Macdonald Old England Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Great Britain

We had to pay a £5 car parking charge because we were only using the spa, which we were not told when we booked and seems unfair given that we paid for a full day at the spa.

The spa itself was nice but communication was really poor throughout. We booked in February (for May) and never received any confirmation email. When I called to check details they had my partner down for the wrong treatments. When we arrived at the spa they had in fact changed timings for one of the treatments which had a knock on effect to other things booked.

We were advised of where the pool was but nothing else. The pool is a good size and it was clean but we were disappointed that there was no hot tub.

I went to reception before my first treatment and was taken up to a relaxation room. I wish that we had been told that this existed beforehand as we had been saying that it was lacking a nice room to read and relax in.

The massages we had were very nice; no complaint there.

We had afternoon tea booked in for 1.30pm but hadn’t been told until the day that you had to be properly dressed for it (i.e. you can’t be in your robe) which meant we had to get showered and dressed. Had we known that, we would have made different arrangements for the timing of the tea - because it meant we didn’t then want to go back in the pool.

We went for afternoon tea and had to wait 10 minutes until a member of staff acknowledged us. We were brought a glass of prosecco as part of the package but then had to wait twenty minutes for food. They apparently had a glitch on the system and our second stand of food arrived twenty minutes after that (they were supposed to come together). We then had to rush back for our second appointment. The food was lovely but the ratio of sandwich fingers to cake was imbalanced - too many cakes!

When we went for our second treatment we saw a separate room with other spa users in. We bobbed in and saw that it was a room with tables and chairs and that you could help yourself to water, teas and fruit. Again, no-one told us this existed so we didn’t get to use it. Really disappointing.

My partner was booked in for a manicure and a pedicure and I was booked in for a manicure so I should have finished an hour before my partner, which was good news as my mother and best friend were due to arrive at the hotel and I wanted to meet them before we then left (it was the night before my wedding).

I asked for a French manicure. The lady who was doing my manicure was really lovely but she really struggled with my request and after an hour and 10 minutes (meant to be an hour’s appointment) she took everything off my nails and said she would see if a manager could do it as she couldn’t do a French manicure. I had to notify my mother and friend that I was now running late. She mentioned that they don’t often get bookings for manicures, which was less than inspiring.

A few minutes later the manager appeared and whilst she said “sorry to keep you waiting” it was said as if she had just been a minute or two late to my appointment, when in fact my appointment should have been finished 15 minutes prior and I still had nothing on my nails.

The manager then got to work on my nails and whilst they looked OK, they weren’t how I had wanted them and I was really disapppinted that I ended up sat in that chair for an hour and 45 minutes without anyone apologising for it or offering me a drink. I left really deflated and unhappy with my nails.

My partner had a manicure and a pedicure in the time I had a manicure but the person who did her pedicure cut through live cuticle and her two big toes were left bleeding.

Despite being told that our nails should last for a good week, they chipped within hours of our wedding (the next day) so we advised the photographer we didn’t want any close ups of our hands.

We paid a lot of money but were not properly told about the facilities available and the quality of service (massages aside) was poor.

I wouldn’t...

We didn't actually stay overnight at the hotel, but booked for an evening meal after having lovely afternoon drinks on the terrace overlooking the lake. The location is ideal, the views beautiful and such a relaxing atmosphere. The staff serving drinks were lovely and this made us decide to book for an evening meal on 17 September 2021 as the evening menu looked delicious.

To be fair the evening meal could not be faulted, it was absolutley the best meal we had during the whole of our week stay in Windermere and we ate out every evening and never at the same restaurant twice, so can fairly say the food here is excellent.

The service during most of the meal was good considering they were short staffed, this was not obvious though.

However, when we came to the dessert...this is where our score for this review comes to a huge down turn. Our meal was booked for 8.45pm, we did not get seated straight away, this wasn't a problem either.

By 9.40pm we had had two courses and were part way through our dessert course. The men decided to have the cheese board, and you would think that asking for a few more crackers at around 9.50pm to finish off the exceptional quality of cheeses that had been served would not be a problem!!!!! (Only one hour since first being seated) ...Oh, on this night apparently, yes it was!

Never, have we ever, in all our life had, what appeared to be the head waitress, say out right, "No" to a few crackers. The excuses just kept coming, "The Chef had gone home", "She did not know where he kept them", "They were all locked up"! ...Really! We were very polite but... "This lady was not for turning!"

So my husband after being told such a thing, with many excuses, when it was not even 10pm, calmly went to main reception to ask for crackers, he only needed about three of them!

The reception staff were very good, they fully understood our situation and before we knew it, the head waitress was back, not with a, "Here you are, sorry for the inconvenience and misunderstanding." ................No! What we got, as she placed the crackers on a plate next to my husband was.........."You did not have to go to reception to get crackers!"

I politley pointed out, "Obviously, yes we did, because you had refused several times to do so and we have not finished our meal." Then the come back was, " I have had to phone the chef from my own personal phone to find out where he kept the crackers."

If the waitress had got the crackers when we asked, we probably would have been finished and paid the bill, with an extra large tip, usually we would pay above the 10%, and we would have been finished by about 10pm. As it was, we didn't end up paying our bill until 22.18pm. I'm afraid this one member of staff caused us to leave without leaving any tip and a vow not to go back there again.

If the service had been different at the end of the evening, we may have enjoyed coffee in the lounge area of the bar and had a few more drinks before last orders giving this venue much needed revenue I'm sure.

Maybe this member of staff wanted to get home but to treat paying guests as she did is absolutley appalling. I hope she learnt a lesson this night, maybe other guests have felt intimidated by her and accepted an outright "No" if they have asked for something extra. If it was close to 11pm or midnight, maybe we could have made some allowances for such rudeness, but 10pm, I...

Unless you are wanting to take part in an episode of Fawlty Towers? I'd strongly suggest you AVOID. Having booked 3 weeks in advance to celebrate our first wedding anniversary in Windermere. I had called the hotel several times prior to arrival to book spa treatments, restaurant reservations, arrange for fresh flowers to be delivered and everything else you do for your wedding anniversary. However, from the moment we arrived it was evident all efforts had been wasted, when the receptionist advised there was no record of my booking, (despite it having been paid in full at time of booking)and they would have to 'See if they could fit me in'. Rather than our room overlooking the lake (as requested and confirmed) we got the pleasure of a car park. Breakfast had to be pre-booked (owing to covid restrictions) but this was pointless, as even though we arrived on time, it took 50 mins to serve undercooked slop more suited to a road side cafe! (Thanksfully evening meal was MUCH better) Sunday breakfast was no marginally better (only having to wait 35mins) despite ordering 2 of the same breakfasts were disappointed to see completely different items arriving (soaked in oil) on each plate. Resulting in leaving to find edible food elsewhere. The spa treatments were great, and most relaxing. However soon ruined as the afternoon tea we had booked, we found was to be taken in a bar they had opened to non residents and full of young, loud, rude and offensive teenagers, swearing, shouting and boasting of the previous nights antics. On complaining to the bar staff, I was offended by his response, and on requesting to speak to a manager told "Best of luck, he's busy" I headed for reception to immediately check out and leave, only to be assured by concierge the manager would see me straight away. Then someone posing as the manager pretended to show the slightest interest, and was affronted when I insisted on speaking to the General Manager, who arrived, continued to be patronising and defensive, but 'thankful of my feedback'. When I suggested the hotel was akin to Fawlty Towers he laughed in my face, and when he said to my wife 'I can see your a little disappointed' she advised him exactly how she felt, only for him to turn on his heels and leave! However, on sending a complaint to HEAD OFFICE, I'm then advised this is NOT a Macdonald hotel! (Despite it having been booked through the Macdonald hotels website, AND having Macdoald above the door!) Apparently its owned by a Leisure club with whom the chairman sits on around 15 different hotels AND on the board for Macdonald hotels! Despite SEVERAL attempts to get ANY form of response and acknowledgement as to how SHOCKINGLY poor the service, food and weekend was, and how UTTERLY offended I was to be laughed at by the GM when making a complaint. So far, I've been offered the opportunity to return (subject to status and availability, between Monday and Friday for 1 night) as a means of apology for RUINING my wedding anniversary! I've tried EVERY avenue to get them to see reason and recognise the extent of FAILURE they have had in providing what I paid for, and only when they have insulted me with such a lack of recognition by such restrictive and ill considered recompense for the anger, disappointment, frustration they have (and...