April 2025 by Tracy Harper
We were a little disappointed with our Spa break stay last weekend. On arrival after booking in there was limited seating so we had the cream tea an hour earlier than planned. This which we couldn?t fault. The Mayflower restaurant was lovely & its staff were brilliant,helpful & polite.
We were then shown the Spa area. This was not relaxing as so many people here we couldn?t sit & relax which was the one thing we had set out to do this weekend. We were shown a quieter area which was nicer.
The therapy rooms were lovely and mine was great but my husband?s massage wasn?t the 45mins & when leaving the room the therapist wasn?t stood outside the room. So he was disappointed.
Our evening meal was faultless. The food was delicious and the service by all staff was superb.
We had a courtyard room which was nice although I thought it had an odour & the carpet felt damp.
Overall the staff on reception, bar , housekeeping & restaurant, therapists were amazingly helpful, polite and attentive. But we wouldn?t go again for a relaxed break on a weekend day as it wasn?t to be .
March 2025 by Ben Mogridge
The hotel is lovely, but the spa is far too over crowded, nowhere to sit as there's not enough loungers/beds and the pools and saunas were overcrowded, it's supposed to be relaxing but it's very loud and you're constantly having to navigate around other people. We wouldn't go again based on this experience, they should limit the number of people able to use the spa at any one time.
March 2025 by KVG M05
Really disappointing stay. 5 star hotel with high prices meant our expectations were also high.
Room, food and spa were good but service was sadly lacking (certainly didn't meet the price tag).
At check in we were asked to book a time for breakfast - unusual, can't recall ever having to do this at any hotel previously. Booked for a leisurely breakfast at 9am as we had treatments at 10.30am. Turned up 9.05am and were asked to wait as others had turned up late. We waited until 9.50am before sitting down to a rushed breakfast. In the interim we were not offered tea, coffee, orange juice or a glass of water.
Things were very tense with the serving team and this was picked up by several guests.Again adding to a less than satisfactory experience.
We only got an apology for the wait as we left the restaurant after breakfast.
Service was not without fault at dinner the previous evening - our drinks order was forgotten, dessert took 30 mins to arrive after ordering and £8 for a side of greens and the French beans weren't trimmed.
We did have our breakfast discounted but it did not cover the inconvenience caused.
We don't mind paying high prices when service is good but given this is a 5 star hotel standards fell a long way short.
Boringdon you must try harder to justify you prices.
February 2025 by Jon Rimmer
Nearby activities: Wonderful Spa
January 2025 by Dave Thomas
Just about to have the final breakfast before leave. And here?s a few bullet points below to summarise my stay here at the Boringdon.
Location - Good location set on a hill, looks very impressive from the inside and out.
Staff- All staff very friendly, there were no problems at all in this department.
Room - We stayed in the Catherine suite. Was originally given the wrong room. But this was quickly sorted out. The room it self looked great, had a freestanding bath in the room. But? the bed was very noisy. The mattress was very hard (I?ve had more comfy sleep on the floor) there were only one of each small shampoo sets etc. basically only enough for one person when there were two of us.
Food- when booking it states a 3 course meal at the restaurant is included in your stay. However you get charged for the desserts and sides.
For example if you choose the beef. Then you can have either fries or vegetables to go with this, which in my opinion is needed or the meal wouldn?t be enough. But this is charged to you. Also the same with desserts so you only actually get two small courses included.
Spa- spa was great in terms of location and what was there. But?. It was way too busy. No loungers available or they were all reserved (it states no reserving) but no one policing it. Had to wait to use everything. Not enjoyable. There should be set times you book to avoid this.
Room service. - was charged things to my room which I didn?t have. The staff did remove these. Other than this is was ok.
In summary. I paid £1300 for two nights here. In my personal opinion I have stayed in far better places for that kind of money. I would give it a 6/10 overall.
January 2025 by Mathilde Henrot
Overpriced and noisy. The rooms are extremely noisy (especially the ones not in the main building: ie most of the rooms). You can hear the loud Tv, the conversations, the snoring etc of the room below. Really annoying. No heating and no internal phone working in both rooms on the 1st night. impossible to reach the staff calling from our cell phones, no one was picking up the phone . Small room for two really average : small and badly furnished. The next day a crazy client in the room below ours was banging on the ceiling (with an umbrella?) at 8pm when we were putting the children to bed. Two nights were enough. Too bad. Too expensive. Great spa, crowded though. Some very nice personnel have been very kind when our son was sick after eating at the Gastronomic restaurant (not at the level of its promises and its price); Mayflower delicious (but lack of staff: after 10 minutes I had to stand up and reach out to a waiter at the other side of the room and ask a coke for our son). Can?t recommend unless for an afternoon spa/ dip in the pool.
January 2025 by Helen B
Afternoon tea was very disappointing. Terrible service, waited 15 minuted to be acknowledged and 40mins for our drinks, despite asking twice.
Green tea was not served in appropriate pots so it was left to brew for far too long effecting the taste. Chairs were stained and did not look clean.
Service charge was then automatically added to the bill. We will not be visiting again or recommending.
December 2024 by Finley Knight
Unfortunately a very average 1 night stay for almost £600 (including meal)
The building and site is beautiful and looks fantastic when first arriving but then it wasn't great after that.
I paid for upgrade to the Executive suite with jacuzzi. It was nice when first entering but looking closer, there were multiple areas where paint and plaster was splitting on the walls and carpet needed a very good wet vac and clean. Found a few black hairs on my bed sheets unfortunately. Outside in jacuzzi area needed a tidy up and the cover for the jacuzzi looked rather old. When walking to the main reception, the frequent walk ways were also pretty dirty, again a wet vac is definitely overdue. Was quite disappointing for the price.
Me and my partner had the taster meal in Acleaf. The flavours were there but the portion sizes were minute to say the least. As a chef myself, regardless of the level of cooking, customers should never leave feeling hungry. Each plate was no more than 2 spoon fulls each so a total of 8. For £250+ you expect the best.
Breakfast was substandard, a couple of dry pastries on a centre table with a small selection of cereal and fruit, cooked items were OK but not in line with the venue. I have had better breakfasts in £70/night B&B.
On departure I also noticed I was charged over £25 for some small bottled waters during the meal, I paid of course but still pretty extortionate even for fine dining.
The sauna and spa area was however very good and clean but perhaps the rust on soke of the metal fixings could be cleaned up.
A great shame as I'd heard only good things for friends who have visited. Would definitely visit again if things were updated.
November 2024 by harriet bellchambers
Food and drinks: Wands and wizards afternoon tea was not good. Cakes all bland, wasn't told we could have more tea throughout the afternoon tea so had cold tea when the food came. I had a hair embedded in the beetroot tart another was bought out but still not what you expect from here. My daughter had spaghetti Bolognese and the ingredients were great quality but it was dry and overcooked wouldn't recommend.
November 2024 by Matt Bell
Disappointed. Came for a family do, and the evening meal was ruined somewhat by a misleading bill, and charging for drinks we were told were on the house. Our waitress was great throughout, and we felt for her that the bad systems put her in a bad place.
The bar wasn?t open late, so we couldn?t have a night after our meal and we weren?t made to feel welcome.
The breakfast was very poor. We were told to pre order, and it took 40 minutes for us even to get coffee & teas. Very disappointing. Food was ok but not worth a wait. Really disappointed with my porridge. I ordered it with brown sugar, and it was delivered without this and I was just given a sugar cube to break over with my hands. Very very poor.
Overall, this hotel does not feel like it would be a 5* establishment anywhere else like London, Bath or Exeter. The service provided is not 5*, more resembling Fawlty Towers. Other than the new rooms, they seem a bit ageing and lack air con, which in a hot storm meant our door kept blowing in its hinges.
Such a shame as it promised so much.
Walkability: The top overflow car park is up a big hill, so you have to drop your frail family members and luggage off at the bottom before going up. Lifts are out of service, so high stairs are currently the only option.
Food and drinks: The Michelin star meal was lovely. Can?t fault it. The service outside of this was pitiful. You could only get room service between 6.30pm & 11, so you couldn?t get drinks to your room. Our mini bar fridge was empty, so we didn?t even have that choice. There is no clear open all hours kitchen for snacks, which seems an oversight. I?d expect more for a 5* place.
Noteworthy details: I think this place rates itself as 5* because of its cost, but in reality if it were elsewhere, it would be a low 4.
November 2024 by E Humphries
We recently stayed for one night in a Wellness Room for my birthday. Overall, we had a lovely time, but it didn't feel like a 5* experience. Here is an honest review of our stay...
Pros:
- The grounds are beautiful.
- Check-in was smooth; we were seated and offered peach lemonade upon arrival which was a nice touch.
- The Wellness Bedroom was modern, spacious, had a great shower and comfy bed.
- We had an amazing dinner at the Mayflower Brasserie, along with lovely cocktails. The beef brisket bon-bons were incredible!
- The spa facilities were impressive with a pool, big jacuzzi, multiple steam rooms, and two saunas.
- I had a very good bespoke body massage (wish I could remember the therapist's name!).
Cons:
- Directions to our room were not clear, and we got lost trying to find it. Better signage is needed in the newer part of the building.
- There was no management or booking system for the spa, leading to overcrowding in many of the spaces.
- The Spatisserie service needs work. After our spa treatments, we went here for a late lunch but were turned away because they were expecting some tables to arrive soon. When we asked if there was anywhere else to get a sandwich, we were told no, which is not ideal if you're hungry after 3.30pm! However, they did say they could serve us if it was just a sandwich we wanted. We were seated on a sofa near the entrance, which was fine as they had squeezed us in. Unfortunately, our table was really dirty and we had to ask for it be cleaned because no one offered. Our tiny three finger-sandwiches took ages to arrive, and by the time we left, the tables they were expecting still hadn?t arrived, so we could have been seated at a proper table after all.
- The breakfast experience was very disorganised. Our order was taken quite promptly but it took 20 minutes for our coffees and juice to arrive, and another 20 minutes for food. The waiters seemed stressed, with many guests also waiting for their drinks/food. The small continental table in the middle of the room was inadequate; it would have been more efficient to have a larger table or a self-serve station along one of the back walls where guests could help themselves to coffee, tea, juice etc. Waiting 20 minutes for filtered coffee to be served on a silver dish felt excessive and priorities were wrong - I would've preferred to have got it sooner myself.
October 2024 by Bethany Jones
My husband and I spent our wedding night here, and we cannot recommend Borringdon Hall Hotel enough. The staff were amazing! We felt very welcomed, and couldn't have asked for a better stay!
We will definitely be coming back. The facilities were 5 star, the food was incredible and our room was immaculate. We even had a little wedding card left on our bed on arrival. Thank you! ??
September 2024 by Richard Hill
Food and drinks: Expensive bad service
September 2024 by Holli Snell
My and husband and I stayed at Boringdon last week, and were sadly very disappointed.
When we got to the room we wanted a shower after coming straight from work only to find the shower head was broken as there was no clip to hold the shower head. I called reception and after finally getting through after ringing several times I was told someone was on their way. When the staff member arrived he acknowledged the shower was broken and just apologised. No offer to change our room so we could have a shower.
We then had to hold the shower head up for each other while the other showered which is not what you expected from a 5* hotel at all.
I expressed the following morning how frustrating it was so have had a broken shower and again just a weak apology. No offer to discount our room after we were human shower holders for our entire stay.
The room was also ridiculously hot despite having the fan provided on all night. The bed was also very uncomfortable, we considered leaving in the middle of the night to go home.
One thing we did enjoy was the spa it was lovely.
We decided to give Boringdon another go considering we are locals and it?s a beautiful building and so we came for afternoon tea today. Again what a disappointing experience. While the desserts looked amazing they all tasted bland and some even tasting the same, which was such a shame. The sandwiches were ok but nothing special. We left most of the afternoon tea especially the desserts because they just weren?t great.
Once again we were asked how the afternoon tea was and I expressed it wasn?t that great and while the server looked over at our plates most of it being left (although we give each bit a taste) he offered to take the service charge off the bill. All in all £64 for an afternoon tea felt like a such waste of money.
Two very disappointing experiences which is sad because it?s such a beautiful venue.
September 2024 by Cy Marven
Went there for a birthday gift with my partner. Had a great time lovely Spa, great food and a lovely room
