Balmer Lawn Hotel & The New Forest Spa | Brockenhurst

We absolutely loved our stay here. My husband and I took a drive out to local spa hotels in the area for a last minute getaway. We were met by Briany on reception who was so friendly, helpful and allowed us to take a look at a couple of rooms available for the next day. She was able to answer our questions and after a quick view of another hotel, we came back shortly after to book a 3 night stay. Briany spent a fair amount of time with us, her customer service is excellent. The hotel grounds are beautiful with easy access to the New Forest for walks. We stayed in the main building of the Hotel and the room was so comfortable and quiet despite being at the front and below the bar area. Bed, pillows really comfortable and the fan was an appreciated touch in the warmer nights. The cleaners were efficient and quick whilst we were at breakfast. Being a dog friendly hotel, our dog was greeted each morning, afternoon and evening by the staff who were all very friendly and approachable. The voucher for a sausage each morning was such a lovely touch, but may I suggest it is best to stick with a rasher of bacon or scrambled eggs instead of offering dogs sausages containing onion/garlic in future, please. The food and drinks were excellent. Worth the 2 rotary stars they have already been awarded. Quick service and as a gluten free person, I had so much choice available to me. Claudia at the spa has magic healing hands. I treated myself to an express facial on the 2nd day of our stay. She was very helpful and accommodating to swaps/change of days for treatments requests. My husband has a deep tissue massage with her on our 3rd day and I had a full body wrap with another spa colleague, but didn't catch her name. The pools are well kept and the indoor pool is adult only from 11am-3pm which was a really nice touch for couples or those visiting without children seeking some quiet, downtime as part of the spa experience. We would definitely visit again.

The hotel needs some re decoration and upgrading - especially the decor in the rooms, the stained towels and the fact that the bed bases were dirty battered and old and left exposed in our 'upgraded' room. The shower did not work - only provided scalding water which you couldn't touch at all. At dinner, I was told I was given gluten free bread. I was not. I was extremely ill for several days. Staff clearly not trained.