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Combe Grove Manor, Bath - 2 bubbles
Single Spy and her family found, not a spa, but a hotel with a members' health club and separate treatment rooms.
Was it easy to book?
First impressions?
How did they welcome you?
What happens next?
What happens afterwards?
Was it worth it?
What else could you have?
What do you wish you'd known before you went?
Who do you think would like it?
Why did you give the spa this rating?
Would you go again?
Was it easy to book?
Yes - we were looking to stay for two nights with our teenage children and booked a week in advance. I did book a beauty treatment - a facial - at the same time, but then our itinerary changed. I tried to reschedule but there were no treatment slots available, which meant that that this aspect of Combe Grove Manor remains unexplored. Indeed, the beauty salon brochure advises booking two or three weeks in advance.
The place is easy to find, too. The directions are clear and we didn't go wrong once.
First impressions?
Who could fail to be impressed by the first sight of the commanding views across Limpley Stoke valley? The country house that is Combe Grove Manor is high on a hill above Bath and looks across to a distant horizon. As you drive into the car park and catch sight of the Georgian façade, you come over all Jane Austen and expect someone to whisk you down from your pony and trap. Then you realise you're parking the VW, you're hauling your luggage into Reception, and the staff seem curiously unconcerned as to whether you and your family actually reach your room or not. "Oh, you go outside again and it's down there on the left, about a hundred yards." Off we set, rattling our cases over the speed bumps of the small road.
The room: There are some rooms in the main house, but our family room was in the newer Garden Lodge, away from the main house and along that small road that could be tricky to negotiate, combining as it does traffic and small children. The room is a great size for two and, like all of the Lodge rooms, has a view that makes you happy to get up in the morning - all trees and sky. All of the Garden Lodge rooms have a balcony or courtyard, with an outside table and chairs that probably see more use in summer than February half term. We had our two teenage children in with us, which cut down the amount of available space. I liked the way the staff had the got the rollaway beds ready in advance and also laid out four shortbread biscuits on the tray for us. Pity they didn't also provide four mugs, so two of us had to wait in line for a cup of tea. I suppose this is what the brochure means by "understated luxury".
There's Gilchrist and Soames shower gel and shampoo in the bathroom - a hotel rather than a spa brand - but plenty of white, clean towels.
The leisure club: If you're staying at the hotel, you get complimentary use of the leisure club, which is in a separate building, across the courtyard from the main house. There isn't a "spa", really. There's a pool. Let me explain how you get to it. From your room, you walk along a corridor, past a door, out of the Garden Lodge, down the steps, along the road, round the corner, into the health club, up some steps, up a slope past the gym, into the pool area, over to the showers... and realise you are now on the other side of the door you passed so long ago in the corridor. We can appreciate that there are probably issues of noise and cleanliness to be considered - it would be very easy for dripping wet children to career from hotel room to pool through an open door, scattering chlorinated water all over the carpets. However, the blocking of this entrance/exit also means that if you are booked for a treatment, you have to leave the pool, get dressed, and do the journey in reverse, because the treatment rooms are on the top floor of the Garden Lodge.
This separation of treatment rooms and water facilities means that the two aspects do not mingle, as they would in a traditional spa. It's best to think of Combe Grove as a hotel with a leisure club and some separate beauty-treatment rooms.
How did they welcome you?
The staff on Reception in the main hotel were offhand, offering neither to organise cases nor to show us to our room. The staff on Reception at the Country Club were pleasant, but similarly disinclined to show us through to the facilities or explain where everything was. It's easy enough to work out, but it confirmed the fact that this was a members' health club where you were left to your own initiative, rather than a spa.
What happens next?
The gym: Before a swim, I made use of the gym. This is a large, bright room, with plenty of aerobic equipment and freely available water. There's a separate exercise studio where, on my visit, some energetic aerobics was taking place. Other classes you could join in are Hatha yoga, body conditioning, spinning and Pilates.
After my workout, I met up with my daughter and we went through to the changing rooms.
The changing rooms: These are large, but do not lead directly through to the pool. The pool is on the floor above, so you need to go up a flight of steps and a tunnel-like slope to get there. My daughter forgot to bring her towel with her, so by the time she got to the pool (this was February), she was shivering.
The pool: The indoor pool is purpose built but showing its age. There was green moss at the edges of the pool on my visit, which I have never found the most inviting aquatic accessory. The pool is large enough for a proper swim under the arched wooden roof (one lane is looped off for laps), and the windows at the far end open onto wooden decking, which is probably fantastic for lolling about on and getting a post-swim tan in the summer months. The sauna and the steam rooms were both a good size - you could get six or seven people in with no problem, and suitably hot. The hydrospa beds were drained and out of action both times we visited.
There's no separate children's pool, but children under 14 are only allowed in the leisure club at designated times (these vary according to the day of the week), so you can still enjoy an adults-only swim.
What happens afterwards?
After you've made the most of the pool, sauna and steam rooms, you can move outside. The hotel has 69 acres of private gardens - collect a map of walks and runs from Reception - tennis courts, a 5-hole golf course and a driving range, so there is no shortage of al fresco activity. There is also an outdoor swimming pool, open during the summer months.
The food: We had two meals at the hotel - dinner the first night at the Eden Bistro, which is downstairs in the main house. It's divided into small rooms, so you have the sense of eating in an ante-room, as if the main restaurant is somewhere else, or an arched cellar. After we had eaten - the food was fine, with some child-friendly options - the kids went back to the room and my partner and I went upstairs to the library to have a drink and a chat. We were having a pleasant drink and chat when the staff decided to set the room next door for breakfast. This involved dragging chairs and tables about, as well as clattering cups and saucers, and as the room next door had a marble floor, the ambience was deafening. It was probably one of the least relaxing post-dinner drinks I have ever had.
Breakfast the following morning was mainly notable for the wait while they found us a table, but the room was light, bright, and the coffee decent enough.
Was it worth it?
As a hotel stay, I didn't think so. I've stayed in hotels which charge similar prices where staff have actually been willing to provide customer service. It's probably great value as a health club, though.
What else could you have?
The beauty salon offers Clarins, Thalgo and Aromatherapy Associates treatments, including facials, massage, and wraps. There's a special "mother to be" treatment in each range, plus a selection of treatments for men, who can have their own facials, massage and waxing. Day and wedding packages are available, as well as traditional beauty treatments including bronzing and eyebrow shaping.
Also on offer are complementary treatments such as reflexology, kinesiology, Reiki and Indian head massage.
What do you wish you'd known before you went?
That you could arrive early and use the leisure club facilities before check-in time. This is a nice touch. Similarly, you can use the facilities for the rest of the day once you've checked out, too. And, if you want treatments, to book well in advance.
Who do you think would like it?
Local people who enjoy the convenience of the gym membership and the pool, the wide range of classes, and the added extra of being to have complementary treatments, too. If you're not hankering for a spa experience, it's probably a nice enough country-hotel break for couples who stay in the main house and get a kick out of Jacuzzi baths and sleeping in a four-poster bed. And families would enjoy Combe Grove during the summer months when the outdoor pool comes into its own - look out for special offers where kids can stay free. There's an OFSTED-inspected nursery and babysitting on site, so it's good for getting a bit of time to yourself, too.
Why did you give the spa this rating?
I gave Combe Grove Manor 2 bubbles because the "spa" aspect was tatty round the edges and the staff were unremarkable. The views are amazing but the facilities make the place neither completely family-friendly nor an exclusive retreat. This is predominantly a members' health club attached to a hotel and it feels like it.
See more on how we rate the spas
Would you go again?
What, now that you can stay in the centre of Bath and visit Thermae Bath Spa? There are Roman remains in the grounds of Combe Grove, but I think I might prefer a more modern spin on the Roman habit of water cures in this most traditional of English spa towns.
We visited Combe Grove Manor in October 2006
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See also:
* Contact Details for Combe Grove Manor
* Treatments for men
* Teen treatments
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