The Gainsborough, Bath review
Oct 4, 2016, 8:32 am
#16
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 751
I found MacMyDay's report to concur with most of the newspaper reviews I have read on The Gainsborough, and I found these puzzling, too, as my own experience of the hotel disappointed, as I was expecting a leisure hotel, but found the design and service ethic to be more in tune with a business hotel, ŕ la Marriott (the owners, YTL, own several Marriotts in Australia and the lighting design at the Gainsborough is much the same).
Oct 4, 2016, 10:44 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2011
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Cheers & Safe Travels. ^
Last edited by uggboy; Oct 4, 2016 at 10:55 am
Oct 5, 2016, 6:17 am
#18
Join Date: Aug 2007
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Oct 5, 2016, 3:11 pm
#19
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,298
In doing so , even though it may have , contrasted with another view , it's important to highlight it and should be in bold too !
It's this in depth and particular knowledge that makes this forum special , for me at least .
Vuittons , good stuff indeed for calling it as you see it @:-) ^
Oct 6, 2016, 5:42 am
#20
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: Here there and everywhere
Posts: 6,303
I think it's a unique " feature" of the flyertalk luxury forum to be able to distinguish the good from the almost good and especially so when in this case the apparently good hotel has all the hallmarks of a Marriott then it should be called out as such .
In doing so , even though it may have , contrasted with another view , it's important to highlight it and should be in bold too !
It's this in depth and particular knowledge that makes this forum special , for me at least .
Vuittons , good stuff indeed for calling it as you see it @:-) ^
In doing so , even though it may have , contrasted with another view , it's important to highlight it and should be in bold too !
It's this in depth and particular knowledge that makes this forum special , for me at least .
Vuittons , good stuff indeed for calling it as you see it @:-) ^
Oct 6, 2016, 7:50 am
#21
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: IAD/DCA
Posts: 31,797
seems the point was missed. while decisions are up to moderators, there might be 'best practices' re 'replying' to trip report threads. not the easiest [issue], especially when some threads are not an individual 'trip report' thread. as in, this thread is an individual trip report, rather than report in another/existing thread.
one can always ask questions to clarify.
edit - Gainsborough owner/manager YTL was an original partner in chedi phuket. they had a villa with access to trisara. their muse brand includes 14 room st tropez property. they also own historical properties/train in asia.
ytlhotels.com/classic-hotels/the-majestic-hotel-kuala-lumpur.html
ytlhotels.com/luxury-escapes/eastern-and-oriental-express.html
one can always ask questions to clarify.
edit - Gainsborough owner/manager YTL was an original partner in chedi phuket. they had a villa with access to trisara. their muse brand includes 14 room st tropez property. they also own historical properties/train in asia.
ytlhotels.com/classic-hotels/the-majestic-hotel-kuala-lumpur.html
ytlhotels.com/luxury-escapes/eastern-and-oriental-express.html
Last edited by Kagehitokiri; Oct 12, 2016 at 12:09 pm
Oct 6, 2016, 9:36 am
#22
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 751
seems the point was missed. while decisions are up to moderators, there might be 'best practices' re 'replying' to trip report threads. not the easiest question, especially when some threads are not an individual 'trip report' thread. as in, this thread is an individual trip report, rather than report in another/existing thread.
one can always ask questions to clarify.
one can always ask questions to clarify.
Clearly no one was offended by any comments.
I think if you are going to comment on trip report, it's nice to thank the OP for taking the time to write it. Trip reports take a lot of time an effort, and I don't think it's time wasted to spend the extra 15 seconds to write a thank you sentence if you are already commenting on other things.
If you are presenting an opposing opinion in a trip report, at least write a brief explanation as to why you think differently, in terms that everyone can understand. Differing opinions with explanation promote further discussion. Differing opinions without explanation promote resentment. Please don't think you are too special or respected here to not have to explain your opinions.
Jan 23, 2017, 1:36 am
#23
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2015
Location: England
Posts: 1,361
On the note of the spa entry times, I was talking to Raffles about this as he too was restricted, but I was not when staying there. I contacted the hotel and they said:
So I still have no idea why I had no restrictions in place during my stay, but the spa was still mostly empty the entire time even when I assume almost everyone else had access too. Charging Ł70 per person to visit the spa area is awfully mean though when you're already a paying hotel guest; it would make me reconsider staying. I can only remember one other hotel doing this and it too left a bitter taste: MO Tokyo. At Ł150 for 60 minutes you are right at how expensive that is - that's Ł20 more than The Bulgari and Ł10 more than The Connaught, both of which are in the most expensive areas in the country with much higher wages.
Our complimentary bathing hours have always been 7am-9am and 8pm-10pm for all hotel residents. To access the facilities outside of the restricted times a spa treatment must be booked per person or a day pass purchased at Ł70.00 per person.
Some of our room types- Bath Spa Room, Bath Spa Suite and Feature Suites come with unrestricted access to the Spa Village.
Some of our room types- Bath Spa Room, Bath Spa Suite and Feature Suites come with unrestricted access to the Spa Village.
Jan 23, 2017, 9:44 am
#25
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Feb 19, 2017, 10:52 am
#27
Join Date: Jun 2001
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Posts: 1,109
We will be staying at the Gainsborough as part of an Amex Fine Hotels and Resorts stay. Unfortunately, since we didn't book direct, the hotel states we will not receive the 20% discount that guests who book direct will receive. (They also receive 1 60 minute massage.) That would have made the cost of a massage more in line with London.
I've been emailing with the GM and he has been cc'ing other departments so I find it strange that even though our stay is coming up in a week that the concierge has not reached out to us.
Has anyone tried the Thermae Bath Spa across the street? They have a weekday package of 198 GBP for two massages and 4 hours use of their spa. This seems more reasonable but some of the sections of the spa are closed for remodeling unfortunately.
I've been emailing with the GM and he has been cc'ing other departments so I find it strange that even though our stay is coming up in a week that the concierge has not reached out to us.
Has anyone tried the Thermae Bath Spa across the street? They have a weekday package of 198 GBP for two massages and 4 hours use of their spa. This seems more reasonable but some of the sections of the spa are closed for remodeling unfortunately.
Dec 23, 2018, 5:58 am
#28
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 55
Just stayed at the Gainsborough for 1 night a few nights back. It was a same day booking as our plans had changed. We booked through the Amex plat desk and got the same Amex offer.
Without Amex offer and booked direct
270 pounds room, deluxe room
free massage for 1
bottle of champagne
20% off spa
access to the Roman spa two hours in the early morning and two hours at night. Or anytime if you pay for a spa.
the offer we took through Amex plat desk:
270 pounds room. Upgraded through offer to a larger corner room.
dinner for 2. Unlike the review description above, it looks like we had a choice from the entire menu but capped to two courses per person. Our bill came to over 100 pounds but was not charged. Service charge was 0% but we left a tip.
hot breakfast for two. Continental was buffet style and the hot breakfast from menu and booked to order. It was all very good. Value: 30 pounds per person.
same access to spa as non Amex: we found that 8pm it was empty but by 9pm it is very busy- go early.
we looked across the road from our hotel and saw the thermae spa was also packed. we recommend you go at a off peak time for a relaxing experience.
we had no regrets taking the Amex offer vs the hotel offer.
Without Amex offer and booked direct
270 pounds room, deluxe room
free massage for 1
bottle of champagne
20% off spa
access to the Roman spa two hours in the early morning and two hours at night. Or anytime if you pay for a spa.
the offer we took through Amex plat desk:
270 pounds room. Upgraded through offer to a larger corner room.
dinner for 2. Unlike the review description above, it looks like we had a choice from the entire menu but capped to two courses per person. Our bill came to over 100 pounds but was not charged. Service charge was 0% but we left a tip.
hot breakfast for two. Continental was buffet style and the hot breakfast from menu and booked to order. It was all very good. Value: 30 pounds per person.
same access to spa as non Amex: we found that 8pm it was empty but by 9pm it is very busy- go early.
we looked across the road from our hotel and saw the thermae spa was also packed. we recommend you go at a off peak time for a relaxing experience.
we had no regrets taking the Amex offer vs the hotel offer.
Jul 13, 2019, 5:21 am
#30
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: UK
Posts: 1,643
To take some nice photos I got up at 6am and wandered around - hardly anyone about then.