After a very harrowing two weeks it was suggested by friends that I go away for the weekend. Usually I will go to Devon as I am an ex native. I have very good friends that live in Hartland. SO having decided I was finally going to indulge in a spa weekend duly rang to ask if there were any in the area. All I can say is WOW. The cottage was stunningly outfitted including disposables such as cleaning materials, herbs, oil, cafatierre with ground coffee. Lovely slate floors high beamed ceilings and lots of Devon pine and assorted chinawear. The bottle of wine and Terrys all gold were a very suave touch. As we arrived quite late it was terrific to be able to cook the meal at our leisure once we had settled in. Three courses of delicious food.The only observation from the cottage was no bath. Later this was an issue as the shower in my room with a strange extending shower head was powerless and on the last morning rushing down gorgeous breakfast to check out by 10am the shower went completely cold whilst covered in soap and had to dash naked into my friends room to continue rinsing. 10am is quite early but as I know you can check in at 4pm it is reasonable. The only way to combat this rush would be if breakfast was served in the restaurant area rather than needing to cook it and do the washing up and cleaning including putting all bins out. I guess for people on self catering holidays or those that rise with the sun it's not an issue. The bacon and eggs basket was delightful as was the previous mornings continental basket. However it was only discovered due to a page in the 54 page manual and as there was no distinguishing price between the two baskets priced at £8.00 per person I considered it to be a choice rather than a request. Lynda was excellent as she came out to ask if I would like her to provide bacon rather than continental. This was an aspect of service that I consider to be perfect. However on returning to the cottage they had removed every last trace of the continental breakfast basket which we hadn't had time to finish due to our late night meal and subsequent lie in to start the pamper day at 09.30am. I thought this was very odd behaviour almost as if we hadn't quite paid enough to warrant the different cost for the bacon. At this point I may add that two breakfast were included as part of the package. This is something that I would not have done until we had left. This was also a feeling that was repeated when we asked why the cream tea was not part of the two day pamper break as it is a very nice feature of the pamper day. Jeremy who was lovely felt he needed to come and explain that the reason why it was not was due to the fact that it would be too much food. He went on to epxlain that they provide a three course meal and a two course lunch and that the feedback was that the cream tea was not needed. Probably people being very guilty pleasure minded I should imagine as there are not many that I know who would turn a cream tea down. In fact a fellow pamper break lady also thought it was odd but paid the difference anyway. I thought that I was considered to be a critcal guest. This is correct I am. I also thought that although Lynda handled my questions smoothly and sourced a very hassle free swift solution Jeremy felt he needed to justify every decision and would not like to admit that things had not worked or should have been better. I have a very strong personality backed up by what is also a very well travelled and knowledgeble eye. In actual fact there were several ascerbic comments in the 54 page manual about builders who "play heating engineer" are the worst and such things. I also found that at the price if my friend and I wanted to stay in the stunning cottage on a sofa rather than sit in a public environment than that should be acceptable also. In fact our massage was not scheduled until 3.30pm so we could have benefitted from a more leasurely start to our day. As such once we had filled the forms and menu choice we did go out for a couple of hours until lunch. The lunch was so delicious I felt I had to break into an unusual tirade of compliments! The salad is hand picked by Jeremy from his own repertoire of leaves and is the best salad I have ever had in my life. The combinations are amazing as is all the food. In fact the food if you were to look at the price menu was under priced as it was exquisite.
After lunch we again retreated to the cottage and pulled the curtain across the doors for a spot of privacy as by now there were other guests. The privacy was very shortly interrupted by Jeremy who tapped slightly but walked straight into the cottage to deliver the evenings food. This happened twice possibly a third if we hadn't given up and wandered back over to the spa. Although we conversed about his beautiful produce we would have liked him to deliver the food when he knew we were safely ensconced on our massages. Specifically as we had discussed our view to not spend all day in the spa both on my telephone booking and on the night of arrival.
The lady that served us all day in the restaurant and spa was superb, very proffesional, accomodating, polite,interesting and interested. Tess my therapist was lovely and after three very bad experiences and my nervousness of being massaged it was wonderful and I have been so impressed that I have insisted my friend MUST use her vouchers for Downe spa and not leave them in her drawer for any longer.My travelling companion has never been to any type of spa and was veen more terrfiied than myself of massage and she has not stopped raving about Beth and her experience. The only let down was the fact that we had to wait for the steam room to heat up and the conservatory in which the loungers were place was cold inhibiting relaxing on them due to the temperature. Unfortunately the shower was a waste of space and considering it was meant to be used cold did not happen and even if it was hot did not offer relief. Considering there were seven guests that day the steam room and temperature could have been maintained form 09.30-17.30 quite adequately and not been such a chore. I admit that being a member at David Lloyd I am spoilt spa wise but as I paid for my friend it was nearly the same as my annual membership.I agree with other reviews about the lack of swimming pool. This is usually where people go to allow use of the jacuzzi for fellow guests.Although I can't help thinking the heating would have been lacking also.
SO OVERALL. Wonderful accommodation could not fault it apart from poor showers. Rather egocentric owner in Jeremy who lovely as he is can be quite intrusive and condescending in approach. I realise from having my own business though it can be hard not to over compensate the baby. His wife Lynda is fabulous and her cooking is indulgent and beautifully executed. The staff are 5* in their efforts to make you feel extremely welcome and at ease. Tess and Beth have magical powers as far as we are concerned and I am only sorry I could not have stayed longer and booked more treatments. I have been gushing about Downe Spa to all of my friends and aqauintances and really really hope that I get chance to revisit one day.

would like to say a big thank you to Jeremy for giving us a very welcoming and enjoyable spa break ,the accommodation was excellent and so was the food and the staff looked after us very well i would definitely recommend it as a place to go if you want to be pampered and we will definitely be going again. thank you again.


Joy and Bernadette

I booked Downes Health Spa for my sister's hen weekend and it was the perfect choice. The therapists and facilities were excellent. We were looked after very well during the day, and the food was lovely, especially the cream teas! The cottage we stayed in was spacious and well equipped. Jeremy was lovely and even provided breakfast on the Sunday after a misunderstanding on my part! Would highly recommend to anyone wanting a relaxing getaway. Thank you Downes!

We had a lovely spa getaway here, very last minute but Jeremy & Lynda couldn't have been more accommodating. We were welcomed and shown our cottage before going into the main lounge area for a lovely lunch before making use of the facilities including a great massage.

In the evening, we went to the local pub for a drink before dinner - which had all been prepared by Lynda and placed in our cottage's fridge for us to finish off in the oven - very easy to follow the simple instructions and we thoroughly recommend the broccoli & Stilton soup and the lamb & mint casserole.

Overall a great spa in a fantastic setting with a great balance of self-catering and luxury indulgence!