Macdonaldhotels レビュー 

We travelled to Windermere yesterday for a day out and foolishly decided to have a drink in the Macdonald old England hotel and spa (bowness on Windermere) to sit out on their veranda and admire the beautiful lake. A large Malbec and a double gin and tonic were charged at an astonishing price of £41... The building is dilapidated, musty smelling and frankly in dire need of refurbishment, to be charged prices like this for two drinks is frankly daylight robbery, no wonder the bar was empty on a Saturday afternoon!

I've been visiting MacDonald Hotels for 20 years now and can remember when they were considered something really special. Have noticed though in the last few years some in their portfolio becoming very shabby and unloved while others like the Rannoch, have been sold off. Unfortunately for us, the customers, the prices haven't reflected this decline in standards.

Booked the FH for some self-catering for the family. Last did that here some 12 years ago and enjoyed it then. The house was good enough but as the evening came, we realised that the heaters in the bedrooms did not work. We called reception, only to be told that their maintenance crew had gone home. No extra blankets or fan heaters were offered. This is Scotland, in the Highlands, in February! The night was not that pleasant, suffice to say. This is perhaps one of the problems of Macdonald's late 5pm check-in - it doesn't leave much time to resolve any issues like the above. I was told that a technician would visit in the morning. I phoned at 9.30am to find that the message wasn't passed on... Anyhow, the morning receptionist managed to locate the staff and the issue was resolved later that day.

The house was now quite comfortable with all the amenities you need but lacking a more 'human' touch such as basic kitchen necessities you may find in a welcome pack elsewhere or even in one of their hotel rooms.

We visited the pool and sports complex which was mixed. Pool itself was good enough though a bit cold and the sauna/ steam rooms good. Shower area is a bit tatty with one shower wall loose and allowing water into the building's structure. Maybe that explains the horror that is the sports hall. Took my kids in there for badminton and was horrified. A smell of damp rotten wood hits you as you go in. There are actual holes on the floor with many other floorboards buckling under your feet. People are expected to play football or badminton in here??!! It should be closed to the public immediately.

Overall, our stay was comfortable enough but given the prices Macdonalds charge for their hotels and considering we had a cold house for a night as well as the decrepit sports facilities, we'll give this a 2 rating.

Booked spa overnight on 16/01/2025
Made contact with hotel on 17/01/2025 after several failed attemps on the 16th to book spa time and dinner. Advised no space on the Saturday for spa and booked in together at 12 on the Sunday, Advised no dinner reservations can be made until arrival .
Email from spa confirming spa time was 5pm on Saturday (when this had previously confirmed as 12 Sunday) to be told that we were not booked in for the Sunday. The Sunday was only booked due to their being no space on the Saturday. 5pm Saturday was not suitable and spa offered 12 and 1 on the Sunday but I noted that we would like treatments at the same time therefore a booking was made for 1.30pm on the Sunday.

On 24/01/2025 I received a Whatsapp message regarding our stay and a link to make dinner reservation. The week before I was told I couldn’t book. I clicked on the link and there was no availability.

On arrival check in was fine.

Dinner
Let reception know we couldn’t book dinner online as there was no availability shown. They advised to go into the restaurant to make a booking which we did for 7.30pm as they did not have 7pm.
On arrival to dinner we sat down and the waiter let us know that there was no steak, burgers or lamb curry. This was disappointing as we were celebrating my wife’s birthday and were looking forward to a steak dinner.
We ordered wine & beer. The wine arrived after 10 minutes, however, the beer did not follow until 30 minutes after us arriving at the table after having to chase this.

Spa
We went to the facilities to be told the jacuzzi was not working and the pool was a little cold. Just as we were leaving my wife asked to double check the spa time for the Sunday due to so many different days and times to be told we were in fact not booked for 1.30 together and this was booked for one after the other and was still booked in under the 5pm booking . Not ideal as if she hadn’t asked then this would not have been made known until our arrival at the spa. She organised with the receptionist a double spa appointment for 1pm on the Sunday.
Receptionist mentioned that there are 2 teams who book spa treatments, inhouse and then the central reservations. He thought this is where the confusion lay but could not confirm.

Breakfast
Asked for coffee and a latte with breakfast, however, waiter advised the steamer was broken and they could not provide a latte.
Coffee took 25 minutes to arrive and had to remind waiter that we were waiting.

Check out
Our bill was incorrect as they had charged the wrong table supplements from breakfast. This took some back and forth before this was removed as we ordered 2 standard breakfasts and no food with supplements were requested. In the end restaurant staff confirmed they charged the wrong table.

Overall, before arrival we were slightly put off but continued to go ahead as this had already been paid in full and was to celebrate my wife’s birthday.
The staff made it obvious as they voiced their concerns about being too busy and understaffed, however, being in the MacDonald hotel chain we have been left questioning if we should return to the MacDonald hotels.
I would definitely not recommend this hotel and overall disappointed with our stay and service.

I would have posted this the monday after visiting but was advised by spabreaks.com to allow 28 days for the hotel to reply , received a message today stating that the hotel has claimed to have contacted me and resolved the matter . I have had no contact via text,email or phonecall from the hotel

What makes the Frimley Park hotel us its staff who are friendly and helpful. We did a one night spa break and found it ti be good value for money. The rooms are comfortable and our meal in the restaurant was very nice. We really appreciated the staff storing our daughter’s birthday cake un the fridge! Many thanks

Dated, sterile environment. Room was spacious but extremely dated, curtains really tatty (see pictures), the basin was severely cracked, overall really poor maintenance. We ordered a G&T and half a lemonade which was £13. The G&T came in a wine glass, no efforts with a slice of lemon or any dressings, also the bar was sterile, no music, no environment. Breakfast: £24 for a bog standard vegetarian breakfast only for them to completely forget the veggie haggis and inform us there's no veggie sausages. Continental breakfast was sparse, no toast or yoghurt. Restaurant was freezing. The pool was so cold our baby started shivering. Complimentary tea and coffee in the rooms were disgusting, sachets of 1980's Nescafé and how can you go wrong with a tea bag, well they managed to. Honestly if this place was a B+B and charged as such, we'd be fine. However they charge the prices of a high end establishment and stick you in a dated, tired hotel with terrible food and disinterested staff. I can't comment on the golf as didn't play. Would definitely not stay again and actually felt quite cheated in departure. Eventually we decided to eat out and went to the fox and barrel pub which is a 5 minute drive away, beautiful food and service- MacDonalds could learn a thing or two from them.

Had a really amazing massage from Laura S! She was really lovely and gave me some useful advice. Thanks!

If your thinking about buying anyone a gift voucher for this chain of hotels think again,you can only use the vouchers by redemption over the phone and they increase the prices substantially to more than what is advertised on there website,we stopped at the craxton wood hotel in July last year and wanted to leave straight away with the room we was given,there was blood on the bed sheets tomato sauce stains on the tiles in the bathroom,the windows was that dirty you could hardly see out them,they offered us a 50% refund which was a joke I took some photos which I sent to them ,we received another voucher at Christmas as a present but don't think we would pay the extra to use it

This is not for the Hotel, it is for the Spa Facility at the Botley Grange hotel.

Customer services is awful, I have been trying to upgrade my spa booking and was asked to call and make a payment. I tried calling several times and no one ever answered the phone.

I called the Hotel Reception who took a message and advised that they would ask them to give me a call to take payment. That was on Monday it is now Wednesday evening and still no call. I have emailed to advise that as I have been unable to make the payment for the upgrade I suppose I should cancel it and I have not had a reply to that email either.

I am unsure how any company can expect to run a successful business this way. It is no wonder that they have so many bad reviews, if the Hotel is managed as poorly as the Spa

I stayed two nights at the Whitchurch Resort to attend a local celebration.
The approach a long drive through a beautiful golf course sets the mood for your stay .
The reception area was welcoming and decorated tastefully for Christmas.
The best thing about this hotel is its staff, genuinely welcoming and helpful from the receptionist’ to the restaurant staff .
There are lifts which are so useful lugging a suitcase .
The room was spacious with armchairs and a useful footstool , the bed supremely comfortable with perfect pillows .
I slept really well the first night but the second was disturbed by barking dogs close by the car park.
Eventually I fell asleep again but overslept meaning I missed the excellent breakfast .
If I stay there again I will request a room overlooking the golf course rather than the car park , not the hotel’s fault they sounded to be a neighbouring property .
Why four stars not five, well my bathroom was a bit tired with a big crack in the sink but it was very clean .
The food deserved five stars though, the tikka curry was presented perfectly and the peach ice cream that followed was divine .

From our initial contact on the telephone
with Rebecca on reception , who went the extra mile to help, to our check in, we found the overall experience very professional and pleasant. THANKYOU.

Sadly we were not given the deluxe family room we booked which was in the old part with abundance of old character features and a four poster bed. We had to pay before we were even able to get into the room and realise. When we showed the receptionist the room image we had booked through Expedia, she said that it was not a room from their hotel. The manager then said it was but we had been upgraded to a family suite. In fact, we were given a room in the modern part with zero character that could have been in a Premier Inn. The boys bed was a cheap, small and uncomfortable sofa bed. For £425 we were shocked. No bottled water even and just mainstream tv. Nothing to like about it. The manager put the boys in another room across the other side of the hotel after we complained. Expedia denied misrepresentation and the hotel refused any money back except a discount on dinner but we were already eating out. We will never book through Expedia again or book a MacDonald Hotel.

We knew the Berystede quite well from when we lived in the area so had no issue booking when returning for a friends birthday. Not sure if booking through booking.com made a difference to the room or service we received but what a shocker!
Surly then rude receptionist. Room next to a banging door which woke us three times between midnight and one - too late to change rooms. And a fire alarm error three times between 11 at night and 8 in the morning. Clearly an error as it was turned off before we had time to exit the room!
I gave feedback via booking.com and the corporate website but they obviously don’t care as I’ve received no explanation for the disturbances which is what I’d asked for.
Wouldn’t recommend but if you have to - do NOT accept keys to room 127!

Had the most amazing spa weekend at Frimley hall.
Mia, you were amazing. Super treatments!!

The hotel is tired and old fashioned, the staff very much the same.
It’s not a peaceful stay with the continual sound of the M6 near by, the drafty ill fitting double glazing that didn’t close properly didn’t help mask the constant drone of traffic.

Chicken tikka masala £20. Yes £20.
Twenty of my hard earned pounds on a collection of reheated filth.
The chicken tikka masala arrived in a shallow terracotta dish consisting of scolding hot masala sauce that was so hot in temperature that you couldn’t taste it. Reheated chicken pieces sat on top of the sauce, they couldn’t even be bothered to cover the chicken in the sauce. A small ramekin of rice sat beside with a tasteless piece of flaccid naan bread.
For twenty quid I could have driven down to an Indian takeaway for the same price, and actually left the table sated and my tastebuds enthused.

Drink prices are extortionate, at £14.50 for a large glass of red wine which came accompanied with a five minute wait for a bar person to arrive to serve me the over price libation, pulling his trousers up as he arrived. They also keep their wine in a crate under the sink in the back room, not very hygienic. Seems that the staff also drink on the job too, grabbing a swig of wine not so secretly stashed under the bar counter. This joint is classy. If worked there I’d be driven to drink as well. This is a second rater eatery posing as Chez Gerard.

I asked for a dining table for 7pm, they couldn’t do 7pm as their was a table of five arriving at that time and the kitchen couldn’t apparently cope with too many customers and if he seated me at that time his boss ‘would shout’ at him, kinda tells you what sort of folks run this place. When was seated the dining room was 20% full, so I’m unsure why there was such drama around seating times.

Their website advertised a gym, so I packed my gym gear.
On arrival I enquired at reception what time the gym opened in the morning but was told that the ‘man had been to paint it’.
The receptionist called over her colleague who went to investigate further. He came back to tell her that his painting gear was still in there. ‘Right’, she said…….. and that was that. No ‘sorry’ the gym is being redecorated and is out of service for the time being’, she just shrugged her shoulders and looked at me……and that was her answer and that was that. That told me! No indication on their website that it was out of service.

Evening meal day two. Burger and chips.
Burger bun was dry, beef Pattie was greasy but the fries were decent enough.
Over all the meal was lacking in taste and temperature.

Overall this hotel feels like it’s on its last legs.
Held together with gaffer tape and prit-stick and managed by uninterested and apathetic staff and catered by Wimpy circa 1975.
My room was clean but dusty, the bed is comfortable but the bathroom old fashioned and feels cheap.
Bathroom door has seen better days. There’s no USB charging outlets in the rooms (it’s 2024 guys), and the TV hadn’t even been tuned to receive programs, which I had to do myself.

Do yourself a favour, stay somewhere else.

We booked a night at the Drumossie Hotel as part of a trip to Scotland which was to take us from Perth to Inverness and beyond but while we were at a hotel at Perth we were advised of a serious weather warning for any travel to the north and warned not to travel.
Our next booking was at the Drumossie so we got in touch with them to cancel the booking in accordance with the warning against any non essential travel. To our utter amazement we were told we would have to pay for the room regardless of the serious travel situation.
We turned to Hotel.com to explain the situation and the agent agreed that, under the circumstances, cancellation without charge should be provided .
However, after several calls by the agent to the hotel in which she was apparently verbally abused by the receptionist, she was reluctantly forced to admit that she could go no further but to report the contact to the quality control team at Hotels.com.
We were left with no option but to accept the room charge and find another hotel.
This was to be the first time we had stayed at this hotel but after their attitude to cancellations by serious weather and the abuse and rudeness of their staff we wouldn’t consider ever staying there in future..
We literally paid the price of discovering that this hotel is one to avoid and hope that the room we had to pay for but not use was not charged to someone else although I’m betting it was.
This hotel could form an episode of Fawlty Towers and is a disgrace to Scotland !!

Very disappointing half day spa experience. Facilities and cleanliness not well maintained and overcrowded at the pool so nowhere to sit, let alone relax. Treatment was fine but the wraps at lunch were very firm and seemed to have been prepared well in advance. Not the relaxing or enjoyable birthday treat we had expected.

We stayed at the Complete Angler for two nights Friday 13th through to Sunday 15th of September 2024.

I had rung reservations and explained my partner was disabled, had recently had a hip replacement operation, could not climb stairs nor walk far and required a walk in shower.

Ok they said the room they had chosen for us was by the fire exit and on the ground floor.

We were staggered to find we were on the second floor and quite a considerable walk from your dining facilities for which we had to walk around the outside of the building. As I said he cannot climb up or down stairs. The step up into the shower of about 20 cm was a risk for him to use. When I went to complain to the receptionist I found another guest complaining bitterly about their accommodation.

On entering the room we found curtains ripped and stains in the carpet.
There was no heating the central heating malfunctioning and not just for our room but for the whole of the annexe.

We returned to the hotel
Later that evening the weather turned and it was very cold. We rang reception and they said they would get someone up to us. Someone arrived whilst we were away from the room leaving a small oil filled radiator.

Saturday Breakfast. I eat a GF diet as I am intolerant to wheat. Therefor I asked for some GF bread. Eventually I was offered two slices of bread one of which was a crust. I returned these. I requested coffee which I returned as it was full of sludge. The smoked salmon and scrambled egg I had were delicious. My partner had a full English breakfast but without toast as he was not offered any. Also we arrived earlier than two other couples who were served and finished before we had started.

We then went off to our wedding and I am delighted to say that the day unfolded beautifully with the bride and groom tying the knot as planned.

We arrived to friendly welcome but a surprise charge of £30 for our dog for a night. This made our 1 night stay £195, ok if it’s good. Our room door was marked and stained with black marks all over it which made me a little concerned. When in our room there was nothing for the dogs, unusual in a dog friendly hotel so wondering what the £30 was for. One of the armchairs had clearly had a milky drink spilt on it and not cleared up, the front of the dressing table had been torn off and the bed base was patched. The place felt uncared for and not worth the money. Breakfast was ok but under staffed and many items ran out quickly with slow replenishment. Our tea and coffee were forgotten but after a reminder arrived but we were not offered a top up. Overall this is a tired and poor hotel which doesn’t even match travel lodge standards, we won’t stay again I feel the Macdonald group has really gone downhill

Very disappointed, arrived at the beautiful setting looking to rest and relax. Unfortunately this was not to be, music blaring making the room vibrate. Called downstairs to complain and was told the disco would be stopping in 7 minutes, half an hour later music still blaring, called again and this time reception answered. I was then told it would be 11:00. If I was told this was going to happen I would have booked elsewhere.

This is an absolutely dreadful hotel when we arrived we had a lot of bags and I had a bad knee and they didn’t even help me carrying the bags up the steps. I had to find my own trolley and get them into the room.

When we arrived in the hotel a number of things didn’t work including electrics and various other things in the room but the worst thing was a broken toilet that kept flushing and it sounded like a cave.

We complained and said we needed it fixed but they didn’t come and fix it they didn’t do anything at all.

Breakfast was very very small one egg with a very tiny bit of bread- we had to fight to get toast at the buffet was minimal stale and unacceptable.

Dinner was not much better the reception at the hotel was awful very grumpy lady who was obviously overworked couldn’t really be asked everything we asked for she didn’t do

And then finally it was supposed to be a Luxury break it could’ve been further from the truth

The hotel had a massive party on the front lawn which they held for some group with speakers and loud music right in front of the windows of all the guests so we could not relax

do not book this hotel!!!

I was shocked that they didn’t move us when we complained about the noise they didn’t even come back to say sorry