Cleanliness ~ 7/10
Relaxation Factor ~ 7/10
Treatment ~ 8/10
Customer Service ~ 7/10
Facilities ~ 9/10
Grand Total ~ 7.6/10
The Highs
- Facilities. This place has pretty much everything you could want - a pool, hydrotherapy pool, variety of steam and sauna rooms, gym, treatment rooms, quiet rooms and so on! I didn't give full marks as some of them are starting to look a tad shabby and accessibility could be better (lots of stairs) but for sheer variety it can't be beat. The changing rooms are also quite spacious with plenty of hairdryers and a seemingly unlimited supply of towels.
- Location. Slap bang in the middle of the beautiful New Forest. No busy traffic and noise to ruin your post-spa bliss.
- Treatment. Lovely relaxing massage which came as part of the package that I had booked. The therapist was happy to leave me be in silence and I did drift off at one point which is always a good sign! Having said that, she wasn't afraid to do a little work on my neck and shoulders first which worked out the tense bits!! Wish the oils used had been more fragrant though.
- Cleanliness. Given the size of the spa and the number of guests, they haven't done too badly in ensuring that it doesn't turn into a horrid mess. However, opening my locker to find two blobs of bubble gum stuck on the back of the door wasn't the best introduction to my Senspa experience! The provided pool sandals were not well-cleaned (not disposable) so I'm glad I brought my own along. They could do with a regular check of the changing areas to ensure everything is up to scratch.
- Customer service. Friendly enough, but I did have to request a tour rather than being automatically offered one. It really is the little things - I didn't know that the lockers needed a £1 coin to operate them (this isn't mentioned in the info on what to bring on the day). Okay, so not many people leave the house with a completely empty purse but I did only have loose change which thankfully someone exchanged for me.
The Lows
- Rhassoul room. Let down by the weak 'shower' that's supposed to wash the mud off at the end of the treatment. Three 'jets' at different angles are supposed to do this but in reality it was more of a trickle and I had to use a tap with a hose attached to do the majority of it (very luke-warm water).
Overall it was a fun afternoon. I booked the half-day 'Harmony' package for £139 which started at 3pm and gave me use of all of the facilities until 9pm. It also included a relaxing massage treatment and access to the rhassoul room. I enjoyed trying out the various rooms (there's even a 'tropical storm' shower complete with thunder sound effects) although didn't really see the point of the laconarium and tepidarium - installing another ice-room and sauna or crystal steam room would have been more useful.
Would I go again? With a group of friend, yes. It was quite busy and aside from the treatment and quiet areas not somewhere that I would describe as relaxing. It was a bit more like a spa theme-park. Which is no bad thing though as trying out the various rooms and pools was good fun! It was also nice to try something away from my usual London haunts!
