Crazy Bear Hotels in Administration: Spa Vouchers Void

Two closures lead this week, and both leave guests chasing their money: the Crazy Bear hotels in Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire have gone into administration, and customers of Stanley House in Lancashire are still waiting on refunds a month after it shut. On a brighter note, the Falls Spa in Borrowdale has shown plans for new outdoor pools, and National Spa Week runs next week.

The Crazy Bear hotels go into administration; spa bookings and vouchers cancelled

Administrators from BDO were appointed on 27 October to the companies behind The Crazy Bear, which has hotels at Stadhampton in Oxfordshire and in Beaconsfield, the Oxford Mail reported on 28 October. The Crazy Bear’s website now carries a notice headed “CB Opportunities 3 Ltd and CB Opportunities 4 Ltd: In Administration”. An employee told the paper that everyone at the Stadhampton site lost their job that day.

The statement quoted by the paper says all event bookings and all room, spa and restaurant reservations are cancelled, and that gift vouchers, whether bought from the hotels or through a third party, are no longer valid. Some event deposits were held in a ring-fenced account, and the administrators will contact those customers to return the unused part. Anyone else who paid by credit or debit card is told to ask their card issuer about a refund or chargeback; customers who cannot get money back either way will be sent details of how to make an unsecured claim in the administration.

If you hold a Crazy Bear voucher or a spa booking, call your card provider first rather than waiting for the administrators, because an unsecured claim usually returns little. Our guide to spa voucher rights explains what happens to vouchers when a business fails, and cancelling a retreat covers card protection. Report at the Oxford Mail.

Stanley House guests say they are still chasing refunds

Stanley House Hotel & Spa at Mellor, in the Ribble Valley, closed its hotel, spa, restaurant and bar on 30 September for a multi-million-pound redevelopment, and its website now says its events spaces will also close from 31 October. The Lancashire Telegraph reported on 21 October that several guests who had booked before the closure was announced said they had struggled to get their money back: one had paid £70 for an afternoon tea as a gift, and another, who had paid £503 for a late-October stay through Booking.com, was told to chase the booking site and in the end got his money back through his bank.

No reopening date has been published. Stanley House was one of the spas in our spa days in Blackpool and Lancashire guide; for now, choose one of the others there or in spa hotels in the North West. If you have paid for something there that will not happen, ask the hotel in writing and go to your card provider if it does not reply. Sources: Lancashire Telegraph and Stanley House.

The Falls Spa at Lodore will add outdoor pools and a new sauna from January

The Falls Spa at Lodore Falls Hotel & Spa in Borrowdale, near Keswick, has shown plans for an expansion, with work due to start in January 2027, In Cumbria reported on 24 October. It adds six new experiences: a fellside terrace with a heated aromatherapy pool, a thermal garden with a glass-fronted heated relaxation pool, a cold plunge pool and heated outdoor loungers, a new sauna with a view and a poolside lounge.

The spa stays open during the work. Its outdoor hydrotherapy pool and 11 of its 12 thermal experiences remain available, with the Finnish sauna the only one affected, and it says it will close on days when the building work would spoil a visit. If you are booking a January or February spa day there, check those dates before you pay. Our spa hotels in the North West guide covers the Lakes. Report at In Cumbria.

National Spa Week runs from 2 to 6 November

The UK Spa Association has announced National Spa Week for 2 to 6 November, under the theme “The Human Touch”, Spa Business reported on 27 October. Member spas are invited to put forward a signature experience that can be booked that week, and some through November, and these will be listed on the association’s website with links to book. The association says it is deliberately not asking for discounts: spas are to show experiences at their normal price, perhaps with an added extra. So treat it as a list of ideas, not a sale. Our spa break discount codes page is where to look for actual savings. Source: Spa Business.

UK spas take £323,000 per site a year, a booking platform’s figures suggest

The spa booking software company Trybe has published figures from more than 400 spa and leisure businesses in the UK, Europe and the US that use its platform, European Spa reported on 26 October. UK spas averaged £323,000 in revenue per location, against £961,000 in Europe and £1.44m in the US. A 90-minute treatment averaged £200 in the UK and £168 in Europe, and 93 per cent of bookings through Trybe were spa days and breaks rather than single treatments.

These are one platform’s customers, not the whole industry, but they explain why the spa day package, not the single treatment, is what most spas are selling you. Our massage at the spa guide helps you judge whether a package’s treatment is worth what it adds to the price. Report at European Spa.