Greenwoods Hotel & Spa in Chelmsford

A great hotel with nice spa facilities. Stopped here on business, and enjoyed staying here. Food & drinks were top notch. Nice pubs in the area too if you fancied a little pub crawl

Was bought voucher as a gift from a friend for the spa day, a treatment and lunch so I'm guessing must have cost over £130. The voucher was only valid 6 months which I didn't realise as every voucher I've ever had has at least a year or two to redeem but not at Greenwood's. I emailed who I assume is the manager as I was given her email by staff to be told they are refusing to honour the voucher as its 4 months out of date. Can't understand what difference it makes whether booked earlier or later other than pure laziness and greed. Going by other reviews looks like I've not missed much anyway. Crown plaza much better experience and they have lost money as a friend was going to book the same package. They've lost two more customers. Book at your perile!

I went for a spa day at Greenwood's last year which was really nice. The venue is lovely, the spa treatment staff are really good but the spa facilities are tired and could do with a refurb. The showers especially. I tried to book for a second visit and have never had such a stressful experience (basic fail when you're trying to book a spa). The only way to book with a voucher is to call. Don't bother emailing with your number either, staff clearly don't communicate with each other. So you call, you have to leave a message as NOBODY picks up the phone. I then call again because I didn't get any response... I eventually get a call back after days and speak to someone who has no customer service skills; no "thanks for your patience" or the likes. They can't give you a time when your treatments are booked so you don't know if you'll miss them before you've even arrived or need to stay late to get them (this wasn't like this when I went in November). If you don't call with enough notice there is no availability and you end up going round this phone call merry go round again once you've confirmed another date with friends. When you have the audacity to ask why calls backs take a while you are treated to a tirade on how staff work really hard... That was not my question. So days after cancelling my second booking I'm still waiting for a confirmation email. This place is not worth your time.

I did not stay here but went for a day spa. The booking process was a nightmare. You can book a package on line but not any treatment you would like, that has to be done by telephone. You are informed they are very busy and will ring you back. Turns out 3 days later! You pay up front but was not sent written confirmation for the additional treatments, had to ring up again. The spa itself is good, lovely heated stone beds. I had a really good facial. Shame the customer service in the restaurant where you have lunch does not match it. We waited one hour for our starters to arrive and that was after asking after half an hour when our starters would arrive. After complaints to the manager we were given a free drink. When it finally arrived the food was good. This is not the first time service here has been shocking but it will be the last I will not be returning. It was no better in the bar where he had tea before we left. Any relaxation achieved from my morning massage was ruined by my experience at lunch time.

I am not sure why there are so many negative reviews for this hotel and spa ,l was very apprehensive about our forth coming visit. Well we arrived home this morning after a 24 hour visit and would like to add that this is a beautiful place the rooms were stylish and clean with a comfortable bed, the spa was wonderful we had plenty of lounge beds to choose from, We were had towels and robes given to us. We had evening meal and breakfast the food was delicious, Staff were friendly and the service was good and staff helpful. Don’t be put off by these negative reviews , This place is brilliant and l will be returning.

Lovely local hotel, spa and restaurant. Great place for afternoon tea. Historic building and cosy fireplace.

My family treated me to a spa day for my birthday. We all had a luxury facial which was amazing. The afternoon lunch was ok but the staff were lovely. Spent all afternoon in the pool, suna and jacuzzi. It was a very relaxing day. Would highly recommend

We had a lovely one night break here for a little Babymoon break . We got there early had a lovely lunch by the fire in the lounge bar. Checked in at 2pm and was really pleased with our room huge in size and decorated lovely with a nice spa bath. Only down side to our room was it was really cold especially at night due to a draft from the single pane windows. Spa was lovely fairly small with a pool, one hot tub, sauna and steam room which my husband tried however considering this is no extra cost to use is great! Spa staff were really friendly explained where everything is gave robe & towels (bring your own flip flops!) and was even able to order drinks to have round the pool! All Staff at the hotel were all super friendly and welcoming. Had a lovely three course dinner included in our room price only had to pay for drinks food come very quick. Especially loved that the bar stocked non alcoholic gin and no-secco so I wasn’t stuck just drinking lemonade the entire time which was a pleasant surprise being pregnant . We read some mixed reviews before coming and we are really glad we didn’t let this put us off as we really enjoyed our stay it ticked all boxes for what we wanted.

Great place, highly recommended

Boats for overnight stay spa, evening meal and breakfast absolutely beautiful restaurant and service accommodation rooms. Superb The spa is very tired. Needs to be revamped the staff need more education in this area 4/10. The only downside of my stay it was my wife's 60th birthday so I ordered some beautiful flowers from the local florist stock florist 10/10 . Is that A twice? Phoned up to make sure the flowers were put in to my room on arrival so it would be a great surprise for my wife. Unfortunately this didn't happen. The reception staff are absolutely appalling. It just seems that that they don't want to be there. Lots of other apologies there are better spa venues in Essex. I will not be using this one again please do your research before you book hotel reception department need retraining You get one chance at it and they blew it 👎🏻

Lovely relaxing mid-week solo break, definitely recommend.

I am really upset to be writing this review, as I don't like to bad mouth company's, but I feel like I need to make people aware of the awful experience me and my husband have had at Greenwoods. We were booked for an overnight stay which included dinner and breakfast. If you have food allergies I would definately avoid Greenwoods. I am gluten free which I made the restaurant staff aware of several times. I ordered a soup to start and when they brought the soup they had placed bread on the top of it which was not gluten free, then at breakfast I ordered poached eggs and gluten free toast. The wrong order came out as they gave me poached eggs, hasbrowns, etc which I sent back. They came back less than a minute later with the poached eggs on a new plate, which had clearly been scrapped off the other plate as it still had hash brown crumbs on top of it. I was then told the gluten free toast wouldn't be to long, just under 10 minutes later my toast came out but the eggs were freezing. I decided to give up with the food as I don't like to complain and i just had a yogurt for breakfast. That morning me and my husband had to check out early as we had 2 treatments booked in straight after breakfast, as they had no treatment availability on the arrival day. After a terrible experience that morning, we wanted to relax and use the jacuzzi for 5 minutes after our treatments, we was then charged £40 for being in the jacuzzi for 5 mins after check out, even though the spa was empty and we had treatments booked in at the spa that morning. We thought 5 minutes in the spa to relax after treatments would be ok as greenwoods restuarant had made me feel unwell during my stay due to them not taking food allergies seriously; however, they insisted we had to pay the £40. The managers were really unhelpful saying the restaurant and spa are different departments and they can't get involved with each other, which is a terrible excuse and very poor customer service. They should deal with complaints as a whole as customers book with Geenwoods and not individual departments. Its just an excuse to pass the buck and not deal with complaints. I thought the whole experience was awful, I will be reporting them to the food standards agency, and I will never return to Greenwoods.

Terrible service and truly overpriced drinks. Unwelcoming and uninterested stuff. Would not return.

Did not stay in rooms attended a twighlight Afternoon Tea and Spa. The location is gorgeous and Service very good

Had a great sister's spa day - very easy to spend a full day there and the food was A+++.

I agree with other reviews. I have visited three times and found the staff to be uninterested, except for an Italian waiter and a cleaner. The lounge and dining room are nice. The afternoon tea was lovely. The food in the restaurant was very good but a little sparse! The spa is good but it's a real 'do-it-yourself' job. No help from reception staff or signage on how to use anything - the cleaner actually helped us with the lockers. We never found the relaxation room, assuming it to be in the reception area. Changing area rather a squash and only one cubicle. We went for coffee after Christmas. It looked lovely. The coffee wasn't very hot but unable to attract the attention of the waitress. She didn't come over to check everything was ok and was busy with two other waiting staff, laughing and taking photos of each other. £4.95 and didn't even get a biscuit.

Fabulous day at the spa. Lunch was excellent. Staff friendly and attentive. Phoebe superb masseur. From arrival to departure 5 stars.

What an amazing experience. I took my sister here for a pamper day and it was just perfect. We had access to the gym for a workout, the bar area for a pot of tea, followed by a nice walk around the grounds. Then off to the pool, spa and both dry and wet sauna before going up to the restaurant for an absolutely exquisite 3 course lunch. After that, we were treated to a luxury facial to finish off the wonderful sisters day! I will definitely be going back!

We both just had a lovely spa day here at Greenwoods. The food was delicious and the atmosphere was very relaxing. However, I do think there should have been a free drink with the meal.

Thank you to Mr Stannard who is the director of Greenwoods Spa. He gave mum a birthday voucher on her 83rd for another spa day and two course lunch for two. Sometimes people give a present and don’t realise how much it means. After a pretty rough day in the week this present was well and truly appreciated. Compliments to the chef the lunch was delicious. We have visited Greenwoods many times and definitely recommend it! Feeling rested and relaxed ♥️

I went to Greenwood’s hotel on 2 nd of November for a ladies night dinner and dance . Service very poor no water offered with food had to ask several times . Food was cold . Pasta was one clump congealed. When we got up to dance all our glasses with drinks were removed from our table . Also a lot of other people had the same issues . Unfortunately we had the same experience with on drinks on New Year’s Eve last year

Wow, we attended Joe Bananas Halloween party hosted at Greenwood’s Hotel & Spa. We had a fantastic afternoon, not only filled with amazing entertainment from Joe Banana but also clean and tidy venue that definitely impresses. Staff were all tentative and friendly. Greenwood’s is a lovely venue and it was great to see our favourite children’s entertainer utilising such a lovely space. Hope to attend many other Joe Banana events at Greenwood’s! As for the entertainment, as always world class best entertainer we have ever seen, not only the for the kids but adults to. Would 100% recommend anyone to visit a JB show or better still book him for your parties. Thanks Joe and Greenwood’s for another fantastic event.

Celebrated my sisters 60th with a spa day and evening meal yesterday. Had a lovely relaxing day and delish afternoon tea, was so full couldn’t manage the full meal in restaurant last night. Had a lovely treatment by Evi who was a really lovely girl. Will return

It's like calling the Drs - "too busy to answer the phone... "

Service, grounds, location and food were all great. Massage spa treatment was very good. But regarding the spa area, I found there wasn't much guidance on what to do and where to go. There is no clear direction and a bit of a maze for people who've never been there. The locker room was in need of a revamp. Pool, sauna, steam room, and sun terrace were all great.

Full review to come. My god how it's deteriorated. Absolutely so unprofessional.

Lovely spa, great value for money, room was too small for 3 people. Better to book 2 rooms. Restaurant is very good. Grounds beautiful, the scalp massage was amazing.

We went for an Ascot spa day. The food was delicious but lacked meat. All in all lovek atmosphere and very good service as the manager took time out to discuss our feedback 😍

A huge thank you to Lauren who made our experience spectacular in the restaurant, she went above and beyond and gave us an amazing experience. A true credit to you.

We were warmly welcomed at Greenwood’s for our much needed Spa Day. Changed into our robes, then keen to get the most out of our visit we headed straight to the pool area which I have to say was stunning! We enjoyed a leisurely swim and relaxed for most of the morning before heading upstairs for lunch. Staff were attentive, varied menu all prepared freshly and very tasty. Enjoyed a coffee in the bar area afterwards. All areas exceptionally clean and inviting. In the afternoon we each had a massage and pedicure. The treatments where divine! We both agreed we’d had a really relaxing day and we plan to return soon! Highly recommend!

Had afternoon tea here. Building and setting was stunning however afternoon tea was not the best I have had, not much in the way of home made cake. The scones were the nicest light and tasty.

The bed was very uncomfortable, pillows were very flat & duvet very thin

Lovely, well kept hotel and Spa, both inside and out. Peaceful place, excellent service from staff, friendly and helpful. Spa area was good, pool decent size and relaxation rooms were very relaxing!

Had a lovely cream tea requested salad sandwiches brown bread, advised friend didn't eat egg..sandwiches turned up vegetarian with egg on white..felt asked what wanted then just gave us what they wanted!

I recently stayed at this hotel and despite the lovely reception staff, I had an awful stay. Firstly, it was mentioned in your reviews that parts of your spa facilities were unavailable. Before making my booking, I emailed to ensure that your steam room was working. You confirmed all facilities were in order however, upon arrival I discovered that your steam room was not in use. Secondly, those staying in the room next door were incredibly loud and it seemed as though they were having an argument. They were screaming, throwing items around, and slamming doors which is unacceptable for a Sunday night. I contacted the reception staff at 11:30pm however the noise continued. At 12:17 am, I rang the reception many times hoping for a resolution, however no one picked up. Lastly, one of the water bottles provided in the room was not sealed. This situation has disrupted our break and sleep deprived, for both me and my mother. However, I wish to compliment the reception staff who were incredibly professional and friendly upon arrival. I feel that hotel staff should take corrective measures immediately in dealing with disruptive gusts. You should also alert guests that some of your facilities will not be in service since I made sure of it prior to booking. I did reach out to the hotel by email however I did not receive a response.

Such a wonderful hotel spa was fab and food was excellent

A wonderful stay in a wonderful location. The grounds were beautiful and well worth the walk around, the rooms were amazing, room service in the morning was amazing and the dinner service was delicious. The spa was also amazing, the back massage I received was a reasonable price and felt amazing! The pool is also wonderful, it was very warm and cozy. Next time I will definitely check out the sauna, relaxation room, and the hot stones room.

My stay at this hotel and spa was a mixed experience with room for improvement. The food was commendable, scoring an 8.5 out of ten. However, the spa facilities were in need of a refresh. While my wife had a massage, she found it less relaxing due to the masseuse's constant talking. It's challenging to request silence without feeling rude or awkward. Regarding the hotel room, our first room had some issues including a damaged shower gel holder and a peculiar discovery of toilet tissue within the bed. We promptly informed the receptionist who upgraded us to the bridal suite. However, it took four days for management to respond to our concerns after emailing them the photo of the toilet roll. The bridal suite itself was spacious, and the bathroom was more modern. However, upon showering, we discovered the hotel had failed to refill the shower gel, which was an inconvenience. It's essential for hotels to get the basics right. During checkout, when asked about our stay, I provided my honest feedback, but the staff's response seemed indifferent. It felt like they were just going through the motions rather than genuinely caring about our experience. In conclusion, while there were some positive aspects to our stay, such as the food quality and the spacious bridal suite, there were also several areas that need improvement, including room maintenance, and customer service attentiveness.

Terrible. From start to finish, this entire experience was terrible. Highly advise to spend your money at a higher ranking spa with respectable customer service. Husband booked this as a Mother's Day gift, and spent just under £300. Included in my package was a full day use of spa fatalities, a massage or facial, and lunch. Included in my Husband's package was full day use of spa facilities, and 20% off any treatment for the day. Started to call the spa to book mine and my husband's spa treatments, no answer and left several voicemails over a period of three weeks. Nobody got back to me, so l rang again and left another voicemail. Somebody got back to me five days before our expected spa day. When I tried to book our treatments, I was told that I had already been booked in for a massage, as that was the only thing left available, and I was told that there was no availability for my husband to have any treatments on the day, as there was no slot left. I questioned this, as I was not happy. The girl on the phone gaslight me the entire conversation, telling me that I hadn't been calling, and no voicemails had been left, and told me that the only thing that she could offer me was a full refund. (We have a small baby, and childcare had been booked and paid for by this point) - non-refundable. Got to the spa, we were told that our lunch was booked for 1230, and that we had to attend the restaurant in full clothes. We undressed to use the spa facilities, had to dry and get dressed again to go for lunch, then had to get undressed, back into wet costumes, back to the spa facilities. The spa is very limited, there is are two tiny sauna rooms, two tiny steam rooms, no relaxation outside (if there is we weren't told about it) one large pool that is very busy. All sun-beds busy. All were spa facilities quite grotty. The reception staff seemed quite immature, very loud, talking about personal lives quite inappropriate. Not very approachable either. The spa doesn't really give spa vibes, it's more like a very expensive leisure centre. One positive: massage very Good.

Amazing hotel and spa. I went here as a birthday treat with my husband and I had the best time ever. Would highly recommend.

Went for a spa day with the Mrs, really nice place with everything you need in the spa area. The public in there are pleasant and chatty, which is nice. Staff are great and give you everything you need. Had some lunch in the restaurant included in the spa day. Very decent standard of food for something 5 min drive away (for me) - superb.

Superb venue and I've been DJ many times here over the last 30 years. A number of different rooms to choose from to hire for your celebration party or wedding. Lovely place, it doesn't get better than this! I offer a terrific great value DJ and Photography package however I've heard recently from a friend who booked Greenwoods for her wedding that she was only allowed to use their resident DJ. Bare this in mind when booking. Cake maker, Photographer, Balloons and decorations - people should be able to chose who they want to entertain them, just like they have a choice over other suppliers and services.

I was really looking forward to my stay at Greenwoods with my partner but was soo DISAPPOINTED when seeing the room. It was soo dusty and dirty, there was a used toilet roll on the holder, brown stains above the holder water marks and mould. Me and my partner made up our minds we weren’t going to stay but thought we’d check out the pool and the whole things is just a mess, it really looks nothing like the pictures. It was a huge waste of time, checked in, stayed for 5minutes and left.

I haven't stayed at this hotel yet because whenever I phone at any time during their open hours, on any day of the week, nobody ever answers. I just get their voicemail stating they're busy and to leave a message. But nobody calls back or answers the query - quite disappointing!

In my opinion one of the best spas in the uk I visited a famous brand of spa and it was nowhere near as nice as Greenwoods. The pool is kept nice n clean. Plus decor throughout is lovely

Lovely place well worth a visit can't fault anything beautiful rooms lovely staff and food

Had a very relaxing time. The staff are very kind and helpful. Food in the evening was very nice. Scrambled eggs were not so good!

My husband and I stayed at Greenwood's hotel to celebrate our anniversary and booked an overnight spa package. We phoned to book and were given a better price than stated on the website as we were going during the week so I would recommend calling them when booking. We paid £379 in total for our package and got a 30 min treatment each, full use of spa facilities, 3 course dinner, overnight stay and breakfast. (We paid £40 extra for a room upgrade) We could arrive from 2pm and were greeted warmly, we checked into our room which was very spacious and clean. The pool area was quiet as it was a Tuesday so it felt like we had the place to ourselves at times. We enjoyed an afternoon of going in the sauna, jacuzzi, pool and relaxation rooms. We had a back massage included in our package. I didn't think mine was great to be honest but my husband enjoyed his. The evening meal was incredible - we both had pork belly to start and lamb for main and the food was of a very high standard and our waitress (I believe her name was Lauren) was lovely. The bottle of red wine was also very good. After dinner we had a few drinks at the bar which had a lovely atmosphere. This is one of the more reasonable spas I have been to but the price was not reflected negatively at all in the experience. I would definitely recommend and return.