Northumberland Heights Wellness Retreat & Spa, Haldimand

Average

Liked: Good hike trailsDecent massage
Disliked: Old furniture and bed sheetsDirty and dustyRestaurant is very averageSauna and steam room are poorly designed

Good

Very pretty property but communication...

Liked: The property is lovely, very well decorated and maintained. The food was quite good. Staff was very friendly. Services were perfunctory (with the exception of the Hydrating Plantomer Facial, which was excellent).
Disliked: The staff is really nice, but communication was not great, unfortunately. When I booked, I emailed to say that I'd be coming by train, with my arrival time, and asked that services be booked with that in mind. What I didn't know was that getting a taxi from the train station would be very difficult. Apparently one was booked for me, but that wasn't communicated until I'd called from the station to say I was having problems. I arrived late and the some of the services had to be moved to the next morning, so I had to rebook my train home for later in the day. (That said, it was nice of the spa to rebook the services, and I do appreciate that.)Also - some things were confusing to me and I think maybe to the staff as well. When my services were rebooked, something called "Aromatherapy Bliss" was added, which I assumed was something like the use of the hot tub or water therapies. It turned out to be a massage (which I really didn't want and wasn't very comfortable with due to a recent medical procedure). I should have spoken up but didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. I ended up paying for that additional, unrequested service.Finally, there was a strange lack of communication with the technician for my final service, which was supposed to be 20 minutes, and kept running on and on...apparently she thought it was 75 minutes? It was strange and I thought a little unprofessional.

Bad

Liked: The staff was friendly and they offered different treatments. The dinner was good as well but pricey.
Disliked: We booked this hotel to celebrate our anniversary and called two weeks in advance to make spa reservations. However, when I called a couple of days before our stay to confirm the schedule, I found out they hadn’t booked all the treatments we had requested. They assured me they would fix the issue and email me, but I didn’t receive any updates.On the morning of our check-in, I called again and was shocked to learn they had moved all our spa appointments to Friday during our check-in time, instead of the originally agreed-upon Saturday at 3 PM. This forced us to rush to make it on time.When we arrived, we went straight to the spa, only to be met with a series of disappointments. The person who did my scalp massage had hands that smelled faintly of cigarettes, which was very unpleasant. The spa facilities were not well-maintained; there was dirty grout on the floor tiles, dead bugs in one of the spa rooms, and the shower only had cold water. To top it off, the couch in the room was incredibly uncomfortable.Unfortunately, we had to check out early due to a family emergency. The reception staff initially agreed to refund us for one night, but they instructed us to contact Booking.com for the refund. After following up, we were informed by Booking.com that the hotel had denied the refund request.Additionally, we later discovered that none of the massage therapists at the spa were registered professionals, meaning we couldn’t claim reimbursement through our insurance.Overall, this was a terrible experience. Even if we hadn’t had the family emergency, we likely would have left early due to the poor quality of the service and facilities. I absolutely do not recommend this hotel.

Comfortable and friendly place

Liked: Nice quiet countryside setting, helpful staff, good food, comfortable and clean room and shared spaces.
Disliked: The receptionist who checked us in also doubled as our server in the restaurant a couple hours later (and possibly cook? Not sure on that though). She offered us dessert before we were done eating, which made our dining experience feel rushed, and it was a 6:30 pm reservation, so it wasn't late :( Also, our room was on the main floor, and although the door locks automatically when closed, there was no lock on the inside of the room. Something for management to fix, especially considering there is no personnel on site at night, and this hotel attracts alot of female guests.Finally, the treatment I chose was great, but the tables are solid wood with no padding - so quite hard to lie on your belly and get comfortable! Also, unlike massage tables which have a hole to place your face when lying prone, this treatment bed did not have a hole. In fact, there was a raised ledge between the head and body portion of the table, so it was quite a challenge trying to lie comfortably and to breathe! All minor things that I thought I should bring to management's attention - if you're looking to improve the customer experience :)

It was generally a good...

Liked: Overall, the staff's friendliness and helpfulness were very good, and the hotel was very clean
Disliked: The breakfast was definitely not up to the standard of this establishment. I would recommend booking the hotel without breakfast, as what was offered was very limited and poor. Additionally, the person working in the breakfast service was quite impatient and not very helpful.If you plan to use the sauna, you are in the wrong place. When we arrived, it was freezing cold. Even after pressing the start button and waiting for an hour, the sauna was not functioning properly. We asked for help, and a lady came to assist us, but even after her adjustments, the temperature inside was not sufficient to make us sweat.