The Bannatyne Spa Manchester (Quay St) 2.2 10 reviews

We both had a great time. The staff were professional, the atmosphere was great and the spa was nice too. I loved the fact that we could have a massage in the same room at the same time. We had a very relaxing time.

Read previous reviews and was a little worried about coming here for a Spa day with my friend, Mum & sister. We knew from the other reviews that there weren't any refreshment facilities so we were quite happy to get lunch at the Starbucks across the road. When I emailed the club about times of classes, I received a very nice welcome reply which was reassuring. And when we turned up on the day, the staff were friendly & helpful. The facilities were better than I expected with a good sized pool, 2 jacuzzis, steam room & sauna. The gym overlooks the pool and there is a stained glass ceiling over the pool, which I thought added to the Victorian feel of the building. The treatments were great - we had a neck, shoulder & back massage as well as a scalp massage - i felt really good afterwards. There were 2 things that weren't so great e.g. No private changing cubicles for those of us that don't do communal changing rooms and having to hire towels, robes & slippers - have been to the Marriott & they don't charge for these things. But overall we had a really good time & would go back again.

Don't go!!
,Changing rooms dirty, robes old & scruffy. No facilities to put your robe whilst in pool. only two beds at side of pool,no where to sit and relax.
It states cafe & food available, when we went this was a coffee machine which you had to pay for, and we had to get dressed and go across the road to Tesco to buy a sandwhich.
Have been to many spa days over the years, this was the WORST EVER!!!

My mother and I went to the 2 for 1 pamper day. We enjoyed ourselves a lot in the pool, jaccuzi and sauna. As for the treatment, we did the back, neck and shoulder massage. My massage wasn´t as relaxing as I had expected and I found it rather rough. I talked to my mother afterwards and discovered we had very different experiences. She had and excellent massage, her therapist did a lot more than mine, it was absolutely pleasant and relaxing. So I guess you will have different experiences depending on which therapist you get. This time it was unlucky for me and good luck for my mum.

The venue was good, place was very nice and clean. Staff work hard to keep it tidy and were friendly.
I used jacuzzi, pool and sauna. There was a communal sauna and a separate sauna + steam room in the changing room. No kids is a bonus for relaxation, rather than a hotel spa and pool.
Was offered robe, slippers and towel for small fee which was great.
It all went wrong when I had my facial! The therapist asked which Elmis products I used but then ignored my suggestions. eg I use papaya enzyme peel rather than granulated scrub as I find it too harsh on my skin. She ignored this and used the scrub! The technique was very wishy washy not so good.

She asked if I would mind having some oil on my hair for scalp massage......usually this is a small amount on the fingertips and massaged into the scalp. This therapist slapped a blob of oil on the front of my head and then rub the side of my head (with no oil) in circles, which not only hurt but left me with seriously backcombed sides and a slapping greasy fringe!
At the end of the treatment you are supposed to have a few moments to relax but I was abruptly shown a special offer which I had to open my eyes and pay attention to. Not relaxing at all!
Usually products and offers are shown at reception after the treatment.
If an Elmis rep had been there, they would have had serious words with how poorly their products were being used. I am regular spa user and know better than to go back here!

I had bought this voucher for me and my fiancé, so we could enjoy a relaxing experience before the big day. It was for 30 minutes back, shoulder and neck massage, and 15 minutes for an Indian head massage. All I can say is I felt the therapists couldn't have been more lazy. On top of being extremely late after a tumble drier burnt (nobody's fault, really), they finished early! I would have expected for them to go over the time, but they cut it short and didn't even go anywhere near my neck. I would have said something, but there were no clocks around, and didn't see the time until it was too late. Very disappointed, won't be going back. Needless to say, the burnt tumble drier didn't leave a pleasant smell...

Upon arrival we were given forms to fill out and were told to take a seat and a member of staff would bring us a pen. After waiting for 15minutes we still hadn't received a pen and were 10 minutes past our appointment time.

With other groups being attended to by staff members, collecting their forms and being given robes and towels, we were then told that we were supposed to bring the completed forms back to reception. How could we, we had no pens!

We were then rushed downstairs to commence our treatments. Still no robes and towels! We were taken into the treatment room which was nicely decorated but somewhat chilly. The treatments were very nice and relaxing but due to the coldness of the room and the therapist's hands, the experience was not as enjoyable as it could have been.

Following our treatment we had to ask for robes and towels so that we could enjoy the rest of the facilities in comfort, at which point we were accused of being late, indicating it was our fault and not the fault of the staff's neglect of their clients.

One of the therapists then made some attempt to rectify our initial unsatisfactory treatment by showing us around the facilities and getting us locks for our lockers, which we were not told must be returned to reception at the end of the day.

The changing area and facilities were clean and modern. The showers in the changing rooms and the water in pool were cold. The chlorine in the jaccuzzi was very strong and with the combination of the powerful bubbles caused our eyes to sting.

At the end of the day, we had a problem with one of the locks for the lockers, as it became stuck and would not open. The solution to retrieve our belongings from the locker was to use the readily accessible Lock Cutter in Reception to cut the lock off, for which we were expected to pay £5. Throughout the day we had heard other people complaining about the same issue.

The member of staff who cut the lock was quite hostile in her manner - always on the defensive - and expected us to be grateful for cutting the lock for a charge of £5.

Overall, poor facilities, poor attitude of most of the staff we had dealings with and a very disappointing experience. We left the "Spa" feeling less relaxed than we did when we arrived. We would definitely not recommend this facility to anyone.

The spa in Manchester was poorly designed and layed out. It was freezing-no heating and the masseuse hands were so cold. The cd-player was broke,there was no tea/coffee on offer. As part of, the offer, we had use of the jaccuzi and pool, however, nobody even bothered to show us around, so we had to find the jaccuzi ourselves. The jaccuzzi was unbearable with the amount of chlorine in , it actually stung everybody's eyes. It was so...... unrelaxing and an horendus experience-we both came out with headaches and utterly dissapointed. What a horrible dungeon spa place it was. I would not recommend this place to anybody, if you want a proper spa, go to Last Drop Village-this place is beatiful, warm, inviting, teas/coffees and croissants are free to everybody, and most of all, the place is warm and not a freezing dungeon like Bannatyne's spa in Manchester...

Both my friend and I had a lovely day. managed to spend time in the Gym which was well equiped and clean and then the pool which was a little old but well maintained the changing facilities were fantastic with a ladies only steam room and sauna. The Treatments were good although the room was a little noisey with chattering outside. The only slight downer was our robes both had rips in and were tatty. But the Staff were very accomerdating and friendly, would love to go again although don't think I would have paid full price! It was a bargin for '2-4-1'.

I was really surprised by my trip to this spa. I'd been before and had thought it good value for money and when I received a voucher this time I was well in need of a treat after a few very stressful weeks at work. I was expecting a decent enough 'relaxation' type massage, so something fairly light and fluffy - the kind of thing you might typically get at a gym rather than when you specifically go for a massage treatment at a therapist. So I was amazed when after asking me my preferences the therapist proceeded to provide a really deep treatment that really did the trick. It was probably the most effective massage my shoulders have had since I went to Cambodia and got battered by a tiny woman for an hour, but that's another story.... Anyway, I'd highly recommend it. Only downsides of the place are the lack of benches in the changing rooms and the weirdly shaped pool. But there are loads of saunas and a decent gym so it's a great place to spend a spa day.