Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel & Spa

“This is a really nice hotel - what a great stay, almost worth taking up golf for!”

With most other options booked up for a last minute business night away, the stay at Craxton Wood was an extremely good, and lucky, find. With plenty of parking (albeit not immediately adjacent to the hotel, so bring a brolly) and extremely efficient and polite check-in, I was set up in my room wi… more

With most other options booked up for a last minute business night away, the stay at Craxton Wood was an extremely good, and lucky, find. With plenty of parking (albeit not immediately adjacent to the hotel, so bring a brolly) and extremely efficient and polite check-in, I was set up in my room within 10 mins of arrival - certainly no sign of the delays or lack of courtesy expressed in other reviews. As with most old-manor house-style hotels, the rooms were a fair walk away, but that did mean that they were very quiet. Firstly, I don't give many 5* reviews - I'm not someone who gushes about somewhere because the carpet is nice...so this 5-Star review is special. The room was spacious (but it was a 'Deluxe' apparently), with a brilliant large bed and equally massive bath / shower combo in the en-suite; both the room and bathroom were clean. The leisure facilities attached to the conference centre were first-class, with a better gym than some sports centres, and a swimming pool that you can actually get a workout in - both free to use for residents. Finally, the breakfast was excellent, with a great range of continental choices and then a hot breakfast cooked to order. After a great night's sleep, the excellent breakfast topped-off a brilliant stay and set me up for the rigours of the M6! For balance, some things that may have caused others to complain would have been: - dated TV (but perfectly good enough for what I needed) - no AirCon in the room; this would be an issue on a hot summer's evening. - expensive restaurant and bar; but, you are staying in a spa/conference hotel I guess, so that's unsurprising. AND there's a brilliant restaurant a mile down the road (Pesto at the Yacht Inn, see my other review). Finally, something to be cautious about, and it's nothing to do with the Hotel, is the turning into the hotel off the dual-carriageway....you can guarantee that someone won't realise that you are turning (despite those orange flashing things on the corner of your vehicle) and will be emergency braking from Mach 6 behind you to prevent them slamming into your boot....I recommend you use the lane slightly further down the road which is at least signposted, and the hotel's alternative entrance is off that road.

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