Located in the heart of the East Midlands, just off the A14 on the outskirts of Kettering, Kettering Park Hotel is a four star hotel well located for access to the A14. The hotel has luxury spa facilities, beautiful rooms and a one rosette restaurant.
It’s equidistant from Peterborough, Leicester and Northampton so well placed for an impromptu getaway or retreat. It's in a good spot for trips to Boughton House and Blenheim, or heading for nature and the many lakes that are around the area.
Being just off the A14, if you’re wanting a spa hotel in the middle of nowhere, this may not be for you, but the hotel itself is well worth a visit if you’re looking for a short break or indulgent spa weekend. Parking is free, though it can get busy as the hotel also does conferences and offers memberships for their gym and spa facilities.
Where will I sleep?
The hotel offers a range of bedrooms including standard doubles and twins, pet friendly doubles, as well as family rooms, four posters, and suites.
The standard rooms are a very generous size, with a small seating area and your very own pillow menu with choices from firm to soft and all things in the middle to ensure you get a great night’s sleep.
I loved the little extras like proper teacups and saucers, Northamptonshire biscuits, and glass milk bottles to fill up with fresh milk from dispensers in the corridor. Our bed was lovely and comfortable, we even enjoyed a card game in the seating area! The bathroom was squeaky clean, powerful shower, and it even had good lighting for doing my makeup before dinner.
What is there to do?
The main draw of Ketting Park is obviously the hotel spa. It’s free to use with your stay, although you do book slots to use it so it doesn’t get too busy, which we appreciated. There’s a pool, hot tub, sauna and steam room, plus four treatment rooms so you can book additional treatments such as facials, massages and body scrubs. We had a 25 minute ‘Taste of Wellness’ back massage the morning of our departure, which was the excellent end to a night away.
There are also different activities that the hotel puts on each night, from toasting marshmallows around a campfire, to film nights and cocktail masterclasses. One thing I really must highlight is the staff couldn’t do enough for us for the entirety of our stay, every staff member was absolutely excellent. I would have to give their customer service 10/10, the staff were all absolutely brilliant and made us feel like VIPs, so commendations to the hotel for that!
What is there to eat?
We had a delicious 3 course meal for dinner, the menu has a great range of dishes, and there’s also a taste of the season menu, with seasonal dishes. I had pigeon to start, pheasant for my main and a sticky toffee pudding for dessert. It’s all local, they’ve clearly put a lot of thought into creating each dish, so you can splash out and get the Cote de Boeuf Carved Tableside (£78.95 for two), or get a burger for a reasonable £16.95. They really do seem to understand the range of clientele they have, from business trips to luxury breaks.
The dining room was lovely too, with a rather Mediterranean feel, we felt a bit like we were on holiday abroad! There's a gorgeous view of the garden too.
Everything we had was delicious. I can’t recommend the food enough, we also both found we didn’t feel overly stuffed after the three courses, so they were the perfect portions. We then had a drink at the bar which was divided into lots of cosy nooks, with table service from the staff.
At breakfast it was table service again, and another brilliant menu ranging from waffles and pancakes to a full Nothern breakfast complete with Lancashire black pudding or eggs benedict. There was also a menu for tea, as well as pastries, cereals, smoothies and breakfast cocktails!
How much does it cost?
Rooms start from £95, which includes use of the spa facilities. Which is a pretty good price I think for a date night or even as a little treat to yourself.
They also offer lots of deals directly from their website, including a Bollinger experience from £125 per person and a Sunday getaway from £64 per person.
Final thoughts?
I’d have given this hotel 5 stars were it out in the countryside somewhere - that rural location was the only thing that was missing for me – but it depends what you’re looking for. If you want a lovely night away where you can use spa facilities and enjoy a delicious meal, Kettering Park is a perfect venue.