Macdonald Hill Valley Hotel, Golf and Spa

On the second day I had a spa day, with good facilities, a good treatment and delicious afternoon tea. The staff were all amazing and took care of me while I was on my own. Huge thanks to Isla for looking after us. I’d also had a relaxing first day, staying in the room with room service, then walking around the golf course before dinner with my husband when he got back from work. We had a lovely two-night stay at Macdonald.

The spa was peaceful, the massage was good, and there’s a pool, steam room and sauna. There’s no jacuzzi, though, and the pool can get loud when children are in on Fridays until 6pm. The restaurant served delicious food and drinks, while breakfast in the room was a nice touch but arrived barely warm and really needed to be hotter. In the room, the main light was dim, though there were plenty of lamps, and the bright lights over the full-length wardrobe mirror were handy for getting ready. A bedside socket would have helped. The location is lovely for walks, with easy access and lots of parking. Check-in was simple, and the staff were friendly. All in all, a really good visit and I’d go back.

The golf grounds were lovely and well looked after, and the spa treatments were excellent, which was the main reason we came. The hotel felt posh and quiet on arrival, but the inside was dated and there wasn’t much to do beyond the pool and such. We spent a few hours in the historic local town. Dinner was inconsistent, some plates looked good, others less so. The £7 mac and cheese tasted of nothing, and we were asked about water for the table but somehow missed the £5 charge. Breakfast was warm at best, not hot. Honestly, meals elsewhere would be cheaper and better. It might suit others as a solid three-star stay, but we barely enjoyed it for what we paid. We could have gone to Spain for the same money.

The rooms felt tired and dated, with stains on the curtains and walls, small towels, minimal seating for a larger room, and no bedside sockets. We’d booked a super deluxe king room, while our friends had a standard double, but the rooms were identical apart from the bed. Ours was supposed to have a Nespresso machine, which was missing. We requested one, but the mugs didn’t fit on the unit, so it was useless anyway. The robes and slippers were the only other difference, though our friends got those at the spa regardless. We had a small patio, but didn’t use it in the middle of winter. The bed was okay, but it was a very basic room for something called super deluxe. The shower control came off in my hand, and I couldn’t adjust the temperature from cold. Rather than change rooms, I asked to use another room with a shower, though I did say we’d move if that was easier. They warned it would be a downgrade, and let us use the accessible room next door instead. Its shower was over the bath, took ages to warm up, and kept turning cold while I was in it. Having to dash down the freezing corridor back to our room in towels was not ideal. The reception and corridor were both freezing too. We’ve stayed at other Macdonald properties and been pleased, so we’d been looking forward to this visit. The bar felt like a care home community room, with chairs lined up against the walls and no inviting place to sit for a drink before or after dinner. Restaurant service was okay, but slow at the bar in the evening, even though we were the only guests, and slow again when we stopped for coffee the next morning between our golf course walk and game. The food was quite good, but a starter was accidentally spilled all over one of our party. We got a bottle of wine as compensation, yet were still charged the extra food cost outside the DBB deal, and no one offered to cover the dry cleaning he needed that day. At checkout, nobody even asked if the stay had been okay. Apart from the wine, there was no effort to make up for the problems. It was a poor showing and we were very disappointed with the aftercare. We won’t return or recommend the hotel.