Guest Reviews of Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel

"Mostly excellent"

Lovely, spacious and comfortable room. Staff mostly excellent. Good value for money.

Only one bad point: the bedside lamps did not have an off switch and the plugs were screwed into the walls so we could not switch the lamps off. We rung the reception and were told with no apology that this was how it was! In the end we resorted to taking the bulbs out of the lamps but I do feel that this probably doesn't satisfy health and safety regulations. We also felt that the member of staff that dealt with our call was unhelpful. We reported this problem to reception as we checked out the next day and the gentleman on reception was unaware of the lamp problem and said he would look into it.

"Generally good"

Clean, Friendly, Good rooms, plenty of space and comfortable seating for a couple Receptionist very curtious.

Wi-Fi link low power in bar and room, keeps dropping out need better coverage. Bar not always Staffed, and when a customer is spotted waiting, they have to finish whatever job they are doing first before you are served.

"Good value."

Room was very adequate for our needs.

Restaurant was too busy at breakfast time and no-one appeared to seat us, so we left and had breakfast elsewhere.

"Excellent"

Service and facilities excellent

"A very positive experience - one to be repeated. We are looking at other hotels in this chain for occasional weekends away."

Leisure facilities, ie pool and sauna etc. Room was large and airy. Staff were polite and helpful

"Hotel is in nice surroundings, and is ideal for visiting Chester. Service and staff were good. Food was very nice. Just a pity the above things let them down. If it was to improve I would use again. I have stayed in a few other MacDonald Hotels and this one is not up the same standard as far as the rooms are concerned. "

Staff were very friendly and helpful, especially on desk and restaurant. Food was good.

Room had not been hoovered, we reported immediately to reception. Windows in room and bathroom were very old and in need of painting, infact room was very large which was good, but very tired. Window in room very difficult to shut. Plus room was next to conservatory of hotel, so people sitting in conservatory could see straight in. Also with being 1st room through main door, you are in the way of people coming and going, whilst trying to open your room. Do not think room 101 should be a bedroom. Hairdryers did not work in both rooms 101 & 134, no heating on, heated towel rail did not work. No tissues in bathroom. On leaving our room, whilst checking around to see that we had not left anything, we found a pair of shoes under the bed, obviously had been the previous guests. This said it all about the room not been hoovered. We handed these to guy on receptionist and he was quite shocked. We left a comment cards with guy on reception when we left and he asked if we wanted to see Operations Manager. Unfortunately we were pushed for time, so he assured us he would get him to ring me the next day. I still have not had a phone call.

"Overall- enjoyed my stay & staff very pleasant."

location for park & ride to chester comfortable bedroom Evening meal and service excellent.

disorganised at breakfast time.

"Good Hotel , lives up to brochure Peaceful but too many weddings on our weekend."

Food Good but service terrible at times.eg two hours get a meal on Saturday night 12 th Sept. with only two other couples in the the dining room!-Staff were not really trained in serving food and wine-Probably because of two wedding parties over the same weekend. The bathroom shower needs attention and thorough cleaning in room 130.End of season problem??? Safety note I was advised that you could not provide Keys to lock the GF windows on a ventilation setting.Fair Enough but they should be capable of being fully opened for emergency use. A Drop of oil on the mechanism would help here. So come on chaps:they cant be locked for safety reasons I knew I'd get that from the duty managerBut they damn well should be capable of opening fully when needed.You might save a life if you give this a bit of attention.I wont charge for my engineering experience!

"Very pleasant stay."

Friendly, and helpful staff. Gym and pool

Menu for evening meal was restrictive.

"Underwhelmed - had a conversation with a spa member who said reputation from local people was mixed. I couldn't agree more. Staff need to up their game and make feel guests feel welcome rather than cattle to be herded around. I felt rushed by reception when requested late check-out and then stopped in process of returning to room to check we were leaving. Impression I left with was one where hotel reception wanted to process your payment before you had seen your room and couldn't usher you out of the door fast enough on your departure. Efficient service but lacking people skills & leaves much to be desired. Was not asked if we enjoyed our stay on checking out. Summed it up really. "

Pool/Steam Room & Sauna were excellent facilities and the only reason to return - but could be so much better equipped with drinks/fruit/recliners. Housekeeping helpful and polite. Breakfast staff helpful & polite.

Lack of recliners, cushions and drinks/fruit around the pool area. Lack of supervision/lifeguard at pool. I can't believe that reception refuse to provide paracetemol understandable for health & safety but the pool/sauna area is unsupervised unacceptable for health & safety. On check-in we were allocated a room smelling of cigarette smoke/ash and were promptly moved, but only after complaining and a staff member came to verify our complaint. On check-in at 11pm on Friday night I was required to pay full amount of 2 nights stay up front. This made me feel as if the hotel expected me to leave without paying - not welcoming at all and a little cheap I have to say.

Fantastic Food.

very peaceful

the bar was very very over priced.

"good"

staff helpfull

bar not open late, pillows too hard

Swimming pool, staff, public rooms and bedroom.

Breakfast generally very good, but orange juice seemed to be long life and scrambled egg was microwaved - a little disappointing.

"there was no availability to have a smoking room"

"No more than adequate."

No mobile phone signal within main building, no wifi access in room, cost of food and drinks. Also, why in this day and age are hotels in the UK still charging for internet access???

"The room was spotless and a very decent size with a lovely well presented bathroom. The staff were all friendly and welcoming. The hotel in general was very clean and well presented"

Our room was lovely

The room was very comfortable

"The whole package was a perfect. The accomadation was superb, as was the location and food an evening meal to talk aboutand all the staff could not have been more helpful and pleasant. I will certainly be staying at the Craxton Wood again. Thank you."

The bedroom was one of most comfortable that I have stayed in. Clean warm and very quite.

"The overall stay was excellent the room was exceptionally clean and spacious. Having a iron and ironing board was a good idea even though we did not use it. All the staff we encountered were very friendly and helpful. We had noise on the Saturday evening which got louder towards midnight. Fortunately we had earplugs which muffled out the majority of the noise. We appreciate you have functions but was surprised that we were not informed when booking or during our stay."

how clean and spacious the room was

noise

nice rooms, nice surrounding

description to reach the hotel from Chester City Center as main attraction nearby insufficient; food in the bar: worse than expected, we had to wait nearly 1 hour for sandwiches

"This was my first visit to this hotel and I was most impressed. Staff were helpful and friendly and everything was first class."

Comfort and cleanliness

"I was disappointed that the heater in our room didn't work and it wasn't until we asked a porter to check it out that we were provided with a portable heater. Plus the control in the bathroom for sound didn't work. Howeve this didn't stop us enjoying our stay."

General lay out and friendlyness of hotel staff.

"The whole stay was very enjoyable, the staff were very plesant and well trained, the layout and facilities of the hotel were superb as was the food."

The rooms were very well set out and very clean.

"I wish I'd had more time to enjoy the facilities and surrounding area. Overall a good hotel and good value for money."

Large room with excellent en-suite facilities and comfotable bed.

"The Gym was very well equipped and air conditioned. The Spa was a little dated and tired. There was no jacuzzi, which I would have liked and the sauna and steam room weren't very large. A water cooler to provide cold water whilst in the sauna would have been nice, we had to shower and get dressed to go into the spa lounge to get a glass of water. Only general bodywash in showers, would have liked shampoo and conditioners provided. There was an option to purchase them at 25p per sachet. I would have thought a 4* hotel could afford to provide them free of charge. The swimming pool was a good length but not many swimming aids available for young children. Spa was positioned away from main Hotel, so guests have to get fully dressed to return to their rooms. How nice it would have been to be provided with towelling robes and slippers and able to walk through the hotel to the spa."

The evening meal was superb. Talented chef at work creating interesting and tasty dishes. Good value for 3 course dinner. The grounds were tended beautifully and the garden are at the Hotel entrance was impressive.

Lack of attention to detail by some members of staff. Didn't feel that the staff in general were comitted to making our stay memorable.

"my stay was excellent would definitely come again"

size of room and standard of fixtures and fittings

nothing

"The variety/choice of menu for the evening meal was pretty poor in fact for the type of hotel it was in sufficient. Also there were two weddings and insufficient staff to cope with other guests. The wait for breakfast on the Sunday morning was extremely lengthy and we had to ask several times for tea/coffee and we waited nearly half an hour to order the breakfast!"

It was well situated for our week-end break in very pleasant surroundings.

We were a party of 6 adults and one child and it would have been nice to have had the accommodation situated close to one another!

"Breakfast was a farce though.... we ordered room service as a surprise for our daughter. No butter for the toast etc and my full English was missing.The fresh fruit salad was not FRESH ! Very poor value for money,good job the cost of "

Lovely modern facilities.Our daughter loved the pool. Nice bar area/cocktail lounge

Nothing really

comfortable, clean, friendly, good value. very accomodating to young children, great pool.

no real complaints other than family rooms with internal communicating bedrooms would have been better.

"The hotel staff went to tremendous lengths to ensure our celebration party went off well which they acheived."

Very clean and modern

None the stay was very enjoyable

Cleanliness, Stylish Decor

Saturday night staffing at the hotel restaurant, slow service

"ok, good service, too expensive"

large room and its facilities. Due to british summer time change we managed to be 1 hour late for breakfast and missed it. The staff rallied round and we ended up with the full buffet breakfast - thanks. good service. this was particularly well received since for two breakfast was prepaid at 30 pounds which i would describe as extortionate

bar small and dire rates too expensive for the location/facilities

"Pick hotel because of its location and country atmosphere with a young and very friendly staff.We have stayed before."

room quite big for a standard with everything convenientfor a short stay

There is no porter service to help with luggage anyone a little elderly might have problems carrying thier cases..TV is to low down and cannot be seen from the bed we had to lift our on to the desk .Rooms need clocks.

"This is a good hotel in a nice location, but handy for access to and from a wid earea. It is well kept and clean and the staff are efficient. My only quibble is that if you are spending some time in the room more than a TV could be provided for the price. I didn't have a laptop so didn't check for any internet access, but a cd or dvd player would be reasonable in such a hotel."

Tastefully decorated, clean, ease of access.

The only facility in the room was the TV. It would be nice if there was a cd/dvd player.

location, views and the hotel in general was excellent would recomend its not our forst visit and wont be our last.

"Our stay was short but very pleasant.The hotel was friendly and was of a high standard.We would have no hesitation in booking with the same group again."

Convenient location and good general standard.Ideal for a comfortable and relaxing break in travelling.

No obvious areas.Good overall.

vERY CLEAN, COMFORTABLE AND GOOD STAFF ATTITUDE