River Wellbeing Spa at The Hotel Rafayel 3.9 204 reviews

This was the second visit, and the ambience and facilities are just great when you go on a weekday. Started off in the gym and then wanted to use the steam room which was apparently working this time, but it didn't actually seem to work. However, the jacuzzi, sauna and hydro pool all were and were great.
I had a massage and mini facial, then stay in the bath filled with salts and light therapy with a glass of champagne and aloe Vera juice. My therapist wasn't as strong as the therapist I had before, as when even when I asked her to apply more pressure, it was milder stronger from feeling as if she was simply stroking my back. My boyfriend, however, said his therapist was amazing and managed to reduce all the knots in his back. The mini facial was great as my skin felt really smooth even days afterwards, and the stay in the bath was perfectly romantic.

Very nice, quiet laxing day. Good facilities, River view realxation room is particularly nice. Helpfdul and attentive staff. all in all - a real treat and a very good value for money with the Wahanda voucher.

I booked the "Exotic Coconut Ritual Wrap Spa Day" as a birthday gift. The treatments and therapist was great. Unfortunately, the front of house staff and facilities really let it down. When i initially called the lady on the phone booked us in for the wrong month so there was some confusion and as a result we couldn't get the time we wanted on the day of our choice. They did offer a further glass of champagne as an apology. However, I had to constantly remind staff that we were due our glasses of champagne and juice. There's a sign at reception stating that if you "don't ask you don't get", which felt like the wrong attitude for something I had booked in advanced. I wanted a care-free and relaxing day and not to have to keep reminding staff what drinks we had as part of our deal. They then arrived all at once which meant the champagne became warm by the second glass.

If you're planning a day of it and to use the restaurant you cannot stay in your robes, like in some Spa's, or get food delivered from the restaurant to the relaxation room, so you have to leave the facilities when you get hungry! We went on a Saturday and the place is quite small, so with around 8 couples it felt crowded. The Jacuzzi can only hold 3 people at a time, as can the steam room and sauna. To get to the relaxation room you have to walk through the gym, which is used by hotel guests too, so the whole feel isn't particularly relaxing.

The relaxation room is nice with views of the river. However, you are quite close to other guests and again it doesn't really feel like it can accommodate more than 8 people. I found the whole experience quite embarrassing as this was supposed to be a birthday treat for my friend and instead it felt like we were being rushed and not looked after.

I think if i lived closer and could book on a weekday then perhaps the experience would have been better. The treatments are really well executed but it doesn't work as a package. You certainly can't spend the day here, a couple of hours at most.

I went with my sister on a Tuesday. It was pretty much empty so we had the whole place to ourselves. We spent an entire day here 10:30-6pm.
The staff were great and the place, although small, was quaint. There was a Buddhist theme to it which was 'relaxing'.
The deep tissue massage was great. The body wrap was OK. The food at the Banyan on Thames was great. Views out of the relaxation room were fabulous as were our nutmeg and vanilla teas!
I think if we had come on a different day we would have been disappointed if we had to share the space with other people.
I was determined to stay there as long as possible but I can imagine if you were only there for a couple of hours you'd be disappointed. For the price we paid we saved at least £80 on treatments but I don't think they should have been priced as heavily as they were. On the whole I would recommend on a weekday morning with an open mind as it can be great when your only one of a few people there :)

Worst experience I have ever received in a place where customer service is meant to be their foremost concern, I arrived at the spa maybe 10-15 minutes late, one of the staff I think her name was Mellissa behind the reception came over after asking me to sit down and explained that I couldn’t have my treatment as it would be two hours and they were fully booked, I was shocked when hearing this as I had come a far distance for these treatment, I wasn’t informed on any timing issues prior to arriving. I was upset about this to start with and said I would like to go ahead with the treatments regardless of the lost time, I also had someone accompanying me who was a little late, whilst waiting for my company they were on their computers trying to justify their mistakes, another rude woman called Christina eastern European lady with a very bad attitude told me to look at a screen in which said I was to arrive at the spa at so and so time and it would be 2hours…I never received any of this information, the information I was going by was the one I had received on the phone which did not entail this. I studied the screen for a while and realised that that my name for my email address was spelt incorrectly, this bemused me as I had spelt my email address out to the same lady over the phone, she had not only made one mistake but two, this infuriated me even further, she then went on to say that I had fabricated my booking in not so many words, I was shocked beyond words, I told her I needn’t lie, it was unnecessary, I then showed her my phone and my emails and how my name should have been spelt, she then pulled up my telephone number and said I should have received a text….i received no text message, I told her to show me the number, upon inspection I saw that they had negligently put 12 digits instead of 11, I had had enough at this point, I asked for a refund, she told me I couldn’t get one, I knew this was a myth as she had made not one mistake but two mistake causing several losses on my behalf, they told me to call the agency in which I had booked through, but they didn’t think I would receive a refund, Mellissa then went on to say I could have my 2hour treatment after 20mins, I refused, she had lied initially in saying she was fully booked, these people could not be trusted around my body or belongings, all in all I did receive a full refund, however I would not recommend this place to anyone, simple jobs could not be executed to the efficiently expected at, I could only imagine what the actual spa would have been like, this is a god forsaken place.

River Wellbeing Spa at The Hotel Rafayel is well located and has a great ambiance. The facilities are well looked after and clean. Their staff is attentive and polite so I definitely recommend a visit.

This was the worst Spa experience I have had. The facilities are tiny - a jacuzzi that only fits 3 and the steam room was out of order. The plug hole of one of the showers was blocked!
The staff were rude and unhelpful! There had been a problem with their systems - fair enough this happens but no apologies were offered to anyone - a shrug was all anyone got from the staff! The 'tea and cake' was poor, we had to ask for milk and there was NO choice of cake, it took ages to come and when it did the cake was dry and clearly had come out of a box.
The facial was nice, and my therapist commendable - Jade - she was the only good thing in the whole experience! However my friends therapist didn't speak to her - not even to tell her how long she was leaving the mask on for - she just walked out of the room!

All in all a shocking excuse for a Spa - I will never return - our spa day ended at 12 noon - we had had enough!

Enter at your own risk!

The staff were lovely to deal with, the ambience of the therapy area was great and I really enjoyed the treatment - would definitely recommend, felt pampered and happy! :)

Brought the 2 for 1 coconut body wrap with deep tissue massage for my boyfriend's birthday and went on a Thursday.
We were delayed at the beginning because the person who booked the treatment over the phone didn't enter it into the system, so they weren't expecting us. I had to log on onto my email and show them my confirmation. However, after a wait, the receptionist shuffled things a bit and we were shortly led to the changing rooms.
My boyfriend and I were in the same room for our shoulder and back massage, which was ecactly what we both needed. The body wrap consisted of a full body exfoliation with a nutrient rich lotion. We were left to absorb the lotion in the room with a very calming ambience.
Our skin were left very smooth!

Because we went on a weekday, we pretty much had the whole spa to ourselves. However I can imagine it being very crowded during peak hours ad the spa is pretty small.

The staff were great in serving our complimentary champagne and aloe vera juice.
Definitely recommended.

Treatment availability was poor so it was difficult to book (need to book 2-3 months in advance if you want a Saturday), staff were also disorganised in making bookings (on two occasions they got their wires crossed and thought I was another customer).

On visiting the spa, the atmosphere was ok, although they were clearly understaffed on the day I attended and staff were rushed off their feet and you had to wait for a receptionist to come. My treatment was running an hour late but when it did arrived it was extremely good.

Spa facilities were cramped and busy. There were no waiting areas so people were standing around waiting to use the jacuzzi/sauna/steam room etc. I never got to use the pool as it was fully occupied for the entirety of my visit. I did not use the gym but looked good.