained about fireworks being used at an even late in the evening.. They used to give prior notice for residents of the town,but not anymore. They have not had the decency to respond..

I know of a spa day guest who was extremely disappointed. The hot tubs were faulty and just going back into use hence were lukewarm. The massage was just a rub with products. Not what was requested. The cream tea was just tea and a scone and she was told she had to be out by a cetain time. Not worthy of the spa day title,nor good value.

If they do not improve then once again we will lose this fantastic resource for the town! Or is it deliberately being run down ??

Absolutley horrendous experience with this place.

Myself and partner are travelling over 200 miles to a friends wedding to this what looks like lovely establishment.

After trying to contact them for three weeks solid to book a room and after leaving three voicemails, still nobody called back in order to assist us with the booking.

We finally managed to get through today to be told that the wedding discount wasn’t now available as we were late with the booking and they had increased the price by nearly one hundred pound for one night.

They also gave us two different prices for our dog which shows how disorganised the staff are.
I also found them extremely rude, unprofessional, had no customer service experience at all and the manager was rude and not interested in the slightest in our situation.

INVEST YOUR MONEY SOMEWHERE ELSE AND FIND ANOTHER WEDDING VENUE!!!

Had my wedding there February 2022. From the time ( aprox 10 month prior ) intill about 2 month before wedding I couldnt get any contact via email or phone. Day before wedding my room wasn't booked, missed my spa day because a room needed to be cleaned. Weren't allowed to eat there while we waited , I slept on a sofa that night as there was no bed for me ! They weren't happy about room service requested morning of wedding, but they did supply everyone except me..the bride ! So no breakfast ...wedding itself went well. Wedding breakfast was great. Most of the evening went well. Wedding night me and my new husband had to sleep on dirty sheets and dirty dishes which weren't ours! Staff had been told repeatedly by maid of honor. I have written several emails about this and all have been ignored, can't get through on the phone. Fb messages seen and ignored. Missing wedding cake etc. Not even an appology for the dirty rooms. Was heart breaking to be treated so poorly, just wanted basic hospitality. Such as shame as the castle and grounds itself are beautiful!

I am already dreaming of my next trip to Ruthin castle , had the most amazing nights sleep the bed was so comfy and the room was lovely. Had a lovely 3 course meal in Bertie’s restaurant , the staff are so welcoming and friendly. The castle grounds are beautiful. Met Jordan from the dragon tavern and I suggested a lovely bbq area would go down well with guests . See you soon Ruthin miss you already.