Cliffordhealthclub 

Frustrating experiences being a member.

I am a member at Clifford’s and have been for a good 5 years now. Since the change in entrance with a fob, every single time i enter the gym which is nearly every day, i get asked if I’m interested in a lifetime membership. I always politely respond no but this is really starting to annoy me. I have asked for it to be put on my record that I am not interested and to stop asking me however I was told no because they had to as part of their job. This really puts me off even entering the gym because I’m getting a sales pitch each time and some of them can be really pushy when it’s obvious I’m not interested.

I feel the gym has been neglected, in replacement for the spa. The women’s only room was down sized due to this and now very cramped. And always so so hot?!

Unfortunately it has gone very down hill.

**Clifford Day Spa Review**

Well, if you ever wondered what it’s like to pay for a "spa experience" that feels more like a nightmare, then Clifford Day Spa is the place for you! My girlfriend and I were gifted a spa day for Christmas, and honestly, I’m not sure if the gift was a *subtle* way of telling us to reconsider our life choices.

First off, the changing rooms. Filthy is an understatement. I’ve seen cleaner corners of a homeless shelter. It was like they hired a team of dust bunnies to "clean" the place, and let’s just say they clearly didn’t have high standards. As for the spa itself, I think the term "spa" is a bit of a stretch. It felt more like a community center with a heavy reliance on cheap candles and a questionable sense of hygiene.

Now, let’s talk towels. We *paid* £12.50 to rent a towel. *£12.50.* And what did we get? A thin, stained rag that looked like it had been used to mop up a spilled margarita on the floor of a nightclub. Honestly, I wouldn’t have used that towel to clean my car, let alone my body. But hey, at least they didn’t charge extra for the privilege of *actually* drying off.

And speaking of questionable decisions, we moved on to the sauna, where—*no joke*—someone was sitting there, happily munching away on food out of a Tupperware. I don’t know if it was leftover stir-fry or a sandwich, but nothing says "relaxing retreat" like the sound of someone crunching away while you’re sweating out your dignity. Honestly, I half-expected them to offer me a bite.

Then came the afternoon tea, which was... well, let’s just say if you’ve ever had a Tesco meal deal, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. The sandwiches were limp, the cakes looked like they'd been left out in the sun for a few days, and the drinks were... *drinks*. You’d think they’d offer both tea *and* juice, but no, that would be too luxurious. You had to pick one. Just one. Because, apparently, the spa experience involves making life decisions, like whether you want caffeine or sugar.

At this point, we were *so* over it that we couldn’t even bring ourselves to stick around for our treatments. We left way before they even had a chance to rub any oil on our patience, which was rapidly running out. The most relaxing part of the entire day? The drive home. The only thing that gave us any peace was the thought that it was finally over.

And just when I thought things couldn’t get worse, we read online that the staff had allegedly been caught pleasuring themselves on the massage beds. *Yes, you read that correctly.* I don’t know if it’s true, but at this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if they also served lunch in the sauna and offered "extras" with your foot massage.

In summary, Clifford Day Spa is a masterclass in how to turn relaxation into a traumatic experience. Overpriced, dirty, and staffed by mystery diners and potentially *way* too much personal freedom, this place is a hard pass. If you’re looking for a real spa experience, go anywhere else. If you’re looking for a place to question every decision you’ve ever made, however, welcome to Clifford Day Spa.

As for us? We’ll be sticking to the spa we’ve got at home—a bubble bath, some candles, and zero Tupperware.

The worst spa I've ever been to, accompanied by appalling customer service skills.

As I arrived many of the facilities were out of order including one jacuzzi and 7/12 foot spa, however despite knowledge of this the over crowding was immensely uncomfortable.

During my visit I didn't once get to touch the water due to the massive over crowding, I even struggled to find a pace to sit down and relax. The noise was immense and no comfort whatsoever.

My spa treatment was cut short, and I never recieved the afternoon tea, despite paying for this. At this point I gave up, and desperately wanted to leave given the uncomfortable over crowding.

Upon returning to the unhygienic changing room, I overheard there is another section "upstairs" which was not mentioned once during my 1 hour visit to the spa.

When leaving I made a complaint at the reception who were clearly unqualified staff. I requested to speak to the manager and the response I recieved was that I have to email him in regards to any issues. I pointed out their dire reviews and lack of communication and I was reassured that I would recieve a reply within the same working day, obviously this didn't happen. Whilst at the reception I also witnessed both ladies reject at least 4 calls, no wonder nobody can ever get in contact with them!

Luckily I spoke to my bank and they did a charge back to regain my money, given they have broken contract of service by not providing what was paid for. I'm still yet to hear any communication from the manager.

Worst spa ever, the biggest joy was when I was able to leave this grotty over crowded establishment. I travelled nearly and hour and a half each way, which is frustrating and disappointing.

Avoid at ALL costs if you have any value for your peace and sanity!

Great value treatment and afternoon tea

Absolutely awful visit! Wouldn’t recommend at all.. the treatments were in a freezing cold dark dirty room with the staffs bags and coats all around the beds.. extension leads trailing everywhere. They ran out of professional oil so started using a tub of ktc coconut oil.. the staff were all stood round the treatment room reception had no clue what they were doing. Paid £6 for towel hire and the towels were awful raggy threads small towels. Was absolutely not a relaxing day! Not worth the visit

Poor Poor buisness. Literally the same experience as all the other negative comments !! Please avoid !!!!
Poor massage! Was basically just rubbing oil in my back... Didn't step foot in any water due to overcrowding didn't even get to sit down with my Prosecco as there were no seats 🫠 i was more relaxed driving home.... PLEASE LOOK elsewhere to spend your hard earned money to unwind.

AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID AVOID

My first time visit - was met by “give me a minute” stood waiting for staff member to finish what she was doing. “Are you just checking in?” No smile no pleasantries.
Joint pointed vaguely to where I should go
Went straight to afternoon tea.
Fresh bread, poor fillings, stale scone with some sort of fake cream…tiny bit of cake with gooey icing. Cheap and not pleasant.
Spa facilities were clean, loved the different zones. No nice smell in the Aromatherapy steam room? zero spa etiquette loud and mobile phone usage
Ice plunge pool closed, jacuzzi got closed too (not surprised as chlorine made my eyes water)

A couple of younger men clearly there to pick up ladies as I saw and heard them approach at least 3 different sets of women with chat up lines (loud and brash)

I showered and then went for my 90 minute treatment…
I was told there would be a 10 minute delay due to therapist needing a break which I had no issue with

The therapist arrived and gave me no proper greeting nor an apology for the 15 minute delay - carried on chatting with colleagues and then I followed her to the treatment room
The room looked very tired, towels looked like they had been used for previous person.
Therapist proceeded to do a massage which didn’t feel right to me, it transpired that she had given me a massage whilst wearing latex gloves!!!!

(Oh and halfway through the massage the room went icy cold - the therapist had put the air conditioning unit on as she was too hot - didn’t ask me if this was ok)
The glove wearing was only discovered as she was about to start my facial
I asked her if she had massaged me with gloves on and she laughed and asked me if there was “a problem with that?” I said well yes and no wonder it didn’t feel right!

This clearly irritated the therapist and said “I can do the facial without gloves if you want it’s just that I have swollen cuticles as the products sting my skin!”
This made me feel really awkward as that really isn’t what you want to hear when you’ve paid for a 90minute treatment
A very brief wiping and scratching of my scalp with oil (think that’s supposed to be a head massage)

I was told the treatment was over - no offer of a cup of water
Showed me to the door and that was that…
Absolutely diabolical

I had a cuppa got dressed and walked out vowing never to go back
Not sure how they get away with this, what a waste of money….

This is the 3rd time myself and hubby has visited clifford health spa and honestly I can't fault the place or the staff, 90 minute hot stone deep tissue massage and facial treatment, hubby declined the facial and was offer the extra time on his back, all staff was friendly and helpful, cafe was a little busy at 1pm but it didn't spoil out experience, personally I wouldn't hesitate to recommend clifford health spa, we enjoyed our experience so much we re-booked on check, looking forward to coming back soon,

AVOID! Positive reviews are clearly fake! This Business removes negative comments and blocks you from their social media pages. I have emailed them to try and resolve my concern and they have just blocked me. So here I go:

Upon arrival, it was immediately apparent that there was no clear structure to the bookings, leading to considerable disorganization. However, after seeing how busy the afternoon was, we were glad we came in the morning.

We proceeded to the spa area upstairs, only to find the door locked. We had to flag down a lifeguard to open it for us. Once inside, we found the steam room was off, and the sauna was also not in operation. After this, we decided to return downstairs.

I understand that floors can get wet around the pool and the Fire & Ice facilities, which is common in many spas. However, the slipperiness of the floors was a significant safety concern, and I noticed that footwear is only provided at an additional cost. This clearly suggests there are no effective measures in place to manage the hazard. With the large number of people around the pool and the Fire & Ice experience, this situation could easily lead to accidents. I've also seen similar concerns raised in reviews, and I hope Clifford Spa has taken this feedback into account.

The treatment area walking up the stairs was dirty. Both my mother and I had massages, which were ok, but I did experience an issue after my treatment. My skin felt tingly, and when I removed my robe in the changing room, I noticed what appeared to be fake tan stains. I do not use fake tan due to my skin reacting too it in the past, and it was clear that the therapist who massaged me uses it. While I have no issue with therapists wearing fake tan, it is concerning that it transferred onto my skin during the massage. This should not happen, especially when massage oils are used, as it impacts both hygiene and client comfort. I had to shower to remove the residue and now need to clean the fake tan from my robe.

As this company has failed to acknowledge my concerns and quite frankly act quite unprofessional by blocking me as I am now unable to message them, I will be contacting industry standards. Which by then I hope this Business reviews the concerns accordingly.

First time going no faults at all! So returned today - well what a disappointment!!! None of the loungers were warm. When it came to our treatment we was taken to a double room which was about a 5 min walk to get there to be told they had no hot stones. Again the room was freezing and I just couldn’t relax

Been a number of times and decided to go on a Friday due to crowding at weekends. Unfortunately it was still extremely busy. Plenty of facilities in the spa/pool area but not much use when it’s that busy you can’t use things. The treatment area is extremely tired. Threadbare towels are being used to cover cracked damaged massage tables in unheated treatment rooms. We were told to put our belonging on the floor as the hooks had fallen off the back of the door. How hard can it be to maintain things like this? Won’t be returning.

I attended the spa on 9th August with my husband having driven 50 miles to get there. We arrived to find out that although they had confirmation of the booking, there were no treatments booked. We were advised we could get a refund afterwards but were allowed to stay and use the facilities and have our afternoon tea. The whole place is too busy, they suck you in with the offers but accept too many people.

We have visited twice before and have had no complaints. That was 2 years ago. Customer service has gone down. They are not replying to my emails and Mark Clifford himself doesn't even reply.
Don't go here because you are wasting your money. Spend a bit more to go to somewhere reliable,where they deliver the service they advertise. It's a shame because the company are letting themselves down by being greedy. Taking too many bookings and not delivering on a promise. It's not surprising the staff don't turn up for work if they are treated the same as the guests

Where to even begin…. Let me start by saying we were regular users of the spa. We have had some questionable experiences with over crowding, poor massages and massages being split in two, however we have always said ‘you get what you pay for!’. This is a cheap spa and when you get a good massage you cannot complain! HOWEVER……

The service we experienced this time made our blood boil. We came out of our massage feeling more stressed than when we went in. The entire time we were receiving the massage, both of our therapists were on their phones! As we were being massaged, they would go from two hand to one hand for a period of time. During this time we could hear their nails tapping in something and then an object would drop on the bed besides us. This happened repeatedly throughout. When we’re were receiving the head massage, it again happened so I looked over to my mum and could see her therapist scrolling on her phone whilst massaging one handed. We were in complete disbelief and reported it to the massage reception. They told us to report it to the manager and we spoke to Francheska on the desk. She was incredibly apologetic and told us this was not allowed. We were told to contact customer services to raise a complaint.

Like many others on here we did… this was over a week ago and we have contacted them several times with no reply. The customer care at this place is discusting. You are essentially cattle being bearded through.

You may go to this place and have an amazing day, however more often than not you are left feeling disappointed. Will not be returning

Let’s give a few words first …dirty ,cluttered,overcrowded,rudeness,unclean…FILTHY , staff are rude and lazy the spa is littered with empty bottles and cups strewn around the place . I did not receive the package that I paid for ? When i challenged this I was met with anger and rudeness.
WORST SPA IVE EVER BEEN TOO

Awful. If you’ve got money you will be disgusted by this place! So spend it elsewhere!

Dirty, the most unrelaxing experience for 100 quid!

I’ve been trying to get a refund since august 31st. They point blank refuse to do refunds which I’m sure is illegal!! Head office ‘team’ and owners refuse to answer phones and don’t like emailing they simply say ‘we don’t appreciate your emails so we won’t be responding’
I’ve never experienced anything like it and have essentially been robbed.

Also don’t get on the massage beds, they will collapse but also Staff have been caught pleasuring themselves on massage beds whilst watching porn etc. then having clients in!

Never want to go to this place again!

4 of us went fir a birthday. Had 90 min treatment booked for 9.30. 2 of us went in at 9.40 and the other 2 of us were left waiting until 10.05 with no communication in that time. The massage was nice but the 1 of us that went in first said the room was really cold which meant the oils were also very cold.
It was absolutely rammed with people. The walk ways are quite small and you were constantly waiting to let people through. The pools and jacuzzi were really busy as well. People literally sat shoulder to shoulder. Seems to be alot of the sauna and steam rooms are just the same thing sith a different name. The ice bucket thing is a joke. You have to fill it yourself by walking about 3 metres from it and scooping up ice with your hands then walking back and filling the bucket. We didnt bother. No loungers free for us to sit. The staff were nice. The shower cubicles are frosted glass so quite see through.
It was my first time at a spa and aside from the treatment i was disappointed

AVOID!!! This is the worst spa experience we have ever been to & the company DO NOT give any kind of compensation or refund for their terrible service. They also delete reviews and comments on Instagram to hide the negatives. We turned up to our “relaxing” spa day to find the spa absolutely rammed of people, the capacity limits are all wrong. There was no seating for anyone, so people were having to share seats in order to sit down and every sauna/steam room/jacuzzi was just full of people, making it impossible to actually enjoy any kind of experience. We were fobbed off by the manager on site who advised the capacity was always this way and that she has raised concerns with higher management only to be ignored so she gives up trying. She told us to email as she can’t give any compensation, which we did and received a general email back with no offer of reimbursement in any form, even though we were forced to leave 3 hours early because of the lack of space/seating. The afternoon tea was bang average.. there was a large queue to get in even though our time slot was booked.. there were soap suds in the spout of our tea pot and the cakes were clearly shop brought and not what you would usually expect on an afternoon tea, eg. Batch cooked flapjacks. The worst part was the massage.. the music was far from relaxing, it was something out of a horror film.. the massage bed we were asked to lie on was all cracked leather causing the massage to be extremely uncomfortable, it was an “Elemis” massage but they used coconut oil and no Elemis products and when washing their hands, they took the towel off my back while I was lay on the bed naked to dry their hands!!! It was unbelievable. So many people were complaining and unhappy but nothing was done and no sympathy given from the staff. Bearing in mind we went on a week day and not a weekend. These are just a few of the issues we faced.. there were many more but too much to write. I am appalled and sure this review will also be deleted like many of the others & all my Instagram comments are to hide the reality of this horrendous spa!

I am beyond frustrated after my recent visit to Clifford Spa with my friend to celebrate her birthday. What a disaster!

From the moment we arrived, it was clear the place was overbooked and chaotic. Instead of a relaxing atmosphere, it felt like we were part of a conveyor belt—one in, one out. The staff barely communicated our treatment times, leaving me waiting for over 20 minutes after my friend had already started hers. To make matters worse, I was told my treatment was cut from 50 minutes to just 25 due to staff sickness, but no one had the courtesy to inform us of this beforehand.

We were told we couldn’t have our treatments together, even though the double room was available. My friend’s therapist mentioned it was her first day, and it showed—my friend didn’t even get the massage pressure she specifically requested even though my therapist asked if I wanted it, soft, medium or hard!!

After our rushed treatments, we were looking forward to the afternoon tea we had booked. What a joke! My hot chocolate looked like dirty water and was lukewarm, while the afternoon tea itself was a complete letdown. The sandwiches were practically empty, the scones were hard as rocks, and the cakes looked like they were thrown together haphazardly. To top it all off, the dining area was freezing and overcrowded.

Despite numerous emails and requests to speak to a manager, I have been completely ignored. This lack of communication and disregard for customer service is unacceptable. I paid £140 for this experience, travelled over an hour to get here, and we ended up leaving without even eating our afternoon tea.

Save your money and time—do NOT book a visit to Clifford Spa. I will never return, and I strongly advise others to look elsewhere for a proper spa experience.

I have visited Clifford Spa 5 times since 2022. The changes that have been made to the spa in this time have been phenomenal.

Unfortunately, I can not say the same for the organisation and management. I visited yesterday with my mum. Our treatment and afternoon tea were moved from our original booking, which was made in August (1120 treatment and 1300 afternoon tea).

On arrival, the treatment had been brought forward to 1050. When we attended the treatment, we were told our afternoon tea would now be 1130 and treatment 1300, which was not acceptable and said so. I asked to see the manager, and it took an hour of our spa time to resolve to our satisfaction.

This is not a one-off event. When I visited in March of this year and October last year, the treatment times were changed on both occasions. I could accept this if I booked last minute, but I have always booked well in advance.

The final nail in the coffin was when we went for our afternoon tea. We asked for cherry scones but were given plain we asked for this to be rectified, we then had to ask for jam and cream, which was missing, I had to look for staff to chase this up twice. It is not difficult to get an afternoon tea right the first time. Staff were not bothered, everything was too much effort!

I will not be visiting Cliffird Spa again or recommending to friends and family as I have previously.

Worst place ever, misled, packed, no where to sit
Requested a refund no reply
MARK CLIFFORD I hope you can sleep at night knowing your a con man who doesn’t care about anything but money

Your customer services is awful
Shame on you

I’ve sent numerous emails and I am now being ignored

I’m a hard working nurse whose wages aren’t brilliant - you robbed me