Galgorm Spa

I live in the USA and my daughter lives in
London. After several attempts over past years to book a stay here we were very excited to spend an overnight here. My daughter booked a Junior Suite for us. At £230 I thought it was on the expensive side for a midweek stay. Room was large and spacious and comfortable but VERY OUTDATED. Bathroom although small was very nice. Our main reason for choosing the Galgorm was the Thermal Village. We were looking forward to a nice relaxing time using all of the facilities. The facilities at the Thermal village are nice however all was spoiled by the amount of people using them. As well as the Thermal Village being available to hotel guests The Galgorm also sell “Day Packages” . Having so many people there ruined the atmosphere. To top it off there was a large, loud hen party who totally took over the pools, saunas and relaxing areas.There were no hotel staff anywhere in the Thermal Village to monitor how guest behaved. I’m left with the opinion that the hotel puts profit over Guest satisfaction. There has obviously been considerable investment made and it has the potential of being a “Sanctuary” but being greedy and offering access to far too many people negates that potential. We did use the Thermal Village the next morning from 8am and it was much more quiet and relaxing with only hotel guest using the facilities. Also hotel guests are given a very light flimsy robe to use which is not absorbent, given that were were there in February and temperatures were around 1C we were freezing and soaking wet as we walked between areas. Point to note the “Day Patrons” were given thick toweling robes!!! I would definitely not recommend staying here if you want a relaxing spa experience.

Few issues with our stay in Galgorm. Here are positive and negatives
1. Positives
• thermal spa is incredible
• staff are generally lovely
• room was great

2. Negatives
• booked in for a massage and was told to arrive 15 mins early which I did. Then the therapist did not arrive until 15 mins after my appointment time so I was left in a waiting room for 30 minutes without even a glass of water, nor did anyone tell me the therapist was running late. I got up to leave as I was roasted and fed up and as I did the therapist arrived. I decided to go for the massage at that point but wish I hadn’t bothered. Was too annoyed to enjoy it properly.

• no vegan options on lunch menu except soup
• no vegan butter at breakfast
• pancakes look shop bought?!
• no allergen information on the vegetarian sausages

Such a shame as it really is a treat going to galgorm and considering it’s so pricey you do expect it to be of a very high standard.

Was a good stay, amazing facilities to use and great to time to relax. Food was nice and rooms great however staff weren’t the best. A lot of our stay had been messed up. The girl I spoke to on phone said we had dinner booked when we got there nothing on system, so had to have a very late time which give us little time for everything else. We were overcharged a lot, a couple of times we had to get them to check the bill as stuff we didn’t order was put on it. Good stay but staff weren’t great to be honest

Flew over from London to celebrate my birthday with my bestie for 2 nights B&B Good Friday & Saturday as we’ve both been numerous times and loved it.

The staff here are awesome. So welcoming, helpful and friendly.
The Thermal village is the BEST spa I’ve been to. Luckily it wasn’t that busy for us so no waiting to use the facilities. We were lucky with the weather so our days were spent outside relaxing.

The food and service in Elements is good with healthy/vegan options.

Sadly Gillies food really lets this place down. Unless you ask, you get a one page menu. In short, pub grub but at 5 star prices. Limited choices on vegan/veggie options and zero healthy options. Come on guys… have you never heard of avocados? Poke Bowls? Falafel, Quinoa, roasted cauliflower, Kale???? Clearly Gillies only hire cooks, not innovative chefs. We can get scampi, bang bang chicken and burgers at home for less than £25-30 per head! Those looking for healthy/vegan options not welcome here. Their Menus belong in the 1980s.

Another cost saving gripe we had was the heating in the rooms are on a very restricted timer. We were freezing getting ready/after dinner.

Management, please take note. The areas mentioned need an overhaul :(

Welcomed with a sparkling drink, on from an efficient check in to a well appointed, spacious room, with a first class view. Made good use of the tea and coffee making facilities and complimentary mini-bar and snacks.
Newly refurbished bathroom with rain shower. Forgotten toothbrush kindly provided by reception staff.
The resort's riverside location makes full use of nature's gifts to enhance the residents' experience. Once attired in swimwear and the provided robes and flip-flops we spent a relaxing afternoon trying out the various heated pools and cabins, and getting familiarised with the sometimes quite confusing layout! The larger jacuzzis were particularly busy.
Delicious dinner in Gillies Restaurant in a very busy dining room. Service with a smile provided by all the staff. Personally thought the supplement charges were unnecessary, and too extravagant, for most of the steaks, and some of the seafood dishes. We had a dinner, b&b package and were given a couple of dinner menu choices, some priced, some not, so we required explanation as to what was actually included.
Live music in the bar from 10pm was very well attended.
Breakfast was excellent. Lots of choices, both hot and cold, to suit all diners.
One issue letting the dining experience down is the wait at the entrance stairs to be seated. There is limited space in a busy thoroughfare and the area can become crowded, with guests inadvertently in the way of waiting staff. Some queue jumping at breakfast was very quickly averted by an observant staff member in our case!
No assistance offered with luggage at either end of the stay.

We enjoyed our stay. I thought it was good value at £460 for a deluxe room with private spa, three course dinner in Fratellis, breakfast in the Conservatory and a deluxe room. The room was awesome. Large with sofa to relax, large tv and king size bed.

I would definitely recommend breakfast in the Conservatory. Wonderful relaxing view of the river at breakfast in the very relaxing Conservatory.

I would not recommend the king scallops as a starter in Fratellis. Smallest scallops I have ever had in my life. Other than that the food was good in Fratellis.

The Elements food and drinks menu is not that great. Having checked the menu we went to an outside cafe for lunch before we checked in.

£8.50 for a 330 ml bottle of beer is excessive. A pint of Corona in Fratellis was much better value. I really wish you could get draught beer at Elements to enjoy outside. I would really encourage management to add draught beer to the Elements drinks menu. This would encourage me to return sooner and enjoy more drinks outside in the Thermal Village. I’ve also had better cocktails for the price.

The private spa experience beside the river was wonderful.

The weather was good to us. It would be nice in a summers day.

The package Galgorm gave us was definitely much better value and a better experience than just booking a day spa experience. I have spent £200 at my favourite restaurant for a two course meal and drinks so £460 for room, spa, private spa experience and breakfast was definitely good value.

The hotel itself was definitely very warm. Almost too warm for me but I would rather be warm than cold.

Management please consider adding draught beer to the thermal village drinks menu.

A mixed bag, not a great check-in experience. The road was blocked on the way in because of the Santa train. There was a queue for check in and for the lift. Maybe someone could direct ppl to the stairs? I'd rather walk one flight of stairs instead waiting 10mins for the lift. Also within the room the mini bar was broke so all drinks warm. And Im told the element on the hair dryer was broke.

I rang during the week regarding watching the All ireland hurling final and was told it wd be available on the in room tv, I was very disappointed that it wasn't and we were then told to go to the bar who informed us all the TVs were broke.

I found the spa area to be busy and felt you were wandering around looking for an available pool etc.

Also re Covid there was an element that were not wearing masks and staff did not conform them about this.

Re breakfast, we were told we would be receiving a starter of some sort but then our breakfast arrived wit this starter and our table could not fit all the plates etc. I observed this wit other tables, surely there should be a break between the starter and breakfast?? Also this breakfast was clearly not made to order and my eggs had been under a grill for some time.

We traveled from Canberra, Australia, to share in the marriage of our nephew, Gareth Gunning to his beautiful bride, Niamh McGoldrick - 8th June 2023. Following the official formalities in Bangor, Co Down, we drove to Galgorm Estate for the reception; staying overnight at Galgorm.
Still jet-lagged we woke early morning and were delighted with the facilities available to us and in such picturesque surroundings.
Thankfully; the weather was kind and my husband and I made the most of outdoor hot tubs, multiple spas and saunas spread throughout Galgorm grounds. But it wasn't just the physical facilities, it was where and how they were located We loved the whole experience - topped off by a generous NI breakfast👌
Congratulations to the new Mr and Mrs Gunning and our thanks to all for precious memories.
Vanessa and Des Chin

What a shame. I have been going to the Galgorm since after lockdown and it has always been a really enjoyable treat for me and whomever I have been staying with. This time I unfortunately cannot say the same. There were 6 of us and 4 had never been before.
We arrived to find a broken toilet seat, flies in one of the bedrooms and the whole lodge stinking of sewage. The maintenance team did come and fix the seat and said they had sorted the sewage problem. However the stench was already there and whenever the toilet was used the smell got worse. This wasted the first 2 hrs in our lodge where I would normally have been in the tub enjoying a drink before the spa. We also had to call them out for a blocked sink in the other bathroom so there is clearly an issue with Lodge 2 drainage.
The worst however was the blood found on a mattress protector as my friend was unfurling her bed to sleep in that night she noticed the blood. We explained this on checkout and I was advised to show the manager after breakfast. We were offered discount on our next stay or £100 refund. I personally do not think this was exceptable and unfortunately I could not stay to carry on the discussion I have been ignored since. Even though I sent an email and the image. The manager also said she would personally look after us if we came again but has since ignored my follow up email. This was not 5 star stay, not 5 star management of the issues and definitely not worth the visit.

With the extortionate pricing in mind it should be possible to get through on the phone. This is so basic and yet has really ruined my trip as my questions have gone unanswered. I don't want a convoluted tech service to write into, I want to speak to a staff member. Again if you are going to charge those prices, be available for your costumers. Not happy at all.