Cliveden House Spa

What feels like forever ago, but is in fact only a few short months ago the bestie and I enjoyed a Spa Day at Cliveden House.

It’s taken me an age to finally write up my experience  but here goes.

Cliveden House Spa belongs to Cliveden House Hotel, an imposing but breathtaking mansion house near the village of Taplow in Buckinghamshire.

 

The setting is really quite something. The house is leased from the National trust, and is therefore set within a 365 acre estate of opulent and manicured gardens.

Cliveden House has a long and checkered history, originally built in the mid 1600’s by architect William Winde for the 2nd Duke of Buckinghams mistress, the Countess of Shrewsbury. Over the years the house passed through gentry until 1893 when the house was purchased by the millionaire Astor family.

In the 1920’s Cliveden bacme an entertaining hotspot for the gliteratti of the era, including famous names cusch as Charlie Chaplin and Rudyard kipling just to name a few. The house was famous for it’s hospitatility but it was also it’s undoing when in the 1960’s it was linked with the famous Profumo scandal. In fact the spa pool is named the Profumo pool in homage to the illicit antics of of John Profumo, then Secretary of State and a topless showgirl named Christine Keeler.

Today the house still stands resplendent and has had life breathed back into it. Opening as a hotel in 1984 later taken over by London & Regional Properties and managed by the same group as the Chewton Glen, the hotel welcomes people to come and enjouy its splendour and create their own stories and memories.

On arrival at Cliveden, you motor down the glorious yew drive, past the fountain and catch your first glimpse of the house. It really is splendid.

We were ushered to a parking space at the front of the hotel and given directions to the Spa.

Come and take a look…

The spa was beautiful. Pale soothing tones of white, cream, duck egg and pink you are calmed the moment you step across the marble floor threshold. The spa is quiet, low ambient spa music just audible above the lapping water of the poole outside. We visited on a very hot July day so all the windows of the orangery style building were thrown open, blowing in lavender and wild flower scented air. It was dreamy.

We spent most of our day pool side or in the water. I ventured inside to look at the indoor pool and spa facilities but the weather was too glorious to languish indoors.

 

Spa Treatments

I had been very lucky to purchase a spa day much earlier this year when they were offering a 20%discount on spa packages.

As part of my package I had the on the go glow facial and bespoke hot oil massage. 75 minutes of treatment in total. Both were blissful. Ss much so I fell asleep! A first for me.

The treatment started with a delicate foot scrub and foot wash, an eastern tradition thought to cleanse and prepare the body for relaxation. The spa beds are water beds which are wonderfully comfortable and I quickly settled in for my treatment. The rooms were perfectly cooled on this particularly hot day which meant I could really relax and enjoy the brief interlude from the sunshine outdoors.

As part of the spa package you are given  breakfast and  lunch in the Spa Kitchen. Sadly both were an utter disappointment. The quality of the food was, unfortunately shocking. Not at all consistent with the quality of the spa. Equally servie was lacking. We spent the entire day at the spa and despite there being numerous staff around, at no point during our day were we offered a drink or asked if there was anything we needed. Soft drinks, tea and coffeeare supposed to be included throughout the day. But other then a drink on arrival we were not offered or advised on how or where to get these from.

In fact we got so hungry that we ended up walking across to the National Trust café to get some lunch and a drink. This, was not at all acceptable given the price of the spa, what was purportedly included, and our expectations of the day. We did bring it to the attention of the Spa staff but again, the offer of remedial action was as lacking as the service we had received all day.

This was such a huge disappointment because the spa is truly magnificent. I would want to recommend everyone and everyone to go, but it would have to be with a caveat; book your lunch next door at the Astor Grill or indeed at the Hotel. Go with no expectations with regards to service and food and you’ll not be let down. The issue with this is that you are paying a premium price and so this doesn’t really sit comfortably.

So would I go again? Well, I’d absolutely love to enjoy the facilities again because they were quite simply, unrivalled. Elegant, comfortable and stunning surroundings, particularly lovely on a sunny day when you can enjoy the beautiful outdoor pool. But a spa day? I don’t think I would, unless there were drastic improvements to the quality of service.

If you go with some of this in mind I am certain you can and will have a lovely day. Just remember there are alternative options for dining throughout the day, so perhaps book your spa package with this in mind.

If you’d like another look at the spa from my perspective, take a trip over to my Instagram and watch my IGTV.

Amellia Mae x