Champneys Springs Spa Review – Know It All Before Booking

Champneys Springs Spa Review – Know It All Before Booking

Going on a spa trip on your own or with a friend or family member is a wonderful way to make some time for relaxation when life is busy. I love visiting spas for day visits or overnight stays to focus on taking some time for myself, enjoying a calm environment and beautiful surroundings. About a year ago, I visited Champneys Springs Spa where I had booked an overnight spa break with a friend of mine. It was my first visit to a Champneys spa and the experience was a mix of both good and bad. I will share the details of my experience here in my Champneys Springs Spa review here. I also have a very thorough Champneys Springs Spa FAQ blog post here that answers lots of questions about this particular spa.

Arriving at Champneys Springs Spa & First Impressions

The first impressions of Champneys Springs Spa were good. There’s a long beautiful drive that takes you from the big roads to the spa. It feels like you’ve arrived in the countryside and can begin to relax before you even get to the entrance of the spa.

Checking in

Once you’ve parked up, you can head to the entrance which looks nice and inviting. The staff at check-in was friendly and the process was easy too. We arrived in the morning and our stay included two spa days. The member of staff on the desk said that the room would be available in the afternoon and to check at the desk a bit earlier than the official check in time as they anticipated the room would be ready early (which it was). There’s a safe place for storing luggage if required and you also get a bag and robe to borrow as well as flip flips to keep.

Checking out the spa

Walking through to the changing rooms, I noticed the bar, restaurant and lounging areas which all looked nice and modern. The area by the fitness/activity booking desk is where I first realised that some areas are a bit tired – the ceiling was peeling with water damage which was not a good look. The sofas here were all badly stained too – most likely from people sitting on them in wet robes over the years.

The staff at this desk was friendly too. Here, you can get a locker bracelet to use in the changing room to store your stuff while you’re using the facilities.

The changing room itself was in decent condition and had plenty of lockers. There were also hair dryers and some free toiletries to use which was nice. However, the showers were not in good condition at all – the ceiling of each cubicle was covered in black mould and there was some mould on the walls too. Showering was a quick in and out experience and I was glad to be wearing flip flops to not have my skin touch any parts of the shower space.

Champneys Springs Spa Facilities

There are two saunas in the ladies changing room which are both small and dark, and another shared sauna next to the pool which is tiny too. This means you are sat very close to strangers in their swimwear which is not relaxing. The sizes of these are more like home saunas than public space saunas.

The swimming pool is a nice size but the water was cold so it wasn’t pleasant to go for a swim. The Jacuzzi was cold too. There’s a hydropool in a separate room and this was nice but it had too many people in it. There is a note on the wall with rules for how many people could go in at the same time but this was ignored by most guests.

Around the main pool area there are sun loungers but not enough to accommodate all guests which is unfortunate. With not much else to do at the spa, to me it is quite obvious that many guests would wish to spend time around the pool. There were a few other chairs to use too at least. During this visit, there were some broken tiles in this area and some mould issues in this space too but not as bad as in the showers.

Spa Treatments & Fitness Activities

We didn’t have any spa treatments included in our package so I can’t comment on them. The prices of the treatments were quite high so they didn’t seem like good value to me.

My favourite part of the spa was the gym which is new, fresh and modern. It has lots of fitness equipment for different types of exercising and the treadmills are facing the window so you can enjoy the views whilst running or walking which is nice. The gym was a bit hard to find as there were no signs for it in the reception area but I simply asked a member of staff to tell me where it was.

There are lots of other fitness activities available but only some of these are free of charge. I only joined in on some walks which were nice. There was no booking fee (the documentation said there would be) so that’s good.

Champneys Springs Spa Hotel Room

My room at Champneys Springs Spa was alright. The décor was a bit dated but it seemed clean and the bed was comfortable.

There was plenty of space in the room and furniture to use – armchair with footstool, bedside tables, a desk with a chair, a small tray table, a large wardrobe, and tea and coffee making facilities. There was also a safe and a fan available. The TV had a built-in DVD player and there was a hair dryer available to use too. 

The bathtub looked like it needed a deep clean which put me off using it. The non-slip material in the bottom of the tub had stains on it which made the bath and the shower uninviting. I used the showers in the changing room instead (even though they had mouldy ceilings). The rest of the bathroom was fine and fluffy towels and a selection of toiletries were available.

The Food at Champneys Springs Spa

You can read my answers to lots of questions about Champneys Springs Spa and the food in my Champneys Springs Spa FAQ here but I will put some details of my experience here too.

During my visit, I had two lunches, one dinner, and one breakfast. The food was only okay, nothing special or even nice. The noodles hadn’t been cooked properly as you can see above (just plopped into the broth) so were flavourless, the salad was okay but the avocado was brown, the pasta was overcooked and didn’t taste of much, and the halloumi barely fried. Just all a bit bland and not prepared professionally.

Desserts at Champneys Springs Spa

There were desserts available at lunch time and with the evening meals. The lunch times ones were the two in the glass jars above. They tasted alright but there was no information about what they were which was a bit odd and risky for anyone with special dietery requirements. The brownie above was something I chose from the dinner menu. It was nice.

Champneys Springs Spa Food Menus – Lunch & Dinner

Click the above and below menu images to see larger versions of the lunch and dinner menus at the time of my visit. There was quite a large amount of choice and I was happy to see several options for vegetarian diets included. On the dinner menu, there are quite a few items that cost extra so do be aware of that when ordering.

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Breakfast at Champneys Springs Spa

I had one breakfast at during my stay. It’s a continental and British buffet but you can also order other breakfast meals off a menu for an extra charge. There were quite many things to choose from. I had bread and cheese, yoghurt and muesli, cooked apples and a banana. Again, nothing special but it was fine. I would have liked to see some pastries and some more cheese options as part of the buffet.

Conclusion: Would I Visit Champneys Springs Spa Again?

As I’m writing this a year after my visit, I was hoping that there had been some renovations and improvements made to Champneys Springs Spa by now. I went online to read the newest Tripadvisor reviews for this spa and unfortunately it seems to be in a similar state now – in need of an update in many areas. There are still many 5-star reviews but as you might have read in my Champneys Springs Spa FAQ post, staff members are encouraging guests to leave 5-star reviews mentioning staff names as every time a staff member gets their name mentioned in a 5-star Tripadvisor review, they get a £50 bonus. Guests feel kind leaving a review like this but it also means there’s an influx of undeserved 5-star reviews. I would recommend taking any 5-star reviews that mention staff names with a pinch of salt for this reason.

As the spa’s condition was when I visited, I would not visit Champneys Springs Spa again nor recommend it to others. If the necessary renovations and updates get done, I’m sure it can be a lovely place. There are some really nice aspects to this spa as outlined above but also many things that let guests down. Mould, water damage, grime, cold water and too many people around the pool are all not things that I look for as part of a relaxing spa day. The gym was excellent though, the location was nice, and the room was comfortable (though a bit outdated). Some good and some bad aspects – unfortunately the bad outweighs the good on this one.