Ockenden Manor Hotel & Spa

The check in was very easy, the hotel was clean and nicely decorated. Unfortunately te spa (jacuzzi) was broken so we could not use it. We use the rest of the facilities but we discovered that children are only allowed 2 hours of the entire day! The restaurant did not have children’s menu, however they offered to do sausages and mash or burger however as our daughter is vegetarian we had to go and look for a restaurant. The worst thing was the inflatable bed they put in the bedroom for our daughter, which what you expect if you are glamping and not in a manor hotel well over £300 a night! Very disappointed, we had a terrible night sleep because of this as our daughter could not sleep.

One night spa stay post Christmas we were hoping for a relaxing break. The room 'Master' suite was absolutely beautiful and part of the old building. It was also decorated for Christmas which was a lovely touch. This was the highlight of our trip sadly it was downhill from here. The jacuzzi and outdoor hot tub were not working. With rainy cold weather we were looking forward to this and we're very disappointed. There was no offer of compensation for this which ruled our half the spa. The pool was nice but 5 mins into our swim was full of children who were loud and splashing, if the hot tub had been working we could have escaped outside. Our treatments which were 1hr massages only lasted 40 minutes. They included a consultation and time to get undressed. We arrived 20 mins early so we could avoid this and for £130 per massage felt completely ripped off. Dinner was very average and overpriced. The only dish we fancied on a £69 menu had a £10 supplement. The meal with a bottle of wine cost us over £200. I was astonished and again disappointed. The bar had no atmosphere no music or staff. Breakfast was OK. Overall a 1 night stay for use of a basic pool and average meal cost over a thousand pounds. I have no problem paying this for something special with great food and service but this trip fell very short