Bannatyne Health Club & Spa Darlington — Local services in Chilton

Having read the reviews on here I was worried about what I was going to experience when I went for my spa day! Broken showers, broken tiles, rude staff… I even considered cancelling! But I needn’t have worried, it was Fantastic! Some people just like to moan 😉

First stop was the relaxation room - Heated loungers were lovely. Comfy waterbed. Relaxing music. It was bliss. Even when other guests came in, it remained calming. Yes, when a lorry went past you could hear it for a couple of seconds but for me that wasn’t a big deal! Next was treatments. I had a back, leg & arm massage followed by a facial. Lucy was incredible! One of the best massages I have ever had. Hard pressure yet relaxing. She got all of the knots out of my back which other therapists have struggled with. Incredible! After this I got changed, grabbed a shower & headed to the pool. As previous reviews have said some of the showers were out of order but they all had signs on explaining when they would be fixed. And there were still 5 available showers - all with hot water! The pool itself was cool in temperature but once you start swimming it’s not an issue. I’d rather this than the stifling heat of some places. As stated, only 2 loungers available but there are available chairs too. The jacuzzi was full when I came into the pool but after 10 mins or so, emptied. The jacuzzi was hot and relaxing! I didn’t use the steam room or sauna but the guests coming out of them seemed happy enough.

I personally didn’t use the spa bags you could hire - I brought my own flip flops and just slipped on a maxi dress for going between places. Yes there were lots of gym goers but that wasn’t an issue for me. An aqua aerobics lesson was going on when I arrived at the spa (but there remained plenty of room to swim!) so I just did other things first. The staff were also incredibly helpful, nothing was too much trouble. Locker hire was £2 each but lockers were spacious and money refunded on leaving. It is cashless so make sure you have a card of phone to pay with!

Overall I had a fab day. Some areas need updating, but if you’re there to scrutinise tiles & decor of a pool, I feel you’re missing the point of a spa day! Take the bad reviews with a pinch of salt. No it isn’t perfect but it is still an...

The massage was good, the speaker in the dual massage room is blown, making a distorted and dissonant music, the whole place seems a bit run down and aged, which was a surprise considering the upmarket target audience.

The locker rooms were the nicest part. Lovely lockers and a wristband key. The showers were powerful but again decrepit and rattled when you turned them on, the fittings corroded and mould on the ceiling.

The gym was tiny, the machines were decent, pretty basic selection but would suffice, was only a few people in but was crowded almost due to the size of the place.

The food was run of the mill cafe stuff that was pre made. The smoothie was nice, jacket potatoe just had pre shredded packet cheese and ice cold ham hock sprinkled over it. Scone and was nice as it was recently cooked and still warm.

I was given a robe that was far too small for me and a bit raggedy. I swapped it and was given a huge fluffy polyester one which didn’t seem appropriate, made me sweat and wasn’t very absorbent, would have preferred a towel one. I’m big but I’m not that big, and XL would have fit. Pool is tiny, jacuzzi is tiny, sauna and steam rooms also tiny, so on a Sunday afternoon could barely get the use of any.

The relaxation room was adjacent a main road and all you heard was cars.

All in all really disappointing, run down, ragged, tiny place that seems dead busy cos it’s so tiny. Expected it to be a lot more considering Bannatyne memberships are quite expensive, I’d wouldn’t consider being a member, glad we went on a wowcher.

You’d think the facility next to the main office would be decent, maybe the senior managers need to come and spend some time in the place and invest...

I recently had an extremely disappointing experience at Bannatynes. The service was subpar from start to finish, and I would not recommend this place to anyone.

Upon arrival, I was left waiting in the room for 10 minutes, cutting into my 60-minute session. The therapist began without adjusting the cover or using a hot towel for my feet. Instead, she spent time inspecting items on the sink, further reducing my massage time.

When the massage finally began, it was poorly executed. The therapist applied oil directly to my back and started rubbing a stone rather than massaging. Despite my repeated requests for more pressure, she didn’t adjust her technique. She then asked if she could leave the stone on my back, which seemed unprofessional.

In the middle of the session, her manager entered the room unannounced, making me feel uncomfortable and intruding on my privacy. The manager’s tone was aggressive, and she offered another therapist to continue the session, claiming this was their style.

The new therapist was equally disappointing, applying spot pressure in a mechanical and uncomfortable manner. She finished quickly, and I realized that I had only received about 30 minutes of actual massage time out of the 60 minutes I paid for.

Overall, I felt neglected and short-changed. This experience was far below my expectations, and I felt that my money was wasted. I urge others to...