Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel & Spa, Chester

Nice hotel let down by awful food We had booked a spa break overnight. The treatment was fantastic and the spa facilities great. My room was fine nothing special but clean and spacious with normal amenities but no tea or coffee . We ate in the bar at lunch it was distinctly average pub type food I order the chicken skewers which were supposed to be marinated but certainly didn’t taste like it. Dinner was in the restaurant and it was shockingly awful, I order a margarita pizza , supposed to have tomato base with mozzarella and basil. It came topped in very greasy orange cheese clearly not mozzarella and no basil, I complained was told it was a cheese blended with mozzarella ( what rubbish) and was given a pot of pesto in lieu of the basil, yuck didn’t want pesto in my pizza, I only ate 1 slice I was given a free drink due to my complaint. Dessert I ordered lemon meringue pie, clearly had been frozen not fresh and highly processed not good. I most definitely would not go there again

Massage Excellent massage and facial from Suzanne. Highly recommend.

Outdated room and strange new year gala dinner We visited for two nights to celebrate the start of the New Year and attend the Great Gatsby theme gala dinner at the hotel on 31 December. Our room (233) seemed stuck in the 1980’s in terms of decor and had plumbing of electrics to match - our tv did not receive any channels, the aerial socket was broken, the desk lamp was broken, the shower attachment was falling away from the wall and the water in the shower was cold. We did report these matters and a lovely man came to our room to try and help but could not do anything. The lovely lady on reception (Hannah I believe) gave us a 50% discount on our room rate to compensate. The New Year’s gala dinner was a very strange event with pros and cons. On the positive side, we loved the dressing up theme, which was fun. The room and tables were nicely presented. Food was good and the staff worked very hard all night. While the band was talented, they played modern music in a 1920’s style (similar to Post Modern Jukebox) but not many of the guests appreciated this - most did not recognise any of the tunes. There was no MC or DJ, so in between band sets, there was some passive background music, and we all sat around wondering what was going on. Some people were chanting ‘why are we waiting’. It was not the party atmosphere we were expecting. After the countdown at midnight, the event fizzled out, even though it was supposed to go on until 1am. We understand that the event organisers are going to contact us regarding some compensation, as we paid £95 per head for the experience, but we have not yet heard anything about this. Overall, we would not return to the hotel, due to our experience of issues in our room and the strange new years event.

Great family time We stayed at Craxton last night and had a really lovely experience, made even better by the outstanding service from Faye. From breakfast through to the early afternoon, Faye went above and beyond to make sure we were well looked after. What really stood out was the extra attention she gave to ensuring the kids enjoyed themselves—she was warm, patient, and genuinely caring, which made a huge difference to our stay as a family. Great service like this is what turns a nice stay into a memorable one. Thank you, Faye, and the Craxton team—we’d happily return.

New Year's Eve Event Checking in with Hannah, smooth and she is so pleasant. Really made us feel welcome. This is not our 1st time in a McDonald hotel, but was the best welcome we have had! Our room, a very welcome upgrade to the super deluxe, was fabulous. The main window view did not disappoint, albeit the view to the side was a rooftop. Downside to the room was the broken window latch which meant the window didn't close and the shower, which was cold. I dont mind a cold shower, but when its cold outside and you want to warm up, it wasn't ideal. The NYE event was disappointing. We arrived at 7.15 and Hannah took our pictures at the tree. The welcome glass of Prosecco was only found after we asked another couple and the canapes were all but over with one server bringing a plate to the table, which had 12 people and 3 canapes! The starter of salmon was delicious, however there were two starters advertised and we wrongly assumed you could choose one or the other. Not the case, so the goats cheese tart was only available if you had dietary requirements..so if you didnt like salmon, hard luck! The medallion of 21 days aged beef was brought from Wish! It was no bigger than a desert spoon. The carrot puree as a teaspoon sized amount, the dauphinoise potatoes were not dauphinoise. By far the best part of a very disappointing meal was the beef cheek bon bon. Desert was raspberry and drambuie delice with Arran Gold ice-cream. Not sure where the Arran Gold was because the ice cream we had was vanilla at best! Thank goodness for the cheese board which I found to have lovely selection of cheese. The entertainment - bless the singer but the whole room was flat. The most entertaining thing was a lovely couple dancing. The room started to get atmosphere at 11pm and the band had been playing since 9! The countdown...well we had two! The singer began the countdown too early and wished everyone happy new year around 30 seconds too early and then quickly did another one. The band packed up at 12.15 and the DJ was on till 1pm. Except there was no DJ. Music was played through the speaker system, but it was not a party as we were expecting. Breakfast - the hotel was at capacity. We arrived for breakfast at 9.50 (it was serving till 10.30) and waited over 20 minutes for a table. Bacon was anemic (each to their own) no sausages, no orange juice, no hash browns. We eventually got hash browns but only after being made to feel we were wrong for asking! This is not our 1st time at Craxton, we had an amazing weekend there in September, which is why we booked for NYE. Sadly, the whole event did not live up to expectations or what we paid for. Huge shout out to Hannah who checked us in, took our pictures, served at the bar and then checked us out..you deserve a pay rise because whilst all around you was chaos, you smiled and made the best of it. Would we come back..not for an event. It was over subscribed and underwhelming. We spoke to Hannah as we were leaving, who authorised 50% refund which was accepted. The NYE tickets were £95 pp and the overnight package total was £350 so 50% refund did seem fair based on the NYE event was so poor.