Ellenborough Park

The staff, the food, the cleanliness

Hotel was beautiful and immaculately kept. Room was large and well equipped. Staff were exceptionally helpful. Spa treatments were great, if a little expensive. Great breakfast as well.

Spa could have been bigger. There is not a lot of room when the hotel is busy.

The room, the hotel staff, the scenery, and the hikes.

The restaurant food was not as good as we had expected.

There aren't as many rooms as normal hotels, so each guest really get a lot more attention. Plus, the location and scenery made it well worth the drive.

Great sense of history - lovely old drawing room (16th century?) with log fire.Dinner and breakfast were both excellent.Room was lovely, staff were uniformly courteous.Location is great - we went for a walk directly from the property up to the top of the Cleeve Hill, which gives a lovely view.

As others have mentioned, spa is tiny - just a hot tub, steam room and sauna. Sauna could have been hotter.We didn't try the outdoor pool, which was a bit farther away from the spa, next to another building.

Location

Old rooms, tasteless food, not friendly stuff. This hotel doesn’t match the stars assigned to it.

The spacious room and bathroom

Had to climb staircase to reach suite on level 1

Room itself was nice. Breakfast staff were really attentive. Breakfast was great!

Felt like we had to mine for information from the staff following check in. No one told us where in the hotel that breakfast was served. No one told us where the spa was located or that we had access as hotel guests. When we did make it to the spa, we were told we needed to go back to our rooms (via a short outside walk) to collect the robes from our rooms just to find that every locker in the spa had a robe. Why we weren’t told all this at check in as standard, I’m not sure. The spa itself - sauna was broken, it was all looking a bit tired. It’s v small. Pool is completely separate (again, which no one told us about on check in.) Found someone else’s old earplug behind the mattress when checking that I hadn’t dropped anything behind the bed just before checkout. Sadly, not the 5* experience, as it claims.

The hotel is located in a stunning listed building.

We booked this hotel expecting a 5-star spa weekend, as advertised, but the experience fell far short of those expectations. Overall, it felt more like a 3-star stay.The spa was particularly disappointing. The facilities feel run-down and cramped: a small, overcrowded room with a 6-person jacuzzi in the center and only two additional rooms for the sauna and steam room. When more than four guests are present, there is virtually no personal space, which completely undermines the idea of a relaxing spa experience. The overall SPA area felt dated and in need of a renovation, and lacked a lot of the polish that you would expect from a five-star hotel.The massage did not improve matters. The massage room felt old and poorly maintained, located at the top of a narrow spiral staircase which also did not feel renovated in a while. Considering the price, the experience was well below the standard of what you would get at most independent massage parlors in the country.The hotel also has an outdoor pool, but it is unheated and therefore only usable during the summer months.Another letdown was the dining experience. The cozy wooden dining room shown in photos appears to be used only for breakfast, which was good. Upon arrival at lunchtime, we were seated in a less flattering restaurant area where we had a very average sandwich, which again did not match the expectations set by the hotel’s presentation.To top it off, we were unable to pay with our American Express card because the payment terminal was not working and would not be fixed before the end of our stay. Aside from a quick apology from the desk staff, don’t expect the hotel to get much more concerned if you are unfortunate enough to encounter this type of issue.Ultimately, while the price may seem competitive for a five-star hotel, the quality of the facilities and services does not justify the label. Don’t be misled by the five-star rating: you will end up overpaying for what you receive.

Room was nice. Breakfast was good.

Spa only has a jacuzzi and this was not working. The outside pool was dirty and was not being looked after, impossible to use. I had the worst massage of my life, manager gave me a full refund. Cocktails took 20 mins to make. So we ordered room service and cancelled our evening dinner and the food was not great.

A truly beautiful hotel with a rich history in a great location. The staff were excellent and the food was too, including a superb choice for breakfast.

I stayed in Room 23 for three nights from 30 December. My bed was a serious disappointment. I booked on the basis that the room would have a double bed, as set out in the room description on the website. In fact, it turned out that two single mattresses were placed on a double divan, so not a proper double bed. This made for three uncomfortable and wakeful nights sleep. I woke up several times each night as my body slipped into the space between the two mattresses. I alerted the housekeeping staff to this after the first night and they kindly added a mattress topper from night two in an attempt to alleviate the situation. However, the difference it made to the quality of my sleep was negligible. At the suggestion of a hotel receptionist, I emailed the Guest Relations Manager on 4 January to bring the above matter to his attention and told him that I think it would be reasonable of the hotel to offer me a sizeable refund to compensate me for the discomfort I was put through. However, he has so far failed to reply.

Not much.

Main dining room not available for breakfasts or dinner. Had to sit in bar/atrium area instead, freezing cold. Bloke feeding his dog off of the timber floor at breakfast, another couple of blokes sat with 4no. dogs more or less on the dining table. ( We have dogs but they are not allowed to lick the table or eat directly off the floor).Evening meal sat in bar area with TV set showing sports. Food way too salty, Chef should pack in the fags/vapes and occasionally taste the food they are sending out.Breakfast sausage rock hard and looked like it was cooked days before, and bacon was grey in colour.At checkout other people in the queue were expressing their disappointment too, £50.00 discount given to one couple due to their disappointment over breakfast.Then they overcharged our party £220.00 on our stay and we had to point it out to them.They might have 5 stars ( hence the £20.00 plus for a vodka tonic when you add the 10% service charge for what was purported to be a "double measure" , which we were not asked if that was what we wanted or told that that was the case ?)Service just about a 2 Star at best. Not really in the habit of writing poor reviews but £3k plus for 2 night stay excluding the bar and evening meals is taking the mick.

Beautiful location and fantastic restaurant

We stayed in the new build vs the main house this year which lacked character

Our stay was incredible. The staff were all lovely and the bedroom was very comfortable with wonderful views. We had a delicious meal in the evening and a very generous breakfast the next morning.

Rooms are clean and comfortable. Very pleasant and helpful junior level staff.

Management is not up to the standard

Breakfast very good, location very good, and staff excellent

Noisy exstractor fan in bathroom

Location was stunning and close to Cheltenham. Plenty of parking. Breakfast was fantastic. Really enjoyed our evening meal at the Horsebox. Staff were friendly and welcoming. Rooms were lovely. Grounds and views were breathtaking .

Outside pool did not feel welcoming, described as heated but it wasn’t, and lots of leaves were floating in the pool, it just seemed like it had closed for the winter. Although the hotel deserves to be a 5 * , the spa is not I’m afraid, with basic jacuzzi sauna and steam room, only 4 loungers which isn’t enough if it’s busy, and unfortunately no ambience, it would really benefit from piped background music. This is a stunning hotel, but could benefit with upgrading its spa facilities. Not value for the money for the price we paid for 1 night B&B I’m afraid to say

Location

Thought the spa, sauna, steam room was very small for the size of the hotel.

Lovely romantic/historic vibe to the hotel. Our room was very nice and the staff were very welcoming. Great place to stay when visiting the Cotswolds especially if you want that festive feeling.

Our sink wasn’t draining properly and water was leaking out of the shower pipe when being used. We weren't too bothered as we only stayed for one night, so told the staff on check out. We did the breakfast in bed but it came late and wasn’t best quality. But it was included so I can’t complain.

Staff were excellent as was the food we had

The bedrooms were remote from the main hotel and if it was raining we would have got wet each visit to have meals