A Break at Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa

Disclosure: We were invited on this break for the purpose of this review however all opinions are my own.

Last weekend we were invited to have a break at Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa near Rochester in Kent. The hotel is easily accessible from the motorway, has ample free on site parking and, with a spa on site, looked like a great place to relax and unwind.

Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa

Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa is billed as a 4 star home from home, whether you are away on business, looking for a night away from the kids or, like us, looking for quality time with a friend to swim, relax and enjoy good food and a drink or two.

Staying at Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa

When we arrived just before midday our room was ready and we were greeted warmly. All the staff throughout our stay were lovely and are a real credit to the hotel. Our dinner time was confirmed, we were told where everything was and were pointed in the direction of our room.

We were staying in a twin room at the hotel and it was perfectly adequate for our needs. There were two beds with extra pillows if we needed them, a desk/dressing table, TV and plenty of storage space as well as complimentary tea and coffee facilities.

There was also a good size bathroom with a shower above the bath, complimentary toiletries and nice big towels. The shower was great – really good pressure and really hot water – something that you come to appreciate isn’t always standard at hotels!

The room had decent wifi and was a good temperature. The beds were really comfortable and the only real niggle was that there weren’t plug sockets next to the bed. The rooms do look dated but that really didn’t effect our stay at all.

The Bridgewood Manor Hotel spa

It was lovely to be able to go to our room straight away, unpack and get settled before heading to use the hotel leisure facilities. The spa reception is really bright and airy, with welcoming staff. As hotel guests you can use the hotel facilities from check in until check out and we were given towels and a token for the locker to use – although you can use a £1 coin if you have one!

The spa, health club and changing rooms at Bridgewood Manor Hotel are all quite tired but fully functional and really popular with those who stay at the hotel and people who visit on spa days or have health club membership.

At Bridgewood Manor Hotel the spa and health club consist of a gym, swimming pool, sauna and steam room and two heated loungers. There’s also a small area of loungers, swinging egg chairs to relax on and the spa also offer a wide variety of beauty treatments which are a great addition to any spa day or break.

We spent the whole afternoon in the spa and enjoyed flitting between swimming, using the steam room and sauna or lounging on the heated loungers – take a towel to lay on as they get very hot but work wonders on aching muscles!

We really loved a few hours of relaxation but did find that there weren’t really enough loungers for everyone, as there were quite a few guests on day spa packages when we visited. We really liked the fact that we could bring drinks from the bar into the spa with us as long as they were in takeaway cups and the staff were constantly cleaning and tidying, making sure the whole spa was as nice as possible for everyone using it.

After spending the afternoon at the spa, we went back to our room to relax and get ready for dinner. The room was lovely and quiet and there was a room service menu available if we had wanted dinner in the room – or just snacks to keep us going.

Dining at Bridgewood Manor Hotel

At Bridgewood Manor Hotel the whole of the bar and reception area are full of seating areas and lounges where you can sit, spend time, relax and have a drink before or after dinner. The seats all create nice, intimate areas where couple or groups can sit to enjoy their time together. It’s much nicer than having one large open area to sit in.

We also found a cute bookshelf where you could borrow or leave books, a lovely addition to a break away. Plus, Bridgewood Manor Hotel has a nice outside courtyard where you can sit ans enjoy the sun or appreciate a warmer evening too.

We had dinner in Squire’s Restaurant which is located just off of the hotel bar. For dinner there are a few menus to choose from – with a set menu, an a la carte menu and the bar menu. We ended up choosing our three courses across the menus and loved the amount of variety on offer.

My friend is vegetarian and we both commented on how many vegetarian and vegan options there were across all the menus. She eats fish but even if she didn’t there were a lot of options for her and this is something you really don’t see often – as there’s usually just a token vegetarian dish on offer. Squire’s Restaurant definitely goes above and beyond to cater to everyone.

We started with the seafood basket and chicken liver pate which were both a good size for starters, tasted so fresh and were full of flavour. I loved that the pate was served with toasted brown bread and the aioli sauce that came with the seafood basket was soo good that we asked for more to dip our fries in later!

For our mains we both had the Poke Bowl Salad but I had the Caesar version with added chicken and halloumi whereas my friend had the vegan poke bowl and added avocado and halloumi, plus we both had a side of sweet potato fries.

The sweet potato fries were some of the best things I have ever eaten and the salad, despite being just a salad was so filling and bursting with flavour. The halloumi was cooked to perfection. It was delicious.

We finished off with a cheese board and the Chocolate & Orange Clementine with chocolate sauce. The chocolate dessert was so rich but light and I really enjoyed it. Plus the cheese board had a great mix of cheeses – Wookey Hole Cave Aged Cheddar, Cornish Brie and Long Clawson Blue Stilton. It came with just the right amount of fruit jelly, biscuits and celery too. A great way to finish our meal.

We had such a great meal and both agreed that the staff, service and food were top notch. We were never waiting very long for any course to arrive, our water was refilled just when we needed it and the atmosphere was really nice too. It was such a lovely meal from start to finish.

We slept really well, only being disturbed by other guests getting up early and talking in the corridors! Aside from that, the beds were really comfortable, the room was just the right temperature and it was nice and quiet overnight.

Breakfast is served in Squire’s Restaurant on the weekends until 10am and we went at 9.15am. This is a time when, often, a hotel buffet starts to look sad and depleted. However, Bridgewood Manor Hotel keeps replenishing the buffet right until the very last guests have finished eating. We were impressed with how much effort they put in to keeping the buffet well stocked throughout.

The breakfast is all buffet style and has so many cooked options, cereals, fruit and yogurts, breads and pastries as well as plenty of juice and hot drinks available. Staff were also constantly clearing tables and tidying up, as well as being on hand if anyone needed anything.

I loved the cooked breakfast. It had all the breakfast staples like bacon, sausages, fried and scrambled eggs, beans, tomatoes and mushrooms but also had has brown bites, fried bread and black pudding. It was delicious – and felt like such a treat too.

We also enjoyed the pastries and fruit – that were all super fresh – and sat for quite a while enjoying the tea and fresh juices. It really was a great way to start the day and finish off a lovely break at Bridgewood Manor Hotel.

We had such a nice stay at Bridgewood Manor Hotel & Spa. It was so easy to drive to, is well located to explore the local area and has great food options, a lovely bar and spa on site. It’s definitely somewhere we would happily stay again in the future.

You can find out more about Bridgewood Manor Hotel over on their website and for reference the address is: Walderslade Woods, Blue Bell Hill, Chatham ME5 9AX