Ragdale Hall Spa — Hotel in Melton

Came here with my partner for a cheeky 1-night stay "27-2-24" She heard lots about the place and wanted to check it out.

Upon arrival, we were met by a kind gentleman who took our bags and politely instructed us on where to go to get our induction for our stay, and of course the use of the Spa facilities.

We were led to the bar, where we were asked what we would like as our complimentary drinks. It was all very well presented to us at this point. And very posh. I was impressed, and we had only been here 5mins.

And then it was like the room went silent. And the words from a couple who were sat on a table next to us were sounded out as clear as a Swiss river. Aaaah God!!! Look at the state of this!! My partner was dressed smartly because she had been at work for the morning. And I was dressed in smart jeans, clean shoes, a nice jumper and a smart puffer jacket because I was feeling the cold that day. And straight away I was being stereotyped by a couple of nobodies to me. Who then proceeded to throw filthy looks across the bar area. Normally I'd happily and of course, politely put these people in their place. Like anyone would. But on this occasion, and considering where we are. I thought better of it. Now don't get me wrong. I'm a well-presented chap, not in the slightest bit chavy, and I'm always conscientious of how I look. I always aim to be smartly dressed basically. So this did affect me.

So one glass of apple juice each, and a brief introduction by the Ragdale Staff. We were on our way to our room.

The room was well-presented, tidy and spacious. We sat down and ordered our breakfast in the room for the following morning. Which was a fantastic choice. And Apart from Hyacinth Bucket x2 in the bar area, we were happy with what we paid for.

So away we went, swim shorts on, dressing gown tightly tied and away we went to the facilities. My partner being the lady she is took the lead. She's the queen of spa's, I'm the king of technology. It's just how we roll in this relationship. So on this occasion, she decides where we're going.

Fast forward a few hours and we've experienced it all, sauna, hot tub, swimming pool, jacuzzi, rooftop pool plus many more.

While in these areas we were made to feel unwelcome by what we're told "Full-time-members" I'm the chatty one out of us two. So I'll have a conversation with people about anything within reason of course. So straight away, as previously mentioned we were made to feel like 3rd class citizens by our upper-class hot tub friends. Just in conversation, we were asked have we had been here before. My partner quickly responded, no we haven't I'm afraid. I've always wanted to come, but never really had the money to do so. Not that we have to justify ourselves to these two ladies, but we've bought a house, currently in the process of doing it up. Holidays to other countries, the dog needs an operation etc etc. This wasn't mentioned, but it's on my mind. Because of course, when someone says, oooh you got a discounted stay, did you? Aaah ok, well we're full-time members so we see all sorts of riff-raff come here. It kind've makes you want to say you know what bla bla bla. With that, they left the hot tub and we never laid eyes on them again that day.

So dinner time is fast approaching, it's been a long day. Head up to the room. Get showered, a spray of the good stuff around the neck and away we go for dinner.

Dinner was lovely. Small portions, but we're not complaining. We knew what to expect. Service was prompt and polite. We head back up to the room happy and satisfied.

The next day we're up and ready awaiting the tap on the door with our breakfast. Again, fantastic service, superb breakfast and very lovely staff from the get-go.

We make use of the time we have left in the spa. Met with a few spiteful comments. But hearing a conversation between 2 members in the changing room about how people like us shouldn't be allowed here isn't welcoming. Apparently, we're ruining the place. No members want to come while us type've people are here. Maybe we...

I had been wanting to visit Ragdale for as long as I can remember. Sadly it didn’t live up to my expectations or to the 5 star reviews I had read about. For nearly £500 per night you would expect sheer luxury in the spa, facilities and rooms, however this is not the case and far from it Breakfast is absolutely awful, you have to order before 5pm for the next day for an awful continental breakfast, for the price tag I would expect a fresh full English breakfast with an excellent vegetarian section & fresh fruit juice or smoothies, extremely disappointing Sugar cubes; extremely unhygienic, full of germs, god knows how many people have touched them and how long they have been hanging around on tables, have Ragdale management and executive chef not heard of sugar sachets!?! Overcrowded spa, all about achieving their full occupancy with overnight, day and twilight guests, with hefty price tags, with no consideration to quality of the spa experience which normally comes with tranquility, space and relaxation. Restaurant and veranda coffee shop extremely busy and very noisy. Staff, yes are friendly enough but there is NO flexibility whatsoever, very strict, very set in their ways and got the impression not prepared to move with the times or listen to what the new guests want, got the impression it’s all about keeping the old repeat clients happy! Anything you asked for the answer was “this is how we do things and we are fully booked so we don’t need to change”! Really! 10.30 check out meant you couldn’t relax and virtually had to get out the room straight after breakfast Lunch was ok, but very limited hot vegetarian selection. Cross contamination between veg and non veg. Hot desserts absolutely disappointing not worth having Dinner, a la carte, very bland, extremely limited vegetarian options, yes they improvise the menu but all they do is remove the meat. Come on executive chef, where’s your imagination and creativity, would you want to eat bland boring food with a hefty price tag? Make an effort to prepare something different especially if the guests are notifying you well in advance of their stay of their dietary requirements I appreciate that spas are supposed to be relaxing but to see guests in bath robes for an a la carte meal at night! Really?! You get a complimentary soft or hot drink when you arrive but thereafter only tea or coffee after dinner. Other spas which we regularly go to have free hot drinks and fruits on offer all day! Spa facilities do not open till between 7.30 and 8.30, this is far too late as there are guests who are up early or want a bit of peace and quiet in the facilities prior to the start of the day! Classes do not start till after 8 am! One cannot get the times they want for treatments as once again way overbooked and cramming in as many treatments as they can Grounds were ok, well kept but for a country spa I would have expected much much larger land for walking Floors felt slippery and you were expected to walk bare foot, however the staff were allowed to wear something on their feet! Doesn’t make sense! Once again hygiene issues and H&S as one could have easily slipped. Positives were the newly refurbished rooms were lovely, spacious and comfortable, friendly and helpful housekeeping team Plenty of towels for use which was great My favorite was the candle pool, rooftop pool and the thought zone Spa facilities were gorgeous but at times extremely busy and lacked tranquility NO cushioned, luxury beds to lounge around the pools in. Overall it was ok but not the much needed relaxing break we had hoped, would we go back, for the price we paid the answer is...

I was gifted a voucher for 30 years service at work via Virgin Experiences. I put some money towards this and made a purchase for Ragdale Hall. All in all a two night stay in a Luxury room came to around £1000 for me and my wife. We were quickly seen to at reception upon arrival and someone offered to park our car which I declined. They took our bags and we were taken to the garden room for a drink and were given our itinerary for the two day stay. Upon arriving at our ‘luxury’ £500 a night room we discovered it to be massively dated, dark and as it was at the top of the building it was unbearably hot. No air con in sight. At this point my wife stated that she couldn’t sleep in this room and headed down to reception to ask why her request she’d made a few months prior had been ignored. She is claustrophobic and had rang to state this many months beforehand and was told that there were a few levels below this ‘luxury’ room. She was told that we could move from 34 to 36 on the next day. Needless to say that there wasn’t much sleep going on on the first night. At least we got to listen to the planes every 5-10 minutes as the hotel is on a flightpath of a nearby airport! The pool areas we tried were adequate although previous reviews of midweek being quieter seemed to be short of the mark. My wife had a couple of treatments during the stay from a girl called Bec and she really enjoyed them as Bec made her feel welcome and it was the highlight of the stay. Our first meal was Dinner on day one and although my meal was fine my wife had one of the omelettes which unfortunately was extremely dry and hard to eat. There seemed to be a lot of student type servers in during our meal who I feel had only just started but they did their best. Shout out though to the young chap who came looking for us with a couple of teas as we had retreated to an egg chair in the garden after dinner. The first breakfast was in the Verranda room and although not your usual breakfast, was pleasant enough. The breakfasts have to be prebooked on the previous day so they have 16+ hours not to mess that up. After waiting a couple of hours for our second room to be ready we finally moved into that one. Pretty similar room really but the decor was lighter and less depressing than the previous room. The lunch we thought was the best of the meals as this was mostly buffet style. The lady who dealt with us, Michelle, explained everything well. The second Dinner was a better affair than the previous night and was also a plus point. The day of leaving we were due to have breakfast, which we’d booked 16+ hours in advance for 9:15am. We chose this time as my wife had another treatment booked in for 9:55am. We waited and waited but nothing. At 9:30am I decided that I’d had enough and went to reception to complain and settle my bill. I was told they were going to look into it and went back to my room to pack. Around 9:40am my wife messaged me to say that she had just been served but obviously this was too late. She left half of the breakfast and decided that she didn’t want her treatment then. We went down to reception and were told due to not having one breakfast, a treatment and lunch also that we could have £150 back in total as our previous room had been downgraded £50. I Wish I’d never seen this ‘luxury’ stay on the Virgin website and will never forget my 30 year service award from work. The money back was almost an insult which barely covered my petrol to get there and back. Left there feeling depressed and a grand out of pocket. 30 years...