Spa hotel in England

Late in May we went to relax for a weekend, the destination – SPA hotel in Buckinghamshire, England. Hotel name Crowne Plaza Marlow.

For those who have been to SPA hotels in countries such as Latvia, Estonia, the Czech Republic or Hungary, a Spa hotel in England may seem different from what they use to imagine  about this kind of establishment, although overall things are not that bad.

About Buckinghamshire

Buckinghamshire is a county in the south-east of England, but to make it clearer, it is located to the west from London. It borders Greater London to the south-east, Oxfordshire to the west and a few other counties in other directions.

Because London is relatively close by, many people who work in London live in Buckinghamshire, making the region quite expensive to live in. In total, the county is home to just over 800,000 people and covers an area of less than 2,000 square kilometres.

Buckinghamshire is the 32nd largest of England’s 48 territorial units (the largest being North Yorkshire, which is more than four times the size). In the south of the county is located the officially recognized Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, where people go to relax and enjoy nature, especially during weekends.

Spa Hotel

The hotel itself surprised in a positive way. Firstly, it has a large area, not the usual lack od space as it’s used often to be in England. Parking spaces are spacious, both just outside and around the hotel. Well-maintained driveways and greenery all-around with three-storey hotel buildings located in a fairly large area.

The rooms are also very large compared to what is common in other hotels. So a very good rating as the first impression.

The receptionist was professional, we checked in quickly and happy went to our rooms. However, everything else did not follow so smoothly. It was planned that a bottle of prosecco would be in the room after our arrival, but it did not arrive even after a number of repeated inquiries. After seven in the evening it was finally brought to our rooms. Of course, it’s better late than never, but it really can’t be recognised as a four-star service.

Of course, this did not prevent us from enjoying our stay in hotel’s bar and Spa located in another building.

Spa complex

The size of the spa complex was a bit surprising. It was definitely not as big as you might think, although in other places the spa complexes may even be smaller.

The complex has comfortable changing rooms, although we failed to make lockers work. It was not important though because we could leave all the valuables in our rooms in the safe that worked.

The pool has two relatively wide paths for swimming, where three people can swim freely in one and another for two people. There is a small children’s pool and a hot tub by the pool. However, it was impossible to sit in hot tub for longer time, because the water was heavily chlorinated.

The next day we visited the procedures (massage), the rooms of which are located in the same building next to the pool. Treatment rooms are relatively small, just as much as a massage table to install and to take off clothes. The procedure itself was normal, punctually executed – nothing special, but generally good.

Hotel restaurant

Apart from the rather chaotic service, the best thing about the hotel was the restaurant, where we had dinner and breakfast the next morning – all respect to the chef.

All the dishes we ordered were really tasty. Since we got our sparkling wine delivered in the room just before dinner, we took it to the restaurant and the staff did not object us drinking it there during the dinner. On some occasions some of the staff did not seem very professional, however they were nice and we were very happy about the dinner.

Overall, our late May weekend in Buckinghamshire was a success.