De Vere Cotswold Water Park

We have stayed here a few times when it was the Four Pillars and had very nice experiences on previous occasions. Now it’s a De Vere hotel the experience has changed but sadly not in a good way. We booked 2 deluxe doubles at £210 each, 1 for my parents and 1 for my wife and I, both rooms were nicely appointed, clean and had views of the lake. Our main reason for this stay was to celebrate my mother’s birthday and our wedding anniversary, so all were looking forward to a little unwinding and relaxation. Sadly a little unwinding and relaxation now (didn’t previously) costs extra at this hotel, namely £10 each for 90 minutes use of the pool. At this price range I would expect hotel facilities to be included, not have to pay additional 10%. Our group are all keen swimmers and would normally have a swim on arrival and a swim before breakfast, that would have added £80 to an already £420 one night’s stay. We decided to dine at the hotel that evening in the Brasserie, food was generally good but no more, so we felt overpriced for the offering. My father and I both had the Oxford Blue Burger as we like strong cheeses, and we both commented on the lack of any blue cheese flavor, which for any blue cheese would normally be tangy and strong. The menu says burgers come with salad, I assume this means the piece of lettuce and slice of tomato in the burger as none of our meals came with salad or even a side garnish. Service in the Brasserie was just about adequate, meaning someone took our order and delivered it to our table, it completely lacked and engagement or appearance of effort. A service level that certainly didn’t warrant any tip let alone the “12.5% discretionally service charge” of £20, so this was removed. Breakfast at 9:00am was busy and noisy but that was to be expected and we were seated in no time. Breakfast offering was good, plenty of choice and all of good quality. The young gentleman clearing our plates was far more attentive and engaging than anyone the previous evening, I regret not getting his name. We felt having only one coffee machine was lacking giving the number of guests, and a queue for coffee was almost ever present. This hotel has always been in the pricier range given its location and surroundings, but on previous stays we’ve come away feeling we’ve had value for money, but sadly not now from the De Vere offering. P.S Dan Kelly, please don’t bother responding with your copy & paste default response, it only demonstrates lack of sincerity and effort.

We were a large family group booked for two nights to celebrate a milestone birthday for two family members. We were all very excited to be together to celebrate and to be staying in what we understood would be a fabulous hotel. How wrong we were. The first issue was that specific room set ups requested months in advance were not forthcoming for instance interconnecting rooms for parents and children and twin beds in one room. Upon complaining staff were unhelpful with a 'shoulder shrugging attitude'. Although rectified by the second night, the attitude was frankly astounding. I am sure the family members impacted will be writing their own reviews about this, so I will move on. My husband and I were allocated a double room on the ground floor near to reception, which was noisy. The view was not as we had expected of a lake or maybe a garden, but of a service road to further carparks, another couple in the group looked out on a brick wall! The room was extremely 'tired' it felt 'grubby and unpleasant' the bathroom taps were de-chromed and pitted from years of harsh chemical use. The lip of the bath at the tap end was broken off and looked rusty, so had obviously been in that state for a good while. It was also quite sharp which is a H&S issue. There was no hair conditioner and no body lotion, just body wash and shampoo. These are things that are available in a Premier Inn and so I don't think it is 'beyond the realms' to have expected these in a De Vere Hotel. The room was boiling hot, obviously this is an ongoing problem as there was a stand alone fan in the room. The bed was very uncomfortable and dipped sharply towards the middle, again old stock that desperately needs updating. Lastly for the room review and probably the thing that annoyed me most was the lack of a complementary bottle of water. Such a cheap item to have in the room, especially one so hot and stuffy. I was loathed to fill the kettle with tap water from the corroded taps. To refer back to the Premier Inn group even they have bottles of water for guests. When asked how our stay was when we checked out, the reception staff could not have been less interested in what we had to say and so I'm sure nothing will change. On a positive note, the breakfast was very good and there was a great deal of choice for all palates and whims. We had a lovely celebration meal in the Boathouse Restaurant and the staff there were attentive and personable, I especially want to note the young man with the lanyard who served our table, very cheery and professional, an asset to the restaurant. So De Vere, what a disappointment your rooms are, you need an urgent programme to review and update. I see I am not the only person to have commented on the tired rooms. A complimentary bottle of water is a basic and cheap addition to a room, that is frankly expected these days.

Lovely location and a very nice hotel and Spa. The staff were friendly and our room was comfortable. The spa break deal was good value for money.