Review of Wyck Hill House Hotel and Spa, Stow-on-the-Wold

Wyck Hill House Hotel and Spa, Stow-on-the-Wold - 3 bubbles

Wyck Hill House Hotel is an elegant country house hotel set in a 100-acre estate with rather variable rooms and service. Treatments in the spa are good, but the spa lacks natural light as almost all the rooms are internal. The relaxation room is comfortable but the rest of the spa is dated and lacks any luxurious touches.

First impressions?

What's on offer?

Which treatments did you have?

What were the treatments like?

What else could you have?

Food facts

Was it worth it?

We loved

We didn't love

Who do you think would like it?

Why did you give the spa this rating?

Would you go again?

First impressions?

Wyck Hill House Hotel is an elegant country house in huge grounds, set in Cotswold countryside. No-one greeted me when I parked, so I took in my case and found reception. My bedroom was huge and recently decorated, but the bathroom was quite old fashioned.

The spa is hidden away at the back of the hotel; you need to go along a couple of corridors and then down in a lift to find it.

What's on offer?

Elemis treatments, a large steam room, a good-sized sauna, two showers, six treatment rooms, and a relaxation area. A very small changing room. There is no swimming pool, and there is little or no natural daylight in most of the spa.

The large relaxation room has a glass door which lets in some daylight. The comfortable, long couches are ideal for reclining on, and each is hung with a pretty gauze drape at the head end.

Which treatments did you have?

I had the Elemis Exotic Moisture Dew facial (£60, 60 minutes).

What were the treatments like?

The treatment room was slightly on the small side, but the treatment bed itself was comfortable. My therapist cleansed my face of make-up, then began the treatment with a lovely rich cream and a very good massage. She followed this with a mask. While the mask did its work, my therapist treated me to a head massage that included my very tightly knotted neck. More massage followed; she then applied another mask and left me to relax for a few minutes while the goodness soaked in. I could feel my dry and quite dehydrated skin drinking in all the rich creams and lotions.

Afterwards, my skin looked much plumper, my fine lines looked softer, and my skin glowed.

What else could you have?

Treatments using Elemis products, St Tropez tanning, Jessica products for nails, and Bare Escentuals make-up are on offer. You can book spa days, spa breaks and individual treatments.

The Elemis facials available include the Oxygen Skin Calm facial, and the Tri-enzyme Resurfacing facial.

The range of body treatments and wraps sounds almost edible! Try an Exotic Coconut Rub and Milk ritual, or an Exotic Frangipani Body Nourish wrap. Massages start at bargain rates for a 30-minute stress-buster; you can also try hot-stone massages. For mothers-to-be, the Nurturing Massage takes place on a bean bag; you don't have to try to get comfortable on a treatment bed accommodating your pregnant bump.

You can book spa days or High Tea and Treatments (which includes a 30- minute treatment). Their Sunday-night break is good value as it includes dinner, bed and breakfast, and a 30-minute treatment, too.

Food facts

The food in the hotel is excellent, largely made with local produce. I had great porridge and fruit for breakfast and very tender local beef for dinner. Meals are served in the conservatory, which is light and bright with views over the grounds, although the tables are very close together. You can order drinks and afternoon tea in the spa, but need to go up to the main restaurant in the hotel for lunch.

Was it worth it?

The spa treatments aren't overpriced in themselves, but a visit to the spa is quite expensive given the lack of facilities. This area of the country has plenty of spas and there are many more with much better facilities.

We loved

The relaxation room, where a real effort had been made to create an atmosphere of comfort. The reclining sofas were delicious, the lighting low, there were plenty of magazines and you could order cold drinks.

We didn't love

The small and very stuffy changing room. There is just one shower and one loo. There are no external windows or air conditioning, so the room gets hot and damp, and this showed in the mouldy wooden step by the shower. Two other people were changing when I went in and we had to take turns as there was simply not enough space for us all.

The sauna and steam area, which is very utilitarian. There is a large open area between the sauna, steam room and showers, but it is completely tiled in beige tiles and has no seating. The addition of some wooden benches would make this area more useful, as at least you could sit down while cooling down between the sauna and steam room.

Who do you think would like it?

Local customers seem to pop in for a regular treatment. Anyone booked into the hotel would enjoy a massage or facial followed by some quiet snoozing in the relaxation room. Keen walkers would love the grounds and the countryside.

Why did you give the spa this rating?

We gave Wyck Hill House Spa 3 bubbles. Treatments are good and they've made a real effort with the relaxation room. But the rest of the spa is dated and utilitarian. However much you clean the changing room shower (and I was assured it had been cleaned recently), the mould will build up again because the room has no ventilation. This is not the fault of the spa staff, who are trying hard.

Spa staff greeted regular clients, and were trying to make everyone's day special. Two people who had booked in on a spa day were well looked after, but they did confide to me that they were very disappointed in the facilities.

See more on how we rate the spas.