Champneys Tring - A Review

Spa days and Spa breaks have become more popular in recent years. It is lovely to escape for the day, or a few days and be pampered, coming back refreshed and ready to tackle everyday life again.  The Champneys resorts don't allow under 16's in so there are no children there. When my 3 children were young Rob and I did visit Champneys leaving our children with their Grandparents. Musical Minis Mums have gone for pregnancy relax days, hen parties and just to have time to unwind. Champneys does charge a premium as it considers itself to be a luxury spa, unfortunately we don't!

Rob and I stayed overnight at the Tring resort at the end of Summer. Perhaps because we remember so clearly the Champneys of 16 years ago that we were so aware of the downhill slide of this spa. Each time we have visited Champneys Tring over the past few years we have noticed standards slip. Our recent one night stay was enjoyable but our visit was very impersonal and the standard of cleanliness and maintenance was very poor.

On the plus side the food is good and the staff friendly. On the negative side the treatments can be hit or miss. The spa staff are trained to carry out a treatment in a particular way (e.g. 3 strokes one way four strokes another) without any consideration for personal need. There are numerous treatments to choose from, which in itself can be problematic as you are not really sure as to how they differ.

The Champneys stay now just seems to be packaged. We were appalled that when an elderly guest asked for an additional half cup of coffee in the drawing room after dinner, she was told only one cup of complimentary tea or coffee was permitted. With nowhere to purchase a drink the lady had no alternative other than to make a cup in her room. Surely this is not 5 star service and was just one example of how the service is now regimented.

Having to use the public facilities after the 11.00 a.m. check out time you would expect the facilities to be kept clean. However, both the men's and ladies toilets were dirty over a number of hours. We noticed these were used by the staff and still nothing was done about the state of them. The carpets in many parts of the resort are stained, the tap in our room would not turn off completely and was loose and a number of the hooks for towels in the sauna were snapped. All in all the resort needs a lot of maintenance and recognition that it's guests are individuals looking for a personal service.

Perhaps Champneys is now catering for the masses but still charging premium rates. Perhaps the management don't think it's necessary to keep the resort clean and in good repair. We gave feedback via a questionnaire which was emailed after our stay and to the staff before we left but weeks later we have had no response. It's not easy to organise childcare to have time for yourself  and if you have managed to do so, the experience we had at Champneys Tring really wouldn't have been worth the effort.

We think it's time to find another spa to visit. Have you been to any you could recommend? Or maybe you've been to Champneys and enjoyed your stay. Do let me know.

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