Ellenborough Park Cheltenham Spa Reviews

Beautiful building, location and views unforgivably let down by very poor service.

Power cut on arrival - no help from the staff in any form whilst sitting in pitch black in our room for 30m.

Ordered a taxi into town and asked to wait in The Great Hall which we did for 20m before enquiring with staff only to find out the cab had been waiting 10m.

Had to find our own table at breakfast which was dirty and not made up.

Poor service in the horse box, waited a long time for our meal and when checking where it was was abruptly told of he power cut and nothing they could do as affected the whole area.

I e stayed around the world and this was the worst service I ve experienced. Possibly to do with the new GM. Highly recommend avoiding.

A lovely upgrade by new owners of a long standing hotel and historic house of the De la Bere family. Tragically the new staff are not informed of the true history of the house, including the fact that lord Ellenborough hardly stayed in the house and its near demise was due to the neglect of that clan in the 20th century. The beautiful interior has been upgraded and manicured with sky lights and a snooty but fun restaurant. The rooms have been gutted and smoothed out. Gone are the silly pseudo old Elizabethan decor. The spa touch is terrific and apparently well attended in race season. The staff are propagating erroneous histories about the old auction bought paintings. These histories were told to several guests. It's a shame the owners don't bother to touch base with the wealth of historic documentation just a stones throw away and present a true picture of this bucolic gateway to the cotswolds. The house has connections in family and history with Sudeley Castle just over the common. Good that they have refurbished it just don't believe a word they say.

Brilliant location. Terrific for office conferences as well as leisurely weekends away in the beautiful rolling countryside around Cheltenham. Highly recommended.

The staff were superb, willing to go the extra mile and always with service in mind. An excellent hotel with great facilities outdoor heated pool, spa, leisure suite and 2 restaurants

This beautiful hotel is set in exquisite countryside, very easy to get to via Cheltenham spa station. Our stay was delightful from start to finish. The staff are exceptional , so welcoming & efficient. Our cream tea rated top notch as was our dinner.This is the most dog friendly hotel I have ever stayed in , I could not recommend it more.

Excellent standards, but given it's a five star hotel no surprise really. Staff very friendly and attentive but not too much. Thank you.

Simply stunning, great food and a fantastic drinks selection, one of the country's best wedding venues. Ben Drummond award winning Guitarist

Highlight of our trip! Beautiful property and cozy rooms!

This is NOT a 5* establishment.

When reading this, please bear in mind that I m judging my one-night stay at Ellenborough Park based on it supposedly being a 5-star hotel.

The venue is lovely, the surroundings and the room we stayed in was furnished to a high standard, this was the only 5-star part of my stay.

To keep this concise, here s a list of noteworthy things that happened/did not happen during my stay which I wouldn t expect from a 5*:

- While waiting for my room to be ready, I went to the bar, told the bartender that I would wait in the front room and he would come to take my order. He never came.

- Whilst in this room, another waiter was serving afternoon teas, not once did she come over to me and ask if I wanted anything. Appreciate she was busy, but 5* service would at least engage with a guest sat at the table

- Wanting to return to my room which was in the main house, from the spa in one of the outbuildings, there was a door marked this way to rooms 16-19 , i was in room 19. The lady at the spa reception said it s not possible to go that way, you must go outside through the main entrance , when asked for her to elaborate on the reason for this she was unable to provide one, I got on of those blank meaningless responses you d expect from a Wetherspoons staff member. So I had to walk outside in the blistering cold, past the front room where people were enjoying afternoon tea, in my bath robe, what I sight that must have been for them.

- We were over-charged for our room service tray charge, this was corrected, but shouldn t have happened in the first place. Ordinarily, I wouldn t care much for this mistake but on top of everything else I feel compelled to mention it.

- The biggest inconvenience was that my luxury suite , described by the man who took me to the room as the best room in the house , was directly above the bar which was playing music loud enough for me to hear the lyrics all evening from my room. Look, it s a Friday night and I appreciate that an old building like this probably has thin ceilings. But the receptionist guaranteed to me that it would be switched off by 10pm. By 10:30pm it was still blaring and I had to call down once again to ask them to turn it off

- Breakfast in bed was not made possible as it came on a plate only, no large 5*star tray to allow me to safely place it on the bed, so I had to eat at the table instead. To add, the cremated sausage and dry mushrooms weren t even worth getting out of bed for.

As you re reading this, I m sure you re probably thinking ok, you ve mentioned the bad bits, but where is the fair balance with the good bits? To be completely honest, no interaction I had with the staff at this hotel was worth highlighting as exceptional - the building and surroundings are the only great things about this hotel.

I will not be coming back, and feel obliged to suggest to other people I know contemplating coming here, that there are much better 5* places in the U.K.

One of the criteria set by Visit Britain when awarding a hotel 5 stars is: Exceptional levels of proactive service and customer care. - I ll let you be the judge on whether this was the case during my stay.

To top it off, we weren t even asked how our stay was upon checking out. I guess they already know the answer...

A truly beautiful place. Excellent lunch and perfect service: I have two very happy in-laws

Absolutely stunning setting, very comfortable rooms and the reception team went out of their way to make our stay enjoyable. The only criticism I would have is that the spa experience wasn't all I had expected. I also waited rather a long time for meals (1hour in one case). That being said, I would recommend Ellenborough to friends.

All good apart from the bar manager who is an inexperienced, disrespectful and rude man who is bringing the prestige of this beautiful hotel down. What a shame!

Very nice hotel but overpriced in our opinion. On arrival and after unpacking we opened the bathroom door to discover a strong sewage smell. Housekeeping attempted to tackle it with no success so we were moved (at our request) to the room opposite. Staff we spoke to said that it is an ongoing problem and the hotel has spent a lot of money trying to resolve it. This took up our time as we had to transfer rooms and wait around to get it sorted out so we were unable to use the spa as initially intended. The second room was spacious and comfortable but there were cobwebs and dust. The bathroom could have been cleaner too we stayed for two nights and our room had not been serviced by 3:30 on the first day so we had to ask. They did not replenish the biscuits,tea etc which we would expect as we paid for two nights accommodation . We ate in both restaurants and found the food and service excellent,also breakfast was good. The waiter in the restaurant was very attentive without being too formal and Jonathan on reception was very helpful, nothing was too much trouble,it was obvious that he enjoys his job. I felt as though I was being a nuisance when dealing with a couple of reception staff regarding the smell and another issue and as we had booked our stay at this hotel because I am recovering from major surgery and really needed a stress free break, we were a little disappointed.

Beautiful setting for my friend's wedding. Food was sublime, staff really polite and friendly and they dealt magnificently with dietary requirements for a large group.

Excellent service and quality . Everything was top quality

Excellent hotel and food. Service impeccable. Hotel surrounded by greenery. I suggest to visit Burton on water. Stunning village.

It is a beautiful place but food and drink is extremely expensive for what you get. We went for a spa weekend and the spa is so small. There were only 6 chairs, a sauna the size of a cupboard and a steam room that got awkward if more than 2 people were in at once. The relaxation room was like someones lounge and again, not very big.

Went to view the wedding fair as I have book my wedding there. The staff where very helpful showing us the rooms and talking us through how the day would and all the options. They have a great venue and it's all well thought out.

I have stayed here a few times over the years and have always been impressed by the satfr and rooms.

Beautiful grounds and manor, lovely people can't wait to be back!

Attended a wedding here and thought the staff were first class. So helpful, professional and attentive. The hotel is beautiful with stunning views.

Stunning place. Great hotel, friendly staff go above and beyond to help out. Highly recommended.

Stunning setting and picture perfect buildings to enjoy a spa experience. Perfect for a couples retreat to enjoy a massage and then dinner for two.

Stunning building and grounds, a perfect retreat. it's a little expensive but well worth the money. Staff could not be more helpful or friendly. the hotel and spa facilities are simply brilliant.

A group of us spent an evening enjoying the bar and were given a free tour and told lots about the history of the building and Lord Ellenborough by one of the staff. It made the visit truly memorable.

Many thanks

Wonderful service and food. Couldn't have asked for a better weekend.

Wers sure likes a good address. Is beautiful, interesting old walls, very British

Let's start with the bad. We had a "four-poster bed" where the curtains did not hang as they should, but that was because there was a need for repairs at this point. There is also a need to wash them, since the dust that can be shaken out of the four-poster bed curtains is a bit too much. The dim light in the room is also annoying, which leaves everything in the semi-darkness even though we shot the spots on full.
The lady at the reception should also be a little friendlier. It is also remembered that she then immediately collected a deposit of 1000 pounds although the booking with credit card had already been deposited via Booking.com. It is certainly more friendly and especially when you arrive it leaves a little doubt. (The male version of the reception was much friendlier and more helpful - so it works)

The composition of the breakfast can be described as rather careless. Elsewhere there is a glass of Prosecco, some cold sausage, some decent cheese, jam jars at the buffet to choose from, not just butter but also reduced-fat parts.
The outdoor swimming pool at 31 degrees is beautiful, although there are a number of tiles in need of repair. It is really cool to go there in a bathrobe over the grounds. You should definitely leave it that way. (I don't like going to the sauna .. but would go well with the outdoor pool - but I don't think there is). We really enjoyed the freshness after swimming.
The location of the hotel is unique. Extensive and above the city. The natural stone facades and the buildings, which have a maximum of 3 storeys, are successful. The lounges in the main building are certainly also so that you can stay here longer. Cheltenham itself is nothing special.
The rooms upstairs in the main building are cozy! Because of the obvious budget problem, there are only 3 stars.

A wonderful old building in a stunning location. Perfect service from polite friendly staff.

Superb location, beautiful building and grounds,, however let down by terrible food and slow, inattentive service. Not a true 5 Star Hotel, food would be better suited served at a Travel Lodge (no disrespect intended to TL). Price structure does not represent the level of service, food or attention to detail expected at this level. Not recommended and very disappointed - review left because the Hotel did not even respond. Final meal of 3 night stay returned twice for being uncooked in the middle and cold, 2 of 3 breakfasts arrived cold (the should of been cooked and hot). Cheekily added service charge to bill at the end despite comments.

Very nice place set in lovely grounds hotel very nice.Prefect place for a wedding.

My 91 year old mum and I stayed with you on the night of 21 June as a treat on our way to collect a kitten. We live in Northern Ireland and had to take the Ferry to Birkenhead and drive to the hotel courtesy of sat nav. Due to no fault of ours we ended up 70 miles away and had to find our way back resulting in arriving at 12.10 am. We had booked to have an evening meal and were advised it was too late and a plate of sandwiches was all that could be provided. Although starving after such a long trip we just went to bed.



The receptionist she would look into the charge for me but I hadn't time to wait as we had to get to Southend on Sea and back to Birkenhead that evening.





It wasn't a nice thing to do.

And just to add mum is disabled and has trouble walking so after 16 hours of travelling to arrive and be unable to have a meal, your hotel added insult to injury by providing a night porter (agency staff) who didn't know where our room was and we were up steps, down steps, up corridors and down corridors until my mum was struggling to walk and holding on to the wall for balance before we actually got shown our room.

While the setting of the Ellenborough Park is lovely the inept staff leave a lot to be desired and withholding money paid for a meal never received is hardly 5 star service.

We came here to celebrate my girlfriend's birthday and whilst the hotel and grounds are impressive, the customer service is horrendous. After not eating for several hours, on arrival we chose to have room service. Long short short I had food poisoning which ruined the weekend and left us with a bad memory and dented bank balance.

I understand that these things can accidentally happen but the hotel staff and management in particular have made no efforts to offer any kind of apology. Initially I chased them but no further action has materialised, with the manager quoting storage temperature for the meet during transit.

We stayed back in January and I don't have the time or desire to keep chasing.

My advice would be that if you do get food poisoning here then you will need to demand that your doctor does an immediate blood/stool test and constantly chase the hotel for them for them to accept any type of liability.

It's a real shame as we were considering this for our wedding venue due to its size but there is no way I would spend a penny more here due to the lack of customer care.

One of my fave places in Cheltenham, love the spa, the setting and the food

We absolutely LOVED our stay here and can not wait to return next month. The location is beautiful, the rooms are so lovely, the staff are ever so friendly and the breakfast is wonderful. We didn't have treatments last time but we are booked in for some this time and so far the service has been amazing.

Really nice upmarket hotel overlooking Cheltenham racecourse. Excellent food and beverage, service excellent. Not quite as good as last year, but still excellent.

Attended a wedding here. First class service from moment we arrived. Would DEFINITELY visit again. Made very welcome. Room was gorgeous. Would recommend champagne afternoon tea. Dogs welcome. Surrounding countryside gives wonderful views.

Such a beautiful place #best day ever#day after our wedding day#amazing staff#amazing food

Enjoyable stay highlighted by outstandingly good food and beautiful surrounds. Felt a little let down by the, at times, painfully slow service which seemed to be down to having too few staff on hand. That said, we would definitely go and visit again.

We enjoyed an incredible honeymoon at the beautiful Ellenborough Park in October. Despite the pandemic making things difficult for them, the team made our stay feel both fun and luxurious. We had amazing service and a wonderful experience from start to finish.

A special mention to Jonathan, who looked after us every morning for breakfast with a smile, chat and impeccable service. He added a wonderful personal touch to our stay, including local knowledge and suggestions; thank you!

We can t wait to visit again and would definitely recommend Ellenborough Park hotel to anybody looking for a luxurious U.K. break.

Lovely clean spa and pool. Very good massage. Only one decent shower and hair dryer is a bit silly. Afternoon tea lovely but service slow

Such a lovely place to visit, the view are wonderful and the cream tea that we was perfect, fresh made scones and the staff were all extremely helpful.

An excellent venue although the tables were shirt on space. Wonderful location.

Amazing place, stayed here for 2 nights for our anniversary and it was a really great experience. The breakfast was excellent, with views across the famous course in the distance (recommend the smoked haddock on the a la carte menu!) The rooms are large and comfortable and well stocked, the service was excellent, the grounds are lovely. The only slight point is that the Elemis spa was a little disappointing and small, but on the plus side the outdoor swimming pool is epic. The surrounding Cotswolds villages are lovely too, with a short drive into Cheltenham Town centre (where they have the best John Lewis ever!)

Beautiful location, excellent rooms and facilities, good food and wine.

Very impressed that they opened relatively early compared to other hotels.

Negatives

Our room was above a courtyard. A group of guests did not stop shouting and laughing outside our room despite being asked by staff to quieten, until by 2330, we were moved to another room on the other side of the hotel.

The staff are fabulous! Polite, helpful & very friendly. The hotel & grounds are amazing. Tremendously clean throughout. The food: breakfast, lunch & dinner exquisite!
Heated outdoor pool (I swam for 1hr)!
Loved the place. We will go there again. Very soon I hope

We had a lovely dinner here on the terrace, the view was beautiful and the food was lovely! Service was excellent and the manager especially lovely! They have made a beautiful outside dining area with heaters and blankets. A fab night out, with a lovely walk home as we walked from Prestbury! Thanks to all staff!

A historic venue, very nice, service impeccable, the rooms are comfortable and immaculate.

Brilliant. We took our dog. The room was huge as was the en suite. Absolutely gorgeous setting. Staff lovely and very helpful. Breakfast was delicious. Definitely worth a visit.

Top networking event with a quality breakfast to boot.

Following our wedding we decided to spend a few days at this beautiful venue. Having mentioned that we had just got married at the time of booking, it would have been nice to have been made to feel a little special at least. Unfortunately we did not receive the special experience as the manager put it. In addition to this the milk was off and the toast that we ordered did not arrive, so overall very disappointing and to add to this after bringing this to the managers attention we were not even offered to return for a complimentary glass of wine. One star was given for the venue.

Nice buildings and nice grounds but the rooms are a little tired and the staff aren't as good as you would want them to be in this level of establishment.

A jewel in the crown, stunning grounds with wonderful spa facilities. It is quite simply superb, from the spacious suites, service and of course the delightful food. Highly Recommended.

Wonderful traditional hotel, it was worth paying a bit more for this kind of luxury

Excellent hotel staff and service was above and beyond , We had a few very special requests and all were applied with out any fuss as if they were normal service
Great stay would recommend to everyone looking to stay in the area
Colin & Pat Edwards

Really enjoyable stay from start to finish. Will defintley be coming back!

Came here for an "I do BBQ". Food was amazing and service was great. Lovely setting. Looking forward to returning for the wedding next year!

We went for the romantic spa getaway as a treat for our 10th anniversary. The location is lovely and the room was as expected. The spa was small but had enough for a good couple of hours relaxing. Treatments at the spa were great. All staff were very friendly and welcoming. Food at the restaurant on the evening was amazing! Only issue we had was a coffee machine that didn't work despite following the instructions. Not enough to lose a star though. Would definitely go back one day.

Went here for a private afternoon tea party - delightful!

Wonderful Cotswold getaway. The food was magnificent, the rooms were huge and luxurious, yet you feel like you're living in an old British estate. They even loan you boots and heavy coats so you can go walking out in the pastures that surround the hotel. Excellent service.

A lovely Sunday roast in the restaurant in a lovely setting. Very friendly staff

Lovely spa - small but nice facilities. Excellent deep tissue massage

I think due to current restrictions it was not as good as you would expect. Room was very clean and tidy. We had food which was good but menu was restricted. Breakfast was a little manic and the quality could have been better but staff on reception were excellent and overall staff were friendly and helpful

My family had bought my husband & I an afternoon champagne tea. Unfortunately my husband died so my daughter came with me. They were told prior that I am allergic to bread yeast, no problem I would be given a quiche. On arrival was told again. We were shoved into a cold alcove, no quiche have to have extra cake.!!! Had to ask for champagne as that had not arrived.
Everything just on plates where others had cake stands. I complained but never heard a word. Was it because it was paid for so got the money no need for niceties. Staff rude. I was just pleased my husband didn't suffer the humiliation that my daughter & I felt.

Fantastic views of the cotswolds; friendly staff, fantastic food and great facilities.

One of the stars of the Cotswolds with a chic atmosphere and beautiful decor.

Excellent place to stay. Food is high quality but expect to pay for it.