River Wellbeing Spa at The Hotel Rafayel 3.9 204 reviews

As I wanted a day to utterly spoil myself I read the reviews first. There were some that were not too great, but others were fantastic. I only used this as a guide, as I like to find out first hand for myself. And I'm so glad I plumped for River Wellbeing Spa. I was there early and had the place to myself. The receptionist was very pleasant and showed me around, apologising that the hydro pool was not available. I changed into my robe and relaxed until my first treatment which was a lovely deep tissue massage. The therapist was lovely, and checked the pressure she should apply. It was very relaxing and I almost fell asleep :-/ next was a lime and ginger body scrub, followed by a shower with Elemis products. My skin was gorgeously soft, and feels just as soft 2 days later. My paraffin manicure was lovely, and relaxing. I then used the facilties in between having Champagne, tea and cakes in the relaxation lounge overlooking the river. This was absolutely what I needed after having a stressful few weeks with work. Would definitely recommend River Wellbeing Spa, and I have plans to go back on a regular basis for 'me' time.

I had made my booking by email but when we arrived our reservation hadn't been noted (even though I had received a response). This was particularly disappointing when it was a treat for my sister's birthday. However, the staff tried there best to make it up to us and squeezed in a treatment (although not what we'd booked). Therapist was very good. Facilities were disappointing - the pool was closed and the hot tub only big enough for two people. As there were already two people in there we couldn't use it. We didn't even get offered the tea and cake.

Was well worth the money. An incredible experience with excellent service. They used a wax I had never used before but will now definitely be visiting the River Wellbeing Spa again.

I don’t get all the negative reviews, most sound like nitpicking. Anyway, my experience at River was great! View from relaxation room was lovely and the Swedish massage was sooooo good. My therapist was a very polite soft-spoken girl, who gave me the full course of treatment even though I was 10 minutes late. The spa may be small, but it checks all the boxes in excellence. My refreshing tea and 10-minute rest before leaving wasGood job, River girls!

On arrival the staff weren't very inviting. They looked at you fairly blankly which made you feel that you were'nt expected. They seemed uncomfortable as to who would show us around as though it wasn't in their jurisdiction. The water provided in the reception area was really warm like it had been sat there for days. Very unpleasant! One of the lockers did lock and both the toilets were dirty until my friend flushed them both which we both thought...YUK!!! We used the gym but as we had no headphones and they didn't have any available; we could listen to the music. We had to instruct them when we wanted our tea and they brought us a small box with 4 chocolates in as a complimentary gift (we thought). Our invitation offered tea and cakes! When we asked for tea in the afternoon they made one pot of english breakfast although we asked for both EB and Earl Grey. Twice they ignored us on that. We were told our chocolate was instead of our cake and because I made a fuss the poor girl had to speak with the manager and we were brought a cup cake each We also had to ask for clean cups and a fresh jug of milk as they hadn't cleared away the pot from the morning and expected us to drink from the same cups We didn't order food from the hotel because the service was terrible There was no swimming pool but a plunge pool, sauna and Jacuzzi. The steam room wasn't working properly and the maintenance manger didn't appear to fix it so we didn't get to use that. It is based on the 3rd floor so is only accessible by lift. Anyone who has a phobia of lifts best choose another venue.
The facials we had were lovely but as neither of us have had a facial before we can't compare.
The girls were lovely though! Although mine spoke limited english, she was really kind and very good at ther job.
We probably wouldn't go here again as we had travel a fair way and were dissapointed.

I can understand the mixed reviews. I went on my own and, for me, the steam, sauna and jacuzzi was fine, but it would have been too small if I went with friends, or if anyone else was using it. The relaxation room is a joke - little bigger than my wardrobe. I was glad it was full (with 2 people) so I didn't have to sit in there. The gym was really well equipped for a hotel gym - overall, its by no means a 5* spa, but its quite good hotel facilities. I wouldn't go there for anything other than the gym, steam, spa and a treatment or two. My pedicure and therapist was lovely, but the two receptionists were terrible - brusque, rude.....awful. There also was a children's party in a function room on the same floor which was REALLY noisy. The tea and 'cakes' was also a box of 4 chocolates - I like chocolate so it didn't bother me, but the impression given was like a mini-afternoon tea - which this most definitely was not.

Enjoyed my day at the River Well-being spa, Arrived at the spa and was offered valet service for my car. The receptionist was friendly and was talked through the different treatments available. Wasn't given a tour however, the spa is small enough for you to find things by yourself.
The therapists were polite and talked through what the treatments were for and the benefits of having them done.
Was offered an Aloe vera drink which was tasty and champagne in the relaxation room which boasts views of the river.
Enjoyed my day thoroughly and will be coming back for the 2 4 1 offer, worth the money!

Great spa and facilities. Really enjoyed my day there and had a nice relaxing time. My therapist was very professional and took the time to make me feel comfortable and relaxed.

Spa was rather much smaller than we had imagined in the pictures and the pool was not working at the time. Sauna room was nice although did not fit many people and the steam room only fitted 6 people and was a little dirty. However, we were most impressed by the therapists who carried out lovely facials which left us glowing afterwards. The front of house receptionist was also very nice and answered all of our queries. Overall, the experience was more simple than we expected and we are very glad that we did not pay full price for our experience, as we would have been very unhappy otherwise, but for the deal, we can't complain too much!

Very disappointed with whole experience, from the start of the booking process with the hotel to be greeted, (or not) as the case was!! The very small facilities, the lateness of my appointment no apology. No tea and no cakes were offered!
So disappointed and upset about the whole experience-I had been ill for while and my husband had bought me the voucher!


While I was there waiting in reception, there was 3 people complaining about the small facilities and the false advert to a 5* spa, it's more like a gym. the relaxation room was a shoe box.
Need I go on...