The Runnymede on Thames Hotel and Spa — Hotel in Borough of Runnymede

Came here for a weekend spa break as a surprise for my Husbands Birthday. We arrived at 2pm check in time, parked in the free carpark, near to the entrance. Had a friendly greeting on check in. We thought the check in experience lacked in the information given. We were left still wondering about a few things. Such as spa info, boat trip info for the trip I had booked for the next day etc. The room itself is fine, nice pressure in the shower, comfortable bed and clean. There was a little treat and a bday card left for my husband which was a nice touch. Though can understand the reason and need for the upgrade that is due to happen. The coffee machine was pretty rubbish and took a few attempts to get a half decent cup of coffee. Only sockets on one side of the bed. The safe was placed awkwardly, that you had to open one wardrobe door and then the other wardrobe door to be able to access the safe. Some sockets were so awkwardly placed you couldn’t even get a plug in them, or they were in strange places where you wouldn’t really need a socket. I Liked that you could view your bill on the TV and fast pay it there. Went to the lounge area for light lunch before heading to the spa. The area was nice, Simple food, but tasty. A bit overpriced. The staff eagerly gave us some menus, but then stood about yawning and looking bored for a long while before taking our order. We were anxious to get in the spa and relax for a few hours before our treatment, so this was irritating. On arrival at the spa, we asked if we needed to bring any robes etc as we had not been given any prior information. We were told that we would need to get the robes from our room. We went and returned with our robes. Unfortunately, we were then told that the spa is at capacity, and we would have to wait. This left us feeling disappointed and annoyed for a few reasons. Mostly the lack of communication. If we had been previously told that this could be an issue, then it wouldn’t have come as much of a shock. When you pay to use a spa, you want to be able to use it when you are ready, you still have to pay the same amount whether you are allowed in or not. It would be helpful to be made more aware of the times that children are allowed in the spa, there isn’t too much information about this. In our room it said the children can go in the spa area between 9am-12pm, this wasn't quite correct. We were also told by the lady in reception at the spa that the hotel is due to have extensive work and upgrades, which sounds like it will also be upgraded to an adult only spa. The treatments were lovely the staff doing the treatments very knowledgeable, my therapist was helpful in telling me the best methods to get the most out of my treatments in the hours after I had the massage and facial. Thoroughly enjoyed my “unwind” treatment. Left a review for the Leftbank restaurant separately. 4.5 star. The service in the Lounge was much more attentive in the evening than what we had experienced earlier in the day. But still good to note that a 12.5% service charge is added whenever you get something from this area or the restaurant. The spa on Sunday late morning was nice a quiet, so a relaxing few hours before a late check out of 1pm. At checkout, I asked about where we had to go for our boat hire that I had booked for 3pm, to be told that they are sorry and asked if I did not receive a message to say this was cancelled due to the wind? No, I had not been told this, I had not had any information other than a booking confirmation a month ago. So, again another point in which we were disappointed and annoyed during our stay due to a lack of communication. There was never any effort to rectify or compensate the lack of communication which was even more disappointing. Not knowing what to do now as our plans had been ruined, we drove a short distance (10mins) to Virginia water for a walk and were also confused at the cancellation of the boat as it was not windy at all on this day. Overall, the lack of communication is what let Runnymede down the most on...

This is unfortunately the worst hotel I've ever had the misfortune of staying at. To the point where I am seeking a full refund in accordance with consumer rights laws as the stay was not only the polar opposite of what I had booked, but it was damaging and stressful.

When I arrived, I was open-minded; the online reviews were mostly positive and the pictures looked good. I needed a hotel as I was dealing with some personal matters locally.

At the check in counter, I noticed another guest was very upset and making a complaint. I only wish I had been paying more attention to what they were saying.

I was given the card to room 193, which was in a separate building, adjacent to the main entrance. The separate building was largely being refurbished and most of the hotel was in fact a construction site, with large construction vehicles and scaffolding dotted all over.

When I got to the room, I could see it was a fairly poor standard. More in keeping with two or three star hotels than a four star. There was no ceiling lighting in the main room, instead it relies on bedside lamps (one of which didn't work and kept shorting - not a bulb issue but an electrical issue), and a large standing lamp in the corner of the room behind some furniture.

The bed consisted of two single beds pushed together, so you could feel the separation in the middle during sleep.

The first morning, after having a shower, I noticed that the extractor fan was not working, causing condensation to build up throughout the bathroom and also into the entrance area of the room. I then also noticed that the shower was leaking. The shower head was fixed in place and was spraying eveywhere and the shower screen seal was also missing (as per my photos). This caused a substantial buildup of water on the floor which is arguably a health and safety risk. Fortunately, I didn't slip.

There also seemed to be an issue with the toilet in that it was collecting 2-3 times the standard volume of water in the pan, and required double flushing no matter what your business was, in order to clear the waste.

I stayed for 3 nights, and on my final night, I was awoken at 4am by a faulty fire alarm. It lasted about 30 seconds or so, and then it stopped. I went back to sleep, and approximately 20 minutes later after I got back to sleep, it happened again. As if that wasn't bad enough, this process repeated another 3 times with shorter intervals each time and longer alarms. I then called the front desk from my mobile (as there was no phone in the room), to raise a complaint, and at around 5:30am, I then heard someone with a loud walky-talky push a generically-generated apology letter under the door (photo attached).

The quality of the spa was disgusting. The sauna was falling apart, the water fountain was caked with limescale and mould, and there was wallpaper in the pool area which was tearing off the walls. It was awful.

In terms of breakfast... you can expect to pay £20 for self-service English, which is about the standard of what you might expect in the average UK prison. The plates stank of detergent and there was no order to seating so it was utter chaos. Coffee is not included in your breakfast and you have to pay extra for that.

Signs posted throughout the the premesis suggested building works were ongoing.

When leaving the hotel in the morning, I struggled to get out of the car park because of the chaotic delays caused by the lorries going in and out of the site.

All in all, if I had known any of the truths I now know, or if I had just taken a second to listen more closely to the complaint I had overheard on checking in, I would have immediately chosen somewhere else, and I strongly suggest you do too.

For me to even consider returning here, all Russian prisons would have to be closed, as I would sooner choose one of those than The Runnymede on Thames Hotel.

Catastrophic. Please avoid it if you value your...

Dirty glasses, food poisoning and rude and ungracious staff. Avoid this hotel at all costs! I paid extra for a river view and they tried to fob me off with a room that overlooked a building site. I was aware that the place was being refurbished, which is part of the reason why I paid extra for a decent view. There were rooms available with a nice river view and this was changed swiftly when I requested to move, but I was tired from the journey in very hot weather, and I could have done without the hassle of having to switch rooms. I should have been given a good view in the first place as I'd paid for that! I experienced so many issues here. Glasses that were not clean, a TV that was constantly glitching out, no phones to contact reception anywhere to be found, understaffing resulting in long queues and waiting times at reception, no room service, no access to the outdoor pool and to top it off I was throwing up my dinner in the night on Friday 28th June. I don't drink alcohol and hadn't left the hotel premises, so the only explanation is food poisoning. Probably from one of the dirty glasses. You would have thought that I might have received some sympathy or compensation of refunding the cost of my meal that ended up in the toilet, but no. All I got was a snippy attitude and a request for evidence from my GP! Of course I visited my GP and underwent the appropriate tests immediately on my return home, results pending, but a little bit of kindness at the time of my distressing illness would have been much appreciated. I've since been told that the "free lunch" I'd been given was compensation enough, but I had missed breakfast because of being unwell and I'd already paid for that, so the lunch was not free at all! I was initially told that the cost of my evening meal would be reimbursed, but then they changed their mind and said no it wouldn't be, refusing to believe me and gaslighting me when I pointed out what had previously been agreed. I can only think that their policy on this has changed since Warner took over, and the person who offerred to refund the meal initially was working to the old and decent policy from before the changeover, when the hotel was run and managed independently, but if this is the case then they should have been kind enough to explain it, and I might have been less upset. No one enjoys being gaslit after all. I was made to feel like I was a liar and yet my whole day had been ruined because I was too weak from vomiting in the night to enjoy all the facilities at the spa or to visit Windsor Castle on the Saturday - the main day of my stay - as I had planned, and my trip was pretty much ruined. Why would I lie about that! I did manage a lovely salt scrub treatment on that morning, which is a very restful and relaxing thing to do, and made me feel a little better, but I had to spend the rest of the day in bed recovering after that. I did have incredibly good back and shoulder and scalp massages on the Thursday and Friday, all the spa staff were super lovely and amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed that aspect of my stay, but it was all soured by management's attitude to what happened to me when I was unwell, and in general I do not recommend this place at all! They should learn to look after their guests better. I was prepared to keep this incident private, but I am so insenced by the way I've been treated over it that I felt I must...