Be under no illusion that this is a spa. It is a Country Club with a pool, one sauna which seats maybe 6 if you squeeze in, 1 small Jacuzzi and 1 steam room, which was broken when my party visited and 4 plastic recliners set around the pool which, by the way, is overlooked by the diners. No robes provided, only one towel.
A day spa is somewhere to unwind, walk around in your robe, relax in tranquil surroundings after enjoying a foot spa, several different saunas, steam rooms, a quiet room with beds and low lighting, and a lovely lunch in a proper dining room followed by an afternoon of treatments or just lounging on beds reading or maybe another swim. Does Breadsall Priory offer all these? NO.
To be fair, it is a hotel with a probably very nice Country Club adjoining it. Nowhere on the building does it say spa, in fact when I asked someone in the car park where the spa was she looked at me as if I was mad, ‘spa? No, sorry’, ‘how about swimming pool’? ‘ Oh yes, that’s down there.’
The swimming pool would be nice except for the fact that is has a baby pool too where swimming lessons are given to toddlers –well there was one in there just after we arrived. This was not a lesson by a parent but an actual lesson, hardly conducive to rest and relaxation! In the afternoons, the pool is roped off half way across and school children lessons start, this was just about as much as I could take!
I have not mentioned that you have to get dressed again for lunch, no separate area where you can wear your robe, which you have to provide yourself by the way. Who wants to get back into wet swimming gear when you have dressed again? The small eating area… let’s not talk about choice of food… was thronged with golfers, country club members and other ‘spa’ visitors.
Moving onto the treatment rooms…. You have to go outside for these: not good when it’s raining like it was on my visit! They are part of the bedroom block, presumably an afterthought.
One lady, a member, I got chatting to, apologized to me that the steam room was not working and told me the sauna had only just been repaired , she was embarrassed by how much we had paid for our day, she later came over as she was leaving and apologized again.
This is, I am sure, a lovely hotel but it should not sell spa days. People who have not experienced one before will feel let down, as my friends did. The cheapest days in a real Spa cost around £65 or 2 for £99 if you can get a deal, you should save up and go for the real thing or you will be very disappointed.
Having been to at least 5 other ‘proper’ spas, I could have put up with it, but I was upset for my friends, and I think children’s swimming lessons is just taking it too far.

I have stayed at this property for business and have enjoyed my stay here. The hotel is away from the city centre and the only way to get here is if you drive a car or take a taxi. The restaurants offer good choice of food and I think this hotel is ideal if you are looking to spend some time golfing.

We stayed at Breadsall Priory on a dinner bed and breakfast deal, the room was lovely, we used the pool, sauna gym etc they were great. Had a couple of treatments in the spa, the girls were very professional as were all the staff. breakfast was good both mornings, we ate in the Tempo restaurant one night and the priory restaurant the following night. The food was good on both nights, drinks were expensive but then that seems to be the norm in these types of hotel.

We had a great family trip and stayed over Christmas and Boxing Day. The food was generally very good (standard Christmas-fare) though the breakfasts were a little disappointing. Service as excellent.
We had an elderly relative with us, and we were placed in the rooms furthest from the restaurant. There are an incredible number of steps along a very tortuous route so this is not a great place for the elderly or those with pushchairs!
The internet came at a fairly high price, though there was fair O2 (3G) coverage for those of us using WiFi hotspots...
I would be happy to go back again.