Célestins Spa Thermal & Hôtel — Hotel in Vichy

Minus one star for the service at the spa but the hotel is wonderful! ||For starters, the hotel has the unfortunate “benefit” of being under the same brand as the spa. I say this because I have been dreaming for years of visiting the Vichy spa and staying at the hotel Celestins because that is where the spa is. However the star of the show was really the hotel and NOT THE SPA. The hotel staff was divine—every single member from the front desk to the bellmen and housekeeping department. Upon arrival and throughout our stay, we were received so graciously by all of them and every need to met. Additionally the rooms, breakfast and grounds are beautiful including the gardens and other public spaces. The location is perfect as you can walk everywhere from the restaurants on the lake to the downtown shops, restaurants and the opera house. Don’t bother staying anywhere else. ||UNFORTUNATELY the spa is a different story. I always say that real customer service begins at the top and it certainly does at the hotel with stellar service . At the spa, the lack of attention to the customer also begins at the top with its director who sits at the reception area on the bottom floor with some staff. The nice Eastern European lady with black glasses who is at the 3rd floor entrance is smiling and kind. However once you take the elevator to the bottom floor, one gets the impression that the blond French manager is bothered by having to greet you. She is clearly not there to serve the customer but rather to supervise and monitor them. I asked for a pair of disposable flip flops and she said, “you should have them in your room”; as if I should get back in the elevator and return to my room to get them. I asked where the changing room was located because she never offered the information and she pointed and turned her head to dismiss me. On the second day I forgot my flip flops and asked for a pair. She said “I gave you some yesterday “. I had to explain to her that I simply forgot them in my room. I also had to ask where the pool and sauna were because it was not explained upon arrival. I am surprised she didn’t tell me to read the signs in the elevator rather than to take the trouble to direct me. When I finished my treatment, I returned the flip flops to her as she seemed to concerned about the inventory but she would not take them from me and sent me back to the changing room to dispose of them; Almost unbelievable! ||She has trained her staff to be equally chilly and antiseptic because the staff is ambivalent. Secondly the spa is not well maintained. The areas need a good cleaning to brighten up the dull walls and floors. Even the pool area where the water comes in from the natural spring needs cleaning because the mineral from the water have blocked the holes. The steam room (hamam) has a musty smell. It’s doesn’t need a renovation but rather a deep cleaning and a new manager to breath life and the feeling of happiness that a spa should offer. ||On the bright side, the larger whirlpool with various jets is so relaxing and therapeutic. The saunas were perfectly hot (as opposed to the steam room which needs to be serviced). If I return, I would probably not have another treatment. My treatment was less than memorable as I was received by a young woman who was less than happy to have a customer. My treatment which was supposed to be 25 took less than 15 minutes. It was the least impressive salt scrub I ever had and I should have done it myself and saved the 75 euros. This young woman was not interested in my skin or how I was feeling and performed her task in a quick and mechanical manner. But again, this lack of care from the all comes from the top. ||There are many treatment rooms and they were all empty. I complained at the hotel about the service and a lovely young man said the service is not good because they are short handed but this is not true. I would not want another 10 or 20 people like what they have presently. What they need is a new director who wants to run a spa where staff feels cared for so that they can care for the customer. My advice is as follows: |Find a new manager|Give the place a good cleaning from the guts|Invest in new signage|Offer the therapists a commission so they are incentivized to provide information to the customer and offer services. I tried asking therapists for information but they sent me to...

Minus one star for the service at the spa but the hotel is wonderful! ||For starters, the hotel has the unfortunate “benefit” of being under the same brand as the spa. I say this because I have been dreaming for years of visiting the Vichy spa and staying at the hotel Celestins because that is where the spa is. However the star of the show was really the hotel and NOT THE SPA. The hotel staff was divine—every single member from the front desk to the bellmen and housekeeping department. Upon arrival and throughout our stay, we were received so graciously by all of them and every need to met. Additionally the rooms, breakfast and grounds are beautiful including the gardens and other public spaces. The location is perfect as you can walk everywhere from the restaurants on the lake to the downtown shops, restaurants and the opera house. Don’t bother staying anywhere else. ||UNFORTUNATELY the spa is a different story. I always say that real customer service begins at the top and it certainly does at the hotel with stellar service . At the spa, the lack of attention to the customer also begins at the top with its director who sits at the reception area on the bottom floor with some staff. The nice Eastern European lady with black glasses who is at the 3rd floor entrance is smiling and kind. However once you take the elevator to the bottom floor, one gets the impression that the blond French manager is bothered by having to greet you. She is clearly not there to serve the customer but rather to supervise and monitor them. I asked for a pair of disposable flip flops and she said, “you should have them in your room”; as if I should get back in the elevator and return to my room to get them. I asked where the changing room was located because she never offered the information and she pointed and turned her head to dismiss me. On the second day I forgot my flip flops and asked for a pair. She said “I gave you some yesterday “. I had to explain to her that I simply forgot them in my room. I also had to ask where the pool and sauna were because it was not explained upon arrival. I am surprised she didn’t tell me to read the signs in the elevator rather than to take the trouble to direct me. When I finished my treatment, I returned the flip flops to her as she seemed to concerned about the inventory but she would not take them from me and sent me back to the changing room to dispose of them; Almost unbelievable! ||She has trained her staff to be equally chilly and antiseptic because the staff is ambivalent. Secondly the spa is not well maintained. The areas need a good cleaning to brighten up the dull walls and floors. Even the pool area where the water comes in from the natural spring needs cleaning because the mineral from the water have blocked the holes. The steam room (hamam) has a musty smell. It’s doesn’t need a renovation but rather a deep cleaning and a new manager to breath life and the feeling of happiness that a spa should offer. ||On the bright side, the larger whirlpool with various jets is so relaxing and therapeutic. The saunas were perfectly hot (as opposed to the steam room which needs to be serviced). If I return, I would probably not have another treatment. My treatment was less than memorable as I was received by a young woman who was less than happy to have a customer. My treatment which was supposed to be 25 took less than 15 minutes. It was the least impressive salt scrub I ever had and I should have done it myself and saved the 75 euros. This young woman was not interested in my skin or how I was feeling and performed her task in a quick and mechanical manner. But again, this lack of care from the all comes from the top. ||There are many treatment rooms and they were all empty. I complained at the hotel about the service and a lovely young man said the service is not good because they are short handed but this is not true. I would not want another 10 or 20 people like what they have presently. What they need is a new director who wants to run a spa where staff feels cared for so that they can care for the customer. My advice is as follows: |Find a new manager|Give the place a good cleaning from the guts|Invest in new signage|Offer the therapists a commission so they are incentivized to provide information to the customer and offer services. I tried asking therapists for information but they sent me to...

We booked four nights in the hotel as we were competing in the Ironman event. On the morning of our 3rd day I alerted staff to a significant amount of ants that I found on the bed, on the floor around the bed and on my robe.|The receptionist sent house keeping up to the room and they advised me it was cleaned.|We returned to the room to find that there were still ants under the bed and one in the bathroom, the receptionist stated that they would speak to their manager as we wanted to move to an alternative room. Three housekeepers then came to the room before we heard back from management, one holding a pesticide spray and a hoover and they told us they would move the bed and clean it again. I advised that we absolutely would not be staying in the room.|We went to speak to the manager who suggested that the dried food we had at the other side of the room was the cause of the ants. He also stated that his 'top housekeeper' had signed off on the room being cleaned. I showed photos and videos to show that the sealed granola and cereal bars were at the opposite side of the room and had absolutely no ants near the bag, I also informed him that there were still ants in the room despite the sign off from housekeeping. It was embarrassing for it to be suggested that the sealed unaffected food was the cause of the ants. I'm assuming that the patio door next to the bed is where they came from. No apology was offered just shrugged shoulders and eventually an offer of another room.||They also took €1,600 deposit on arrival which was significantly more that the €500 noted on booking.com. It took 3 days for the deposit to be returned to our account after we checked out and paid the bill for the four nights. ||The poor customer service and hygiene was the downfall of our stay. The response to our hygiene issue is very surprising for a five star hotel, we couldn't recommend it to others. Vichy is a lovely spot with plenty of alternative accommodation options.|||As I video recorded most of the ants it's hard to see the volume of the issue with just the photos attached - the black dots on the carpet...