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Reviews of The Retreat New Forest

3.5 out of 5
The Retreat New Forest
The Retreat New Forest A35, Christchurch, England

Reviews

8.6

Excellent

Rating 10 - Excellent. 30 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 8 - Good. 19 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 6 - Okay. 5 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 4 - Poor. 3 out of 58 reviews" "
Rating 2 - Terrible. 1 out of 58 reviews" "

9.2/10

Cleanliness

7.8/10

Staff & service

8.0/10

Amenities

8.4/10

Property conditions & facilities

8.4/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Nicola

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful setting and I liked completely person free check-in so didn't have to worry about arriving very late. ( Did have to phone earlier for code because Expedia hadn't sent the email with the code). My economy single room had the A35 just outside - so quite noisy particularly since motorway closed for road works and lots of diverted traffic. To be fair, the details did say it was road facing I just didn’t realise quite how close the road would be.
Stayed 1 night in May 2024

6/10 Okay

Anne

Travelled with pets, Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities
Disliked: Staff & service
The property is in a good location for access to the New Forest and coast, with large grounds to walk a dog. The bathroom was large with good & clean facilities, inlcuding freestanding bath and really nice shower. The room itself was enormous with a Queen(?) size bed (which was comfy enough) a wardbrobe, desk, one chair and tressle table with a kettle etc on. So much wasted space - a small fridge would have been useful, patricularly for dog food, milk etc etc, and a settee/armchairs to fill the roughly 4 metre void between the end of the bed and the wall where the TV was - to watch the TV, the only option was to sit on the bed which miles away, meaning the volume had to be turned up (probably annoying the neighbours). One wooden chair is really not enough. Biggest issue was the thin wall between rooms, and doors to rooms right next to each other, meaning you could hear the neighbours going out late at night or early morning to walk their dog, leading to 3 broken nights sleep. The room could easily lose a foot of space to accomodate the thickening and soundproofing of the wall between rooms. No reception or staff on hand. Access to building & bedroom via a code on the door - main entrance code changed and notified by text (not a great reception in the area) but inorrect code given. Room code changed halfway through our stay so couldn't get in (apparently notified by email - not received until after we left AND don't check emails on holiday). Not a Retreat!
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2024

10/10 Excellent

Verity

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
I had a lovely stay this weekend at The Retreat. I was expecting a single room as I was a solo traveller but was pleasantly surprised that it was in fact a double bed with a very large ensuite (both a shower and bath). The room was a pleasant temperature, with only slight noise from the road (I had the window open for fresh air but at night the traffic is limited anyway so not an issue). There were tea and coffee facilities and shampoo/shower gel available. The room is accessed via a key code sent a couple of hours ahead of arrival and there is an emergency contact number for staff if needed. I had breakfast at the restaurant next door and it was very reasonably priced and excellent quality. Staff in the restaurant were very friendly and accommodating, I would recommend eating on site if you stay here. Lovely short walk around the grounds finished a very pleasant stay. Next time I will book ahead and try a treatment or class 😊
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 9 May 2024
thank you for your review

4/10 Poor

Pavan

Disliked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2024

8/10 Good

Jemma

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Really lovely hotel for a long weekend. It is on a main road but we had a back facing room so couldn’t hear any traffic noise. You do need to drive or take a taxi to get to the closest town for dinner options - although the on site restaurant was very nice for breakfast.
Stayed 2 nights in Mar 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 9 May 2024
thank you for your review

6/10 Okay

Irene

Liked: Cleanliness
Very average.
We arrived at lunchtime, but no food was available at the cafe. Breakfast, which was booked via e mail, but not confirmed, was not available until 09.00 when it was advertised as 08.30. Since we had a funeral to attend at 10.00 this was no use to us. The room was clean but the bathroom smelt of drains and the blind would not completely lower. Since the hotel is on the main road, this was tricky!
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Mar 2024
Dear IreneThank you for taking the time to leave us a review.The cafe was letting us down and have now decided to leave the Retreat. All the catering is now offered by the restaurant which is open from 8.00am daily and this is far more satisfactory for us and the hotel guests.I am sorry if the poor service from the cafe spoilt your stay

8/10 Good

Cristian

Stayed 4 nights in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Mar 2024
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Louise

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Staff were amazing!
I had a couple of minor issues when I arrived and the staff were amazing! The room was nice, the grounds were nice and the people were wonderful!
Stayed 3 nights in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Mar 2024
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Dario

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Lovely stay with my two dogs
Very cosy and nice place to stay, I came with my two dog, dog friendly place, they have dog bowl, dog bed and special treats for them when we arrive. I’m very please and super satisfied from that place. Lovely walk with my dogs around and the coffee place are very friendly and great vegan food.
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Mar 2024
thank you for your review

6/10 Okay

Ian

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, amenities
Arrived at 17.00. No staff. Main door locked. Codes for main door and room sent during the day by e.mail unknown to me. Got help from adjacent cafe. Once inside the main facilities were good. Found irons and boards in corridor. Unfortunately, the 1st iron did not get hot and the 2nd fused the main power when plugged in. No staff to report to. Could be a very dangerous situation. Never saw a member of the hotel staff at any time during our stay. We checked out at the stipulated time 10.00.
Stayed 1 night in Jan 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Feb 2024
thank you for letting us know about the irons.Was it unclear on Expedia that you would get an email regarding check in? I am pleased that the café were helpful.

10/10 Excellent

NIGEL

Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat team on 7 Feb 2024
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Rositza

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2024
Response from The Retreat New Forest on 4 Feb 2024
Dear Rositza, Thank you for your lovely review. We look forward to welcoming you back soon!Kind regards, Alice

8/10 Good

Chris

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Staff & service
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 17 Jan 2024
Hi Chris, We hope you had a lovely stay and we hope to see you again.

10/10 Excellent

David

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 4 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 17 Jan 2024
Thank yo David for your review.We hope to see you again in the future!

10/10 Excellent

Katerina

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Amazing place to stay great retreat and good locat
Beautiful place to stay nice people very relaxing. good location to get around lots of great yoga and wellness classes I’ll be back to stay soon
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 17 Jan 2024
Hi Katerina, Thank you for such a wonderful review. We are so pleased you had a relaxing stay. We hope to welcome you back soon.

4/10 Poor

Nicholas

The water heater system went down so the showers were luke-warm for the two nights so it was pretty grim.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023
Response from The Retreat New Forest on 17 Jan 2024
Hi Nicholas, We are sorry you had an unsatisfactory stay with us.Unfortunately, our response didn't get posted as it included our telephone number. Please contact us via the information on our website and we would be delighted to help.

10/10 Excellent

Gordon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Each room has individual character and is very comfortable too. They still provide biscuits! I love the fragrant hand wash, shampoo and body wash too.
Stayed 1 night in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 10 Dec 2023
Hi Gordon, we are glad that you enjoyed our bramley products.. we love them too! We hope to welcome you back in the future.Kind regards, Alice

10/10 Excellent

Rositza

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 3 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 10 Dec 2023
Thank you Rositza! We loved having you stay. We hope to welcome you back in the future.Kind regards,Alice Francis

10/10 Excellent

Alison

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Lovely rooms, easy access with good communication for entry codes. Good value for money.
Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023
Response from Alice Duty Manager on 17 Jan 2024
Dear Alison, We are pleased you had a comfortable stay here at The Retreat. We hope to welcome you back in the future!

6/10 Okay

Richard

Stayed 2 nights in Dec 2023

8/10 Good

Michelle

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Room was clean, I had initially booked a queen room and paid extra for this, on arrival was given a double room, rang contact number and was immediately moved but was a shame I had to ring at all, hotel is in a lovely location, very quiet area, but can hear noise from other guests due to old building, all in all though had a lovely stay
Stayed 3 nights in Nov 2023
Response from The Retreat New Forest on 20 Nov 2023
Hi Michelle,Thank you for your comments, we were glad we could resolve the room for you and move you across to the larger room.Kind regards, Alice

10/10 Excellent

Gordon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Quality room furnishings and bathroom.
Stayed 2 nights in Nov 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 14 Nov 2023
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Janice

Stayed 2 nights in Oct 2023

8/10 Good

Mark

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Good accommodation but next to busy road.
Stayed 1 night in Sep 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 15 Sept 2023
thank you for your review

8/10 Good

Stephen

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Excellent room, perfectly clean, No complaints, except had a front room, next to A35, very noisy road noise, otherwise brilliant
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 31 Aug 2023
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Sharon

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Was concerned about self check in,but it was really easy.wonderful,peaceful will certainly come again.reviews said road was noisy but can’t say it bothered us.restaurant was very good.overall was a great experience.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 16 Aug 2023
thank you for your review

4/10 Poor

Lionel

Liked: Cleanliness
Disliked: Staff & service, room comfort
Road noise spoilt the weekend.
We had a room at the front of the hotel, and the road noise prevented us from getting a good nights sleep. We stayed 1 night of the 2 booked and went home.
Stayed 2 nights in Aug 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 16 Aug 2023
thank you for your reviewwe are sorry the traffic spoiled your stay

10/10 Excellent

Paul

Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 4 Aug 2023
thank you for your review

8/10 Good

Noeline

Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 22 Aug 2023
thank you for your review

8/10 Good

David

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice but very noisy
Nice hotel and good location only bad thing is the road noise i was in a front room and it had no double glazing and was way to noisey so if you want a good night sleep this is not the hotel for you unless you can get a back room
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 28 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review

8/10 Good

Christine

Travelled with partner
Would be nice if shower caps were provided as we only had a shower and was unable to take the showerhead attachment Down as fixed to the ceiling, sohair always get if you showered and then I need to dry it.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 28 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review. Your comments have been noted and we will look at the cost of supplying shower caps

2/10 Terrible

Ian

Disliked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
This is not a retreat, no resturant and no bar.
This place advertises having a resturant but it does not, it has a vegitarian cafe next door with very limited opening hours, closes between 3:30 and 4:00pm They also mention being able to get a drink, this again is not true. Finally the name retreat would lead you to beleave the place will be a retreat for rest.... Untrue, the front rooms face the rather busy A35 which is exceptionally noisy and with no air conditioning, this is not a place to stay in the summer months.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 28 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review. we are sorry you did not enjoy your stay.Your comments have been noted and passed onwards

10/10 Excellent

Tim

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 28 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review

6/10 Okay

Garry

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Nice property on a very busy road with no public footpaths. The property itself is very clean and well maintained with great parking. Only problem is you have to drive to go anywhere.
Stayed 2 nights in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 15 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review

8/10 Good

David

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Reception staff amazing Waiting staff amazing Breakfast staff amazing What let it down was the bar staff. Very grumpy.
Stayed 1 night in Jul 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 5 Jul 2023
Thank you for your review

8/10 Good

Ian

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 27 Jun 2023
Thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Elaine

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 20 Jun 2023
thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Rosie

Travelled with partner, Travelled with group
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
A fantastic stay in the New Forest, with a beautiful character room set in gorgeous grounds and incredible onsite food options! We loved our stay and will definitely be coming back, highly recommend!
Stayed 3 nights in May 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 8 Jun 2023
thank you for your review

8/10 Good

Mark

Liked: Staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Very nice , location ok, grounds nice , our room next to road so a bit noisy but didn’t keep us awake. Room a bit dusty but nice towels and bath. Restaurant very taste but a bit more than normal price wise
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 8 Jun 2023
Thank yoy for your review

10/10 Excellent

Hollie

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Excellent value for money in a beautiful area for exploring. Check in was easy and all information that was needed, was provided
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 8 Jun 2023
Thank you for your review

8/10 Good

sarah

Stayed 1 night in Apr 2023
Response from The Retreat team on 8 Jun 2023
Thank you for your review

10/10 Excellent

Darren

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Gourmet retreat
Great hotel, comfortable rooms, well furnished and decorated. Fantastic cafe and restaurant on site and a cool brewery/ taproom next door.
Stayed 3 nights in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Mandy

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Short stay.
Great hotel, warm, comfy and clean. Great location and buetifull. Very dog friendly and the room was very spacious. Downside was the no reception and self check in with door codes. Communication was poor to start with as I tried calling the hotel a few times to gain clarity of how to check in. Eventually I received communication from them in a form of an email.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

10/10 Excellent

Bea

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Absolutely stunning property.. Lovely and quiet.. Room and bathroom were substantial and super clean.. Bedding and towels were luxurious.. The only thing missing was a chair at the dressing table.. We will definitely be staying here again..
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Verified traveller

Liked: Cleanliness, room comfort
Disliked: Staff & service
Very comfortable
Very comfortable and warm room. TV channels well out of date and does not show current Freeview channels.
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

Angela

Travelled with group
Liked: Staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
The facial and treatments at the Loft were outstanding
Stayed 1 night in Mar 2023

8/10 Good

WAYNE

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Nice room
Very nice room. It does feel like an AieBNB. There was no check in desk. We did ask for our room to be cleaned as we were there a couple of nights. However it wasn’t done. We had a lot of noise from the room next door at 1.30am watching their TV, but it didn’t last too long. It would be nice to have a fridge in the room. We had to buy coffee and milk as it wasn’t supplied. There was only herbal teas. It is also dog friendly with no extra charge. They had lots of yoga classes going on inside and outside on the lawn.
Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2023

10/10 Excellent

Jodi

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in Feb 2023