Aldwark Manor

Last month, my wonderful friend and I packed our bags, and made a short drive from her home in Yorkshire, to be ladies of the manor for a night. This package was a Christmas present for her, birthday present for me, and turned out to be a really great deal!
Aldwark Manor was built in the 1860’s (if I recall rightly from the brochure!) and has been tastefully extended to include a restaurant, spa and bar. It also has a very pretty golf course out the back too, so a perfect spot for the golfers among you!
The package itself was a wonderful deal, lunch, dinner, bed, breakfast, use of the spa and a 25 minute spa treatment for a modest £99! The deal is only available through the week, but what a lovely way to see you through to the weekend.
Our room was modern, contemporary and had a view of the golf course. It had all the things you would expect of a hotel room, with the exception of a fridge to chill our bottle of champagne (a special treat!). A quick call to reception solved our problem, and a bucket of ice was duly delivered.
For dinner we had an allowance of £26 to spend and that was more than enough for a tasty salmon main and crumble for pudding! The hotel was quite quiet that night, and although it meant the restaurant was lacking in atmosphere a bit and there was no-​one in the bar (the staff came to have a quick blether with us!), it also meant we had free use of the pool table… which I lost quite spectacularly… pool and champagne never mix well!
The only thing I felt they could really have improved was the general operations of the spa! Now, I’ve been in a couple of 5 star hotels this year, so maybe I’m being picky, but there are a few changes I would make:
1. It would be useful to be shown around the spa so we wouldn’t have to keep returning to the desk to ask where things were.
2. You were only allowed one dressing gown. I had to go for my spa treatment with a soggy bottom. Maybe it wouldn’t be so troublesome to get another one?
3. There were a few maintenance issues around the showers etc. and I also had to tell the desk that there was no loo roll in the toilets… for a hotel as nice as this one, they should checking this regularly!
4. There was no water cooler around the sauna/​steam room area. After a couple of visits we were quite thirsty, with no way of addressing it other than to head out to the spa bar and buy some water
5. Our spa lunch was presented to us without them asking what we actually wanted. We therefore got meat sandwiches (I’m a vegetarian who eats fish!), tuna sandwiches (my friend doesn’t eat fish!) and no consideration at all to any food allergies (which neither of us have… but not the point!). After a quick sandwich swap, we were happy and lunch was light and tasty… but I still think they should be checking with guests before they serve!
If they could get these issues sorted out, I think they’d be well on their way to being the kind of spa I think this Manor house deserves!
After a filling breakfast, we packed our bags again and checked out of Aldwark Manor. As we trundled through the Yorkshire countryside, we pondered when we’d have the opportunity to be ladies of the manor again.
Hopefully it won’t be too long!