Theholbrookmanor Reviews 2

Stayed here last week following the unexpected death of my brother in law. I wanted to take my wife for some respite after we had spent days in hospital.

We stayed in the superior suite with garden view, the room was basic and very cold, broken lamps, the bed was two singles fixed together and was hard with a summer quilt on, we asked the reception if we could have something warmer and they bought up a single, cheap flimsy quilt without a cover!

Bathroom has damp marks all over the floor and shower screen dirty and thick with mould.

They had a left a small oil radiator in the room but it was not on when we arrived and it barely took the edge off when on.

The room was noisy... always nice to have a bath whilst listening to the room next door have sex. Peoples footsteps above were heard throughout the night and people talking on the landing.

I understand this Is a Georgian building but it has been stripped of so much and was so basic.. even a rug would have helped!

There was no wifi and data which was annoying as we still needed to communicate to our family.

The breakfast was again basic and the room had dirty plates on tables whilst staff chatted.

The spa and pool area was run down and not the cleanest, I remarked there was a massive sign saying 'do not go into the pool if suffering with D&V' yet they couldn't ensure the doors closed on the lockers.

When checking out I told the man on the reception desk everything.. not once did he look up from the computer screen, he mentioned maintenance hadn't started work on that part of the hotel yet. He did not even apologise, he didn't ask how our stay was... these are all basic skills for hospitality.

Overall I feel the hotel has been stripped so much that it lacks any warmth or character, and the investment in staff seems to have been stripped too, they just don't care!

To them we were simply people giving them £130 to stay in a room, to us this was supposed to be a night away from the trauma we had just experienced, a night to think of ourselves rather than be strong for someone else, a night where we can reset, breath and cry.

I'm really sad that after contacting hotels.com the hotel said they would not consider giving us a refund as we didn't let them know of the issue soon enough... we let the reception know, I guess we didn't know there was another protocol and to be quite honest... we had other things on our mind, but that sums up this hotel.

My recent visit to Holbrook Manor and Spa was an absolute disgrace. What was supposed to be a relaxing spa afternoon for my wife and me turned into a stress-filled ordeal due to sheer incompetence, terrible customer service, and a lack of basic hospitality standards.
Before arriving, we called to upgrade our booking from just a massage to their “Afternoon Retreat.” The so-called “manager” promised to call us back to confirm—but of course, they never did. We followed up the next day, only to be told that the previous person must have “forgotten.” It was at this point that I started to wonder whether this place was run by actual professionals or just a group of disinterested amateurs.
Upon arrival, we were informed we needed a £1 coin for the lockers. Now, you’d think a supposedly premium spa would have basic customer convenience in mind and keep a few coins at the front desk. But no—the “manager” instead sent me on a ridiculous scavenger hunt to the café (which had none), and then all the way back to my car. Unsurprisingly, I didn’t have one.
At this point, I was already irritated by how poorly this place was run. But what happened next was even worse.
After returning from my pointless trip to the car, I decided that enough was enough. The entire guest experience was already ruined, so I requested a full cancellation and refund.
Instead of handling this with professionalism, the “manager” panicked and started scrambling to get pound coins from other guests! Imagine that—rather than having spare change at the front desk, they were begging other paying customers to solve their own operational failures.
I politely declined and explained that their lack of preparation had already ruined the entire experience. But instead of just processing the refund, the “manager” proceeded to argue with me in the lobby for nearly ten minutes—all while leaving other guests waiting. They even had the nerve to lecture me about how they “inform members” about the £1 coin requirement. My response?
“I AM NOT A MEMBER.”
To top it all off, the lobby itself was dirty and poorly maintained. Before leaving, I actually had to tell the “manager” to grab a broom and clean it. If a spa can’t even be bothered to keep its entrance presentable, what does that say about the cleanliness of the facilities?
After the ridiculous back-and-forth, I was given a handwritten note stating that management would “review” my refund request. I had to force them to rewrite it to explicitly state that a refund would actually be issued.
As of now, I’m still waiting for a real manager to contact me to process the refund. If they fail to do so, I’ll simply take their pathetic handwritten note to my bank and initiate a chargeback.
Holbrook Manor and Spa pretends to be a luxury retreat, but in reality, it’s a disorganized, unprofessional, and filthy mess. The staff are clueless, the service is a disaster, and they can’t even provide basic customer conveniences without turning it into an ordeal.
If you value your time, money, and sanity—do yourself a favor and stay far, far away.