friendly and helpful staff made me feel welcome and well looked after. The room was spacious, clean, and well-appointed, with a nice touch of luxury in the Elemis toiletries provided including shower gel, hand wash, and shampoo. The swimming pool was perfect for a relaxing dip. The spa area added an extra layer of indulgence, and the gym was well stocked with a good range of equipment for a proper workout. The breakfast was another highlight, a great selection of hot and cold options, fresh ingredients, and attentive service that made for a perfect start to the day. The location is ideal, especially if you’re planning to visit Cheshire Oaks or Chester Zoo, both of which are just a short drive away. The free onsite parking made things even more convenient.

There are a few areas where the hotel could improve. As noted in other reviews, the hotel is starting to feel a little tired in places and would definitely benefit from some modernisation and general maintenance to bring it up to the standard of its service and facilities. The swimming pool and spa, although enjoyable, are also showing signs of age and could use some refurbishment to maintain their appeal. In the room, plug socket availability was limited, which was a bit inconvenient for charging multiple devices. Additionally, the TV was quite dated, and it would have been nice to have a more modern model with phone pairing capabilities for accessing streaming services.

The location is great very picturesque. The entrance is beautifully designed . We found the staff very welcoming and informative. The rooms were spacious - well designed, clean and comfortable. The heated pool was a pleasure to relax and swim in with plenty of loungers to rest on. After the swim or treatments in the spa - there is nice cafe to relax in. The restaurant area is attractively designed with a good view of the grounds. Breakfast offered an excellent choice and very tasty. Overall it was an enjoyable stay and a special mention to the room staff - very friendly and helpful and are doing a great job. We will be visiting again soon.

A water fountain in the pool area for a drink.

I really enjoyed my stay at the Macdonald Craxton Wood Hotel. The room was clean, spacious and comfortable. I slept really well. I visited the swimming pool which was warm and the changing facilities were clean with free lockers. Breakfast in the morning was very tasty with friendly service from the staff. The Reception staff were very friendly and helpful too. The location of the hotel is great for Ellesmere Port, Cheshire Oaks, Chester and even North Wales. Thank you. I highly recommend this hotel and I would happily stay again.

Nothing. I enjoyed my stay very much.

Very comfortable and clean, nice grounds, nice breakfast.

The spa staff could have been more helpful (offer us towels for example, we forgot to ask and found ourselves in the pool without one) and a bit more welcoming (eg ‘yes you can use the pool and your child is welcome until 6pm’ as opposed to ‘kids have to leave in half an hour’). What I found very disappointing was the manor of the guy in charge at breakfast. He spoke to me very abruptly when I said ‘excuse me’ (I didn’t know he was showing people to a table because he was so far ahead of them and even if I had known there’s no need to snap). His manor when speaking to more junior staff was frankly unacceptable and I think the hotel should go out of its way to check the welfare of the restaurant staff. One of them looked terrified.

Lovely nice friendly receptionist, the room was located in a very peaceful part of the hotel, I’m a light sleeper so I was glad of this!

Room could have been cleaner, I found quite a lot of dust & hairs, maybe could do with a little updating! Tv signal was rubbish, it was also situated quite a way away from the bed meaning unless you got s#£t hot eyesight you can’t see the writing as to what’s on properly Also when I booked I told them I was disabled, and asked for an accessible room, this was not given to me & I had to walk a long way to my room with no assistance offered Cooked Breakfast wasn’t very nice at all, had a strange taste to the food, so much so I couldn’t eat it, so had a piece of toast & left

Staff were excellent was initially given wrong type of room but this was sorted quickly and with no fuss. Food was great we had breakfast and also meal in bar in the evening (burgers were delicious).Complimentary still and fizzy water on tap in the corridors was a bonus. Loved the Elemis toiletries in the bathroom. Great to look out the bedroom windows and see the squirrels running about on the lawn. Would definitely stay here again.

Reception area was a bit chaotic and disorganised for the type of hotel it is but this could be a result of the construction work etc that was going on.

The room was big and comfortable. It needed a little TLC with regards to the furniture. Reception staff were really friendly and helpful.

The staff in the spa were rude. They didn't acknowledge us when we came in. They knew we were guests of the hotel and didn't tell us where to go. The two girls were busy having a conversation to bother with us. The lift was also broke in the hotel and we had lots luggage so had to use the stairs. We were also given the wrong card key so had to go back down to reception to get the correct one.

Mixed experience. Excellent first visit but let down with supposed upgrade return visit. I came to visit three times within three weeks, the first experience was the cheapest booking and by far the best experience, reception staff, middle aged lady friendly and helpful, spa facilities great, room spacious, clean and comfortable, lots of choice for breakfast, nice food, good coffee and hot chocolate for my son, Italian waiter who was professional, made us feel special. We liked it so much that I needed to be in the area again soI booked the next two trips there.. The second stay was ok, the third however i booked an upgraded room for a treat. The room was not as good as the ones we had previously, no robes or toiletries so I called reception to say I thought they gave us the wrong room, reception, you get lad a little rude on phone asking me to double check for these things, no mention of room not being the upgrade either, then he sent toiletries and robes. It said on room description fizzy water, not a biggy but when you expect it and not there another reason to think wrong room given. Anyway when I mentioned it at reception the same young man just to emphasize we had wrong room but he was unapologetic and said I was wrong and that water in hallways, this was no different to in our cheaper rooms, no sparking available. The breakfast staff friendly but a little loud and a little hectic with service, hot chocolate and coffee watery. I didn't complain but need to regularly stay in the area and have chosen to stay elsewhere, had the customer service been better and the upgrade and actual upgrade we would have returned because the first experience was fantastic.

More expensive room wasn't as advertised, the cheaper basic room much better, seemed to be a mix up but reception didn't agree.

Nice hotel little old fashioned needs to be maintained … however we had a fantastic stay room Clean and comfortable- breakfast fantastic ( the staff at breakfast are amazing nothing too much trouble- in particular the breakfast manager !! She really deserves a reward for excellent customer service) and pool lovely great little get away for myself and my 5 year old! My only niggle was the hairdryers !! So bad! And the fact they do not take cash !!!

Hair dryers !!! Please invest guys !!

It was as lovely as it was in January when we stayed .. clean and accessible .. however, getting more teas and milk an absolute challenge considering the price spent

Too hard to get tea and milk for the room - meagre portions people so drink more than two cups of tea .. and milk portions ridiculous .. premier inns offer free help yourself replacements without any quibble .. should be a given for the price to stay.. Breakfast today was awful .. one not really functioning toaster .. I had a sausage breakfast roll .. left under the heat lamp for so long .. sausage Nd the bread roll rock hard