Banya No.1 - Hoxton

A superb experience from first minute. I added massage to my package and that was the right decision. Deep tissue massage was exactly what I needed. Food was delicious and a good variety of options. I will definitely come back

My friend and I have been coming to Banya No. 1 for many years, but sadly things have changed to a point where we no longer found the experience enjoyable or relaxing. We've previously had time to settle into our restaurant booth and use the sauna first to warm up, but this time we were rushed straight into our Parenie treatment within minutes of arriving. We're used to having the Parenie treatment in the main sauna, but were led instead to a separate room that wasn't pre-heated, so didn't provide the delicious bloom of heat that feels so instantly relaxing. It had begun to warm up by the end, but we didn't feel hot enough for the cold bucket shower and plunge pool to feel welcome! In addition, although we were only two people, we were given the large open booth in the restaurant area that has no option for privacy, whereas we've always enjoyed the cosy little private booths where you can pull the screen across and truly relax. As it was my birthday on the day of our visit, we asked the waitress if she could possibly relocate us to one of the smaller private booths that were free (and remained unused the whole time we were there), but were told they were not available and we couldn't move. The previous guests' empty plates and uneaten food were still sitting on our table and weren't cleared away for a good 30 mins, and when we asked the waitress for some water she pointed to the jug and cups the previous guests had left and told us to use those! We were also very disappointed to find that the restaurant has moved from a simple printed menu to a QR-code system. We'd deliberately left our phones in our lockers, but this new system forces you to have your phone with you if you want to order anything, which spoils the feeling of 'getting away from everything' and relaxing. The menu is also organised into categories you have to click on, which makes it hard to get an overview of what's available, and when we got to the end of the process and hit 'order', it told us our table wasn't registered and we'd have to go and see a member of staff. This was a bit irritating, especially since the waitress looked at me like I was stupid and told me 'you have to scan the QR code' (I had done, but it took several attempts to explain before they understood me properly and acknowledged that it was their mistake rather than mine). Later all guests were invited for a group steam session, but when we came back we could hear other guests complaining that the waitress had cleared away food and drinks that they hadn't finished. One girl had specifically asked if it was ok to leave her drink, which she hadn't yet finished, and was reassured it would be there when she got back (it wasn't!). The surly waitress simply told them it was the end of their session (even though we all had half an hour left) and offered no further apology. We've loved coming to this place in the past, but things have definitely changed in the last couple of years and the experience was very disappointing, particularly as I'd come for a birthday treat.