I had a warm feeling in my soul while revisiting Albrighton Hall Hotel and Spa again.
6 years ago in June I had my Hen Weekend here, where we stayed in the hotel and also used the restaurant, spa and leisure facilities. It was a truly wonderful weekend that we all indulged upon, and so when my mum suggested that I needed some ‘me time’ and time out, due to both some stress at work and difficulties with my health, the first place I thought of going was here.

I will set the scene for you all. In the picturesque Shropshire countryside lies a beautiful old building, it’s an eighteenth century manor house set in gorgeous gardens and grounds, with trees and a lake. The main house is where reception and the main dining area are situated, along with function rooms and a variety of conference suites. Alongside it is the hotel part of the grounds, currently Albrighton Hall has eighty seven contemporary en-suite rooms.

And finally there is the Spa and Leisure section situated off to the left hand side of the grounds. With its own parking area, this has newly been renovated as of 2016, and I looked forward to my visit to take in the changes.

My mum and I decided on a Spa Day, where, for a package price, we received lunch and a hot drink included, with full use of the facilities, plus two spa treatments of our choice from a set list. We were also given complimentary bath robes and slippers to wear during our stay, and towels for the pool area too, so there was very little you required to bring with you.

For lunch we were given a menu to choose from, there was a nice variety, some were cold and some were hot. I decided to be semi healthy and go for a Chicken Caesar with egg (not fish) salad, and an orange juice. As you can see it was well presented, and actually I thought the dish was very tasty for a salad.

The Spa was busy on the day we visited, which meant our lunch was delayed slightly, however staff did apologise, and mum and I were happy to just relax and wait, we were in no rush.

The newly refurbished Spa houses a main room with a salon bar so that Nails and other beauty treatments can be done. In the back there is a selection of rooms where the treatments that require one to lie down are performed. The lighting was very calming, as was the music, and I found the rooms to be clean and well maintained. The Spa was busy, yet all the staff were calm and friendly.

A lovely young lady called Frankie, did my Manicure today. I chose a pearly pink colour, because my Wedding Anniversary was fast approaching.

The nail lacquer that the Spa use is called Orly Beauty, and the colour was called Toast The Couple. The colour was very beautiful, and I liked how smooth it felt once they were fully dry.

I also opted for a Back Massage, to try and relieve some of my stress. Frankie was an excellent masseuse, and did wonders with my shoulders that had previously felt rather knotted. She used an Almond Oil on my skin while massaging, then a Eucalyptus based Oil, followed by a hot towel. The whole treatment made my skin and muscles feel great, and I felt relaxed afterward listening to the calming music in the room also.

Now I hate to criticise, after a lovely experience in the Spa itself, but I feel that the facilities aspect let my visit down. Not due to the choice, but the running of it, let me explain why I was so disappointed.

One thing that didn’t make our day perfect, was that some of the facilities were out of order. However we were not once told this by the staff, we were left to notice the several A4 sheets of paper that were stuck to doors around the building. We were unable to use the steam room or ice room, though we did manage to have a few minutes in the Sauna, but it was rather busy because of the lack of the other rooms available. I only wished this was made aware to us when we booked, which was only a couple of weeks prior. My mum and I would have bought clothing for the gym if we has known that the wet rooms would be unavailable.

Another thing that I hadn’t been aware of before, was that the leisure facilities were open all day for anyone who was a member to use them, but that included children. I have no problem what so ever with children using health and fitness areas, and in fact I was glad in one way to see them here. But what bothered me was that nowhere in booking by phone or online, does it tell you about this.

My mother and I had hoped for a relaxed day, using the facilities at our own pace, and enjoying the package we had paid for, which was all advertised as such online. Except we couldn’t use the pool at all, because when we first changed there were two families in there splashing about with pool floats and pool noodles. Forgive my harshness, but wouldn’t you take your children to a proper sized swimming pool with varying levels of depth in order to teach them how to swim?

We were not the only disgruntled people at the pool side that day wondering if we would get a turn in the water. Mum and I went away and returned later, we had our one turn in the Jacuzzi (groups of people were also waiting to use it as it goes on and off on a timer on the wall). By that time more people had turned up for the pool, this time some teenagers were in the pool, so we sat once again on the loungers. But a while later our time was up and our spa day had ended, I was disappointed not to get a swim in.

I believe that the hotel needs to state online that there are members who use the facilities, and when booking a Spa Day, you can use these facilities, however you may have to wait your turn to do so. This would cover the Spa if it has any future complaints and inquiries from groups about how many other people might be attending.

The Hotel had been catering for a wedding the day and night prior to our visit, which meant generally the hotel and spa were busy. I don’t think I will be booking again if I am made aware of the amount of people staying on the grounds.

Hopefully the next time I visit I can book a quieter day and make sure that mum and I are able to make full use of our spa package and all of the facilities will be available to us.

Overall the Spa Treatments were the best part of our day, and lunch was rather delicious too. However I am still disappointed about the leisure facilities, hopefully when I come again they will be all up and running.

Here are my final review scores for my day the
Mercure Shrewsbury Albrighton Hall Hotel and Spa.

Spa Treatment – Massage 5/5
Spa Treatment – Manicure 4/5
Lunch on the Premises – 4/5
Facilities Available 2/5
Facilities Used 4/5
General Facilities 4/5

Thank you for reading this blog post today, I hope you have enjoyed reading about my experiences.

✩ Sabrina ✩