One of the worst hotels iv ever stayed in !! your better off sleeping in your car bed is the worst bed .. no food in restaurant after 8:30, hotel gives the shinning vibes .. truly crap read more

First, a point about the location. It is at the end of a long peninsula and not close to anything but beach. That in itself is not bad except when the weather is bad and you are hotel bound, with out a car. This limited our sight seeing in Poole. So caution when selecting this as a Poole destination. We did have some service issues that detracted from our stay especially with front desk staff. Checking in (5pm), we were told the dining room needed reservations - first available 9pm. The toilet in our room did not work (5pm). So we went to the bar and had pretty good meals while the loo was being fixed. The aforementioned dining room was partially full when I looked at 7 and 8 pm. A bell boy (not maintenance) was summoned to fix the toilet. He said he did. He did not. They said the hotel was full up and offered to move us to the one "comparable" room left. They did. It was not. The room was about 25% the size of where we started, peeling wood fur nature, dirty carpet and over looking the kitchen alley and garbage bins . After a bit of a hissy fit, we went back to our first room and only then did a proper maintenance guy came to fix the toilet. He did. 10PM. Never a sorry for your inconvenience or to comp us for a meal etc. WiFi was super slow here. I got the feeling had they seen my balance sheet, they would have treated us better. A bit full of themselves. Small time service from the admin.staff in what is supposed to be a "posh" hotel. As a former 2 million mile business traveler, I've stayed in global posh hotels. This was not. Perhaps 3 stars on a 5 star scale. The food service people were much, much better. Loved the morning crew! All in all, disappointing. read more

This hotel dos no favours for itself from the outside, it is far more elegant and pleasant indoors. We went on the spur of the moment for afternoon tea, as one does. OK, so it's not the Ritz! A bit less formal here, but the staff are very polite. The Danish pastry was very good, and the tea tasted as it should. The view from the south side of the lounge overlooks the chain ferry to Studland and has views reaching out to the open sea. It is rather nice to watch the rolling on and off. An ambulance came to Sandbanks on the ferry with a blue light! Much quicker than driving around the harbour! There is a long conservatory to one side, which appears to stretch the whole length of the hotel. It has a pretty effect and gives a sense of calm. I cannot comment on the accommadation. There seem to be no arrows in the car park so negotiating other moving vehicles is a bit hit and miss, so to speak. read more

We visited the restaurant yesterday for my father in law's 85th birthday. We were shown to our table and the restaurant was about half full. We had to wait a while before our orders were taken. The service was at snail pace and it was difficult trying to get anyone's attention. The food was very good and up to the Haven's normally high standard. Unfortunately the slow service really let it all down. read more

This is a rally lovely hotel in an unique spot for a holiday or a special occasion. There are superb views acrro the water to Studland and it is right by the chain ferry so convenient for days out to Studland or across to Brownsea. Island. The hotel has lovely lounges ans serves suprb food. it has a health club and a samll outdoor pool as well as tennis court. During the week it is a popular location for business meetings and can get busy but in the evenings and weekends is a real find. read more

my husband and I went to the Haven Hotel to have lunch in the bar and to spend the afternoon in the spa with a treatment. We have done a number of spa days in various golf clubs, hotels etc. But as it was Valentines Day I thought I would treat us to the Haven Hotel as we understood it to be one of the more luxurious hotels in the area. I was quoted £130 for the two treatments and the afternoon using all the spa facilities. I thought this was quite expensive, but as it was the Haven Hotel it would be most luxurious, relaxing and worth every penny. We arrived at the hotel at 12.30pm to have lunch. We ordered by 12.50pm which would be plenty of time for us to have eaten and relaxed for a while to allow our food to settle before our treatments at 3.00pm. However, our food did not arrive until 2.00pm an hour and ten minutes after we had ordered it. This was a very long time considering we only ordered a salad and a pate! At no point were we told that there would be a delay on the food. We asked the waiter twice and explained that we had a spa treatment booked, but neither time did he return to us to let us know what was happening. When it was finally served we rushed our food and headed down to the spa. On arrival at the spa we were given a towel, there was no gown or slippers. As my husband and I were going straight to dinner from the hotel, we did not pack too many belongings so that we only had a small bag to take to the restaurant with us. I have never had a spa day before where gowns and slippers were not provided and felt sure that with the price I had paid and the Haven Hotel being so luxurious, that we were sure to be provided with these items! We were then sent to the changing rooms. The floor in the ladies changing room was absolutely filthy and covered in mud and what looked to be sand. As the slippers had not been provided I had to walk bear foot through the mud to leave the changing rooms once changed. We walked down to the pool area where the four sun beds were taken and there were no chairs that didn't have towels or bags on them to reserve them, so there was no seating area at all. Every spa experience I have had have always provided enough beds for it to be relaxing and once again with the price I paid, I expected to be able to at least sit and relax. The pool was full of children and while I accept that it was half term, it was impossible to swim. It was raining and too cold to use the outside pool area which is only to be expected at this time of year. I felt that this should have been explained before I decided to book. The sauna and steam rooms were both ample and we did enjoy them. However, we were disappointed to be told by another client, that to use the Jacuzzi we had to get out of the pool and walk down to the reception desk to ask for it to be turned on! When I first went down there was nobody on the desk to ask, I then had to go for my treatment so was unable to use the Jacuzzi at that time. I would like to say at this stage that the therapist who carried out the back, neck and shoulder massage was lovely and very experienced. However, as I had only finished my lunch 30 minutes before, I felt quite uncomfortable lying on my stomach and then being massaged, so didn't enjoy it quite so much as I should have. After the treatment I wanted to allow the oils to soak in but as I was unable to sit anywhere I decided to go back down to reception to ask for the Jacuzzi to be put on and then I returned to the pool. After waiting five minutes the Jacuzzi still had not come on, so once again, I got out of the pool to ask again only to find nobody at reception again. I returned to the pool and waited a further ten minutes but the Jacuzzi never came on. Eventually, I left the pool as I could not swim as it was too full of children and the Jacuzzi wasn't switched on and I went back to the sauna and steam rooms before deciding I'd had enough and returned to the dirty changing rooms to change and leave the hotel. I feel that the experience I had was stressful and made me very cross that I had paid so much money and not actually enjoyed any part of my spa experience. The afternoon was absolutely nothing like what had been promised both over the phone and on the website and was most definitely not worth anything like what I had paid. I wrote to complain and request a refund and have been battling my case since February, it is now May and although the hotel did offer another afternoon using their facilities, I did not accept as I would not go back there again. I was not offered a refund and I feel that they have totally mis-sold their spa experience. I am most disappointed and would not recommend the spa experience at the Haven Hotel to anybody. There are far nicer spa days to be had in the local area for less money. read more