Sometimes there’s a vast difference between what you imagine and what is delivered especially when the expectation has been created over a long period like 20 or 25 years.
This is how long I heard the whispers about Ragdale Hall, health spa opened as a women only slimming hydro in the early 1970s.
I had been to Champneys, Eden Day Spa, Hoar Cross Hall and The Belfry when budget and time allowed but never Ragdale Hall. Friends had been, clients had been but not me. I imagined pampering of the highest, luxury level, fluffy dressing gowns of the finest cotton towelling, slippers you sink into, health and wellness in every nook and cranny of a historic regal stately property. To be fair my expectations were very high based upon the prices charged. Approx £700 plus gratuities for one night including 3 meals and one treatment.
My visit started really well, valet parking, an American luxury I’d grown accustomed to holidaying in the US, rarely encountered in the UK (even at the poshest of places) and porters to whisk bags out of hands and ensure everything was delivered safely to the room.
The check in was swift and efficient, no waiting at all, something I loved and really appreciated. It seemed the place was run with such efficiency I didn’t notice the faded slip covered furniture and carpets from the 1980s that had definitely seen better days.
The room was the same, whilst it had every modern convenience, it felt thrown together in design, not cohesive in the way a 5 star hotel delivers serenity and comfort. The bathroom was new, white, clean, black and white tiled floor, but the towels, dressing gowns and room interiors were from a different time.
It felt more rest home than relaxation retreat with simple things like mirrors not positioned in the correct place to dry hair even though everything you would need was provided, coffee, tea, kettle, everything except water which seemed strange in a health spa.
We explored the shopping on arrival and they do have a really extensive beauty product shop, stocking well known brands like Clarins and Elemis and also quite a few I’d never heard of. Which was great. The staff in there were knowledgeable and helpful and we did shop. The fashion boutique was another story entirely. I am certainly not the most fashionable or up to date but it was stocked with clothes, shoes and accessories I thought my late mother would have said “no thanks” to. We walked in and walked straight out, making an excuse we’d just arrived and would be back.
We did come across two other gift stores selling jewellery and what looked like holiday souvenirs and gifts but we stopped at the entrance not wishing to have to make another hasty retreat.
I was booked in as a guest by a friend a gift so I wasn’t complaining just surprised. There were some highlights, the treatment I had was excellent in isolation. The therapist was experienced and I felt her precision and care in every touch. The highlight of the visit for me.
The staff in the dining room were young and inexperienced servers but they made up for this with effort and care that didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated but there were faux pas you wouldn’t expect in a 5 star spa that made us giggle, cocktails served with the complete accompanying mixer poured, lack of knowledge when it came to the wine, champagnes and spirits offered, mis pronunciations can be forgiven but mis information and the wrong order delivered really slowly was frustrating. The Twilight Bar experience was funny and entertaining but for all the wrong “faulty towers” reasons, a bit of a car crash, two drinks costing £30 plus an additional £8 charge for a seating table fee felt like we were being fleeced, American style.
The thermal spa area had fantastic facilities spoiled only by other visitors more interested in talking constantly than respecting the signs requesting quiet and silence in designated areas.
The thought zones we smiled were mistakenly understood as places to share your thoughts rather than keep them to yourself.
It’s a tricky one when it’s the other guests ruining the experience for you, for me a property developer and an accountant celebrating their birthdays had a 20 year reunion serendipitously in the sauna, they had a lot to catch up on but instead of taking it outside, like a child screaming in a packed restaurant they spent their time catching up, subjecting everyone else to, their kids, their holidays, their friends, the businesses, sales, reasons, workload, retirement not particularly the hotel or spas fault. No one else in the sauna asked them to be quiet so neither did I. And when you are in the minority, everyone else having a great time chatting up a storm you sometimes just have to chalk it up to not being the place for you.
If you like a spa experience to socialise, eat, drink and have a good old gossip this is the perfect place. Would be good for a hen party or a group of women of which there were quite a few. If you are looking for somewhere to retreat, initiate catalyse or kickstart change, meditate, reflect, start a healthier food, diet, lifestyle regime maybe not the place for that, it’s too noisy.
https://www.ragdalehall.co.uk/