Great Treatments - Spa was a Children’s Play Centre
I had a great time with the therapist getting treatments (mud wrap and massage) highly recommended and worth the price. The spa itself was lovely, very slick and modern. It is really unrivalled in terms of its layout/set up and aesthetic.
My experience in the Spa itself, however, was totally ruined by the presence of screaming, screeching children. I had understood it was adults only, but there was a huge family with 3 small children under 5. At one point there were 5 young kids at once. The children constantly screamed at the top of their lungs, and ran back and forth up the route from the sauna to the entrance, and would slip over banging their heads/bodies and then crying/screaming in pain. Very very rude parents, who laughed at how loud their kids were being. It didn’t help that the kids weren’t warned not to run on a wet marble floor, even after the third time they had whacked their spine/pelvis on the floor (I’m surprised they weren’t more injured).
This went on for an hour, and the kids kept screaming and wailing - so loudly that I could even hear the screaming in the changing room when I went to check my phone. At one point, another guest intervened and asked what was going on, because it sounded like one of the children was being kidnapped/tortured (the screaming was blood curdling). Guests asked them to please keep it down, the parents just laughed and demanded that it was "a family hotel". Staff did nothing, just kept walking up and down ignoring the screaming. This is meant to be a spa, and it is meant to be relaxing place. Instead, it was a children’s wet play area.
There were other children a bit older (maybe 6 years old) screaming "cannonball!!" And jumping into the cold pool (the larger pool) and one dad was swinging his son round by the legs/arms.
I sound really miserable. If I was at a Butlins or Package resort in Crete, I would have forgiven it/expected it.
This is meant to be a high end spa.
The spa should really be for adults only(or at least 12+) only. Really ruined my experience, esp given that I’d paid £320. I can’t see the justification in having 2/3/4 year olds in the pool at a palace such as this. The hotel has another family swimming pool as far as I know (not in the spa).
It’s not exactly the hotels fault, but I think they should say (a) no under 12s in Spa, (b) have a noise policy that is explained on way in, (c) have staff more prepared to challenge boisterous loud behaviour. If you are going to have families with toddlers, you kind of asking for screaming/wailing.