Crowne Plaza Reading East
We booked a one night spa break using a Virgin Experience Voucher which cost around £300. This included a three course dinner from a set menu (although some items on it required additional payments) and two 30 minute spa treatments each. Due to disability I am very limited as treatments that I can have. At the time of booking I asked to let them know which treatments we required but was told this was not necessary as long as our slots were booked. It was not until the day before we left that I discovered that the treatments I wanted would not be available. I asked the hotel to change the date of our booking to a date when they would be but they refused. It was a case of take the treatments offered or lump it as we will not do anything. I eventually agreed to a "gentle foot massage and a facial" but informed them that I was unable to lie on a treatment bed and would need them done sat on a chair. I was assured this would not be a problem as they were a fully inclusive venue but on arrival there was only a bed and the room was so small it was not possible to get a chair in there. I spent a very uncomfortable and on occassions painful hour perched on this very hard treatment bed. The hotel is on a business park so not somewhere we would want to pay that sort of money for a one night stay. The dinner was mediocre but the room was lovely, bed comfortable and the staff were friendly and helpful. For me what should have been a lovely relaxing break ended up being a huge disappointment. This was made even worse by the inflexibility of the management who refused to do anything to rectify the situation. I gather from their response to my complaint that they prioritise full paying spa customers over those using experience vouchers. Never Again!
However, the response from Virgin Experiences to my complaint to them was like chalk and cheese, they took my concerns seriously, investigated and refunded a large portion of the cost via a gift card. Crown Plaza 0 -v- Virgin Experiences 10!



