Northamptonshire: Double or Superior Double Room for 2 with Breakfast, Dinner Credit at 4* Sedgebrook Hall

Where Do I Even Begin? It’s genuinely difficult to overstate just how poor this so-called “leisure club hotel” is. I actually feel sorry for the staff who must, I imagine, spend much of their time defending their workplace from disappointed guests. To be clear, the staff themselves are courteous and appear to be doing the best they can in very unfortunate circumstances. The problem is the hotel itself. It feels as though the owners have simply given up. Let’s start with the “leisure club” - or “spa”, depending on where you read about it. In reality, it’s neither. The “swimming pool” is essentially an oversized bath. The hygiene was shocking. Anyone even considering getting in should first take a look at the pool lights - they make it very clear what’s floating around in the water. Filthy barely covers it. The pool was full of dust (which is to say, skin), hairs, and various floating debris. It honestly resembled soup. There used to be a jacuzzi in the corner, but this has now been covered over. Around 90% of the lockers in the men’s changing room are broken. The sauna door is hanging off its hinges and scrapes along the floor when you try to open it. There’s also a gap at the top where much of the heat escapes. The whole area has an odd stale smell hanging in the air, and the sauna itself is filthy - layers of dust sitting in every groove of the wooden panelling. Calling this a “spa” is simply misleading. It either needs a full refurbishment or closing altogether, and the hotel should drop any pretence of being a spa hotel (as still advertised on Wowcher - though interestingly this claim seems to have disappeared from most of their other advertising. One wonders why). If you’re coming here expecting decent leisure facilities, you’re going to be very disappointed. The restaurant was no better. They charge £29 for a steak, which would be fine if the quality justified it. Unfortunately, the one I received was essentially inedible. The mash was lukewarm, the béarnaise sauce arrived stone cold, and the side salad was frankly unpleasant — including mushy cucumber that was clearly past its best. I left most of the meal. No one came to check on the table at any point; staff only returned to clear the plates once we had finished. The rooms are, for the most part, acceptable. They have reasonably modern amenities and the décor is decent enough. However, the cleanliness is highly questionable. My bath towel had dark stains on it, and while the shower itself was hot and powerful, there were hairs from previous guests stuck to the tiles and scattered across the bathroom floor. I also found a few hairs on the bed, which was enough to make me check the sheets carefully before getting in. To top it off, the television didn’t work properly - no channels would load at all. (Room 205, if management happen to read this.) What makes all of this more frustrating is that there is potential here. The grounds and location are lovely, and with proper investment and management this could be a very good hotel where guests leave relaxed and happy. Unfortunately, in its current state, it’s somewhere you’ll likely want to avoid. The problems here feel deep and systemic. I suspect most guests feel happiest when the hotel is disappearing in their rear-view mirror.

A pleasant stay We stayed here Feb13 for one night using the "Beat the winter blues" promotion, BB and dinner package. I'm very close to rating this as 5/5, but for some small issues with the room. These were paper peeling above the radiator, the window frame looking very scruffy at ground level and slightly less than adequate sound proofing between rooms. However, we ignored these details, enjoyed our stay and would gladly come again. The pool and surrounding areas were clean, a nice sauna and decent changing rooms. There were towelling robes provided in the rooms, we wore these to and from the pool and so showered in our room. Sorry if this is not the done thing, it was done by us. We ate a very nice dinner in the restaurant. How refreshing to find that the dinner allowance actually allowed us to have a decent meal. I'm tired of sitting down in hotel restaurants to find that I have a 'package' menu with very poor choices, or that my allowance barely buys the cheapest main course on the a la carte. Here, the allowance covered perhaps two and half courses and that was with me choosing the second most expensive main course. Well done, guys, I was seriously impressed. I see you run conferences, perhaps you could run one to teach other hotels how this is done! The food itself was delicious, nicely set out and the staff excellent (Helen). Breakfast was good, the usual buffet style. I didn't see any specials, nor anything that indicated a choice of poached eggs for example. I did see another guest ask one of the staff to take some bacon to the kitchen to be crisped, and this was done immediately and with a smile. Look forward to seeing you again sometime.

Living on its laurels Swimming pool , just qualified as a pool, any smaller it would be a big bath. .wanted a nice romantic weekend, and it wasn't...

Never disappointed Returned again for our annual conference, always a clean safe environment. Lovely to be greeted by the Manager Helen and the Ginger Cat! Breakfast and Dinner buffets are always hot and plentiful and Bar area is spacious and comfortable.

Fabulous In a word, great. Friendly staff, great room, nice freebies in the room and around the hotel - coffee and tea. Fabulous all you can eat breakfast. Good location. What’s not to like? Highly recommended.