The Glassworks

We attended the spa for an anniversary treat (we don't live in Cambridge) and had an 80-minute Swedish massage. Although the staff were friendly and welcoming, we were quite disappointed with the massage. We try and treat ourselves every now and again so feel we've had a wide range of experiences, and honestly this would be at the bottom of our list. The towels when we laid down were damp and smelt musty, and throughout the massage there was a lot of movement and noise in the room - collecting things noisely out of cupboards / rustling which didn't help with relaxing. We also felt it was quite basic - not all parts of leg were addressed for example, just parts, and the head / scalp was massaged in one place for quite a while which I personally found a bit boring and didn't really do anything. Brought this up with the venue who offered another massage, which was not suitable and based on our experience didn't fill us with confidence, but no refund as our complaint 'didn't qualify'.

We attended the spa for an anniversary treat (we don't live in Cambridge) and had an 80-minute Swedish massage. Although the staff were friendly and welcoming, we were quite disappointed with the massage. We try and treat ourselves every now and again so feel we've had a wide range of experiences, and honestly this would be at the bottom of our list. The towels when we laid down were damp and smelt musty, and throughout the massage there was a lot of movement and noise in the room - collecting things noisely out of cupboards / rustling which didn't help with relaxing. We also felt it was quite basic - not all parts of leg were addressed for example, just parts, and the head / scalp was massaged in one place for quite a while which I personally found a bit boring and didn't really do anything. Brought this up with the venue who offered another massage, which was not suitable and based on our experience didn't fill us with confidence, but no refund as our complaint 'didn't qualify'.

The Glassworks Health Club is adjacent to the Varsity Hotel in the centre of Cambridge and right by the Cam. Because we were staying at the Hotel we could make us of the Club facilities; the gym, the steam and sauna rooms and the jacuzzi. I toyed with the idea of booking and paying extra for a pedicure during our stay but ran out of time. The gym is on an upper floor accessed by stairs or by lift if you can't manage them. There are various machines and apparatus typical of gyms (I'm not a regular at these sorts of things) and lots of weights to choose from. I only came for the weights as I have some daily exercises to perform, set by my NHS physio. I made use of the steam and sauna rooms. There are showers next to those, as well as in the changing rooms (which have combination operated lockers) so one can dip into the jacuzzi for a little water-jet massage. It was great fun and I thoroughly recommend a visit, whether you're staying at the Hotel or not :)