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Hampshire

Spa break in Brockenhurst, New Forest

by justinef

A June 2005 travel journal

Last Updated: August 14, 2005

Journal Usefulness Rating 3 out of 5
Journal Usefulness Rating
2
Reviews

A relaxing weekend break at Carey's Manor Hotel and Spa in the picturesque New Forest village of Brockenhurst

The spa facilities - hydrotherapy pool, tepiderium, ice shower, steam room - allowed us to unwind and leave behind the stress of city life.

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

Leave the car at home - there is a good train service between London and Brockenhurst, the town itself is small enough to walk around, and for adventures further afield, bicycles can be hired.
As the name suggests, this hotel is a country house that has been extended with extra bedrooms and spa facilities. It is frequently used for weddings, which is understandable, as it is a lovely location, but the wedding parties do have to put up with other hotel guests wandering through their photo sessions.

There is a choice of style of rooms. We selected a Garden Room because they were more modern in décor, and we had a lovely balcony overlooking the garden. This turned out to be the cheaper option, which wasn't our reason for choosing it - an aversion to chintz was the deciding factor, and this was prevalent in the other rooms, and still not entirely absent in the decor of our rooms.

All guests are provided with white robes and slippers to use throughout their stay, so the corridors, health centre, spa, and juice bar were awash with identifiably dressed people, making it feel like you were part of a cult at times.

The hotel has many great features, but was badly let down by the poor customer service - the newspaper we ordered didn't turn up, they forgot my coffee at breakfast and we had to ask for it five times before it arrived long after we had finished everything else, they got our order wrong in the spa restaurant, and the tea and coffee in the room wasn't topped up. The spa, though, had relaxed us so much that these things weren't so annoying and became almost funny.

  • Member Rating 3 out of 5 by justinef on August 14, 2005

Carey's Manor
Lyndhurst Rd. Hampshire, England SO42 7RH
08707 512305

About the Writer

justinef
justinef
London, 0

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