Crabwall Manor Spa, BW Signature Collection

Still a good place to stay but really needs a face lift now and the room was dirty

Lovely hotel with nice big clean rooms. A few issues though - you really need a car to get here as it's a bit far out from the city centre. In my room there was a room service menu and a number to dial for room service, but no phone. The food and drink was ok. During my stay there was only 1 person on the bar and service was a little slow. I ordered a soft drink and it was a bit flat, definitely not worth the £4 they charged for it. Because of staff shortages the dining room was filled with tables that needed to be cleaned. Breakfast was also a bit of a disaster. They charge £15 for it but definitely not worth it. There's a self serve hot buffet which was fine, nothing exceptional. There was no coffee available, just tea bags and hot water. Also there were no plates available at the continental station - really missing attention to detail when there were quite a few staff members present.

The location of this hotel is great, very close to Chester and all the attractions around. In terms of the room, our room was very spacious and the bed was very big. However it was two singles joined together, so a gap between the two. This is probably where the good bits end. The size of the room and bathroom really was a positive though, especially travelling with a baby. We had to pay £5 to hire a travel cot and in the end we didn’t use it. The cot mattress appears to have never been replace and was very thin and lumpy, making it redundant. The wooden slates at the bottom of the crib could be felt very dominantly through what was left of the mattress, meaning our baby was waking up uncomfortable and we had to transfer him to the bed. In terms of things that could do with improvement: Cleanliness The room floor was very dirty and could have benefited from an additional vacuum. Initially I put this down to arriving on New Year’s Day and then having a lot of people check out that day, but the whole hotel appeared a little bit grubby on closer inspection. The spa pool was exceptionally dirty. The floor coming out of the changing room covered in hair and general dirt. The showers looked like they hadn’t had a good scrub in months, with yellow build up all over the floor and walls. Not what you expect from a spa! To top it off after swimming I have contracted the Norovirus. Service Our first encounter with the reception staff was great the lady very welcoming and friendly. We met the cleaner as well who was also lovely. The rest of the staff we encountered were not so great. Either rude or disinterested, I get that it might not be your dream job but service with a smile goes a long way. Facilities The hot water takes a while to come through at busier times, this is signposted in the room. However, the water does not get very water at all. It does come through at a pleasant temperature, but not great if you like a bath or shower on the warmer side. There are three times a day when you can go swimming with children. It would be great if these times were restricted to children/families only, as there were quite a few adults sitting around the poolside and in the hot tub. Breakfast was ok, but a lot of the time left uncovered. Overall not a great stay and would be unlikely to stay again.