Culina+Balneo

"We had a complete bathroom refurbishment from C+B in Solihull/Shirley, led by Nab from the Marshall Lake store. Nab is an incredible designer and salesperson; he wants to get it right, not squeeze the maximum money out of you. We had a challenging bathroom space with some interesting requirements, and he made it work. The whole process felt very collaborative, which it doesn't always with interior design - sometimes it feels like a designer hands you something and says "it's this or nothing". Nab really works with you. He's brilliant, he can't be recommended enough. The fitting was good, too. Viktor, our fitter, had two nice lads who were very careful and cautious, were realistic about the timeframe of the work, were respectful of our dogs, and kept a very clean and tidy site leading to minimal interference with the rest of the home. The quality of the work is broadly exceptional. We had a few snags - small things in the bathroom that weren't up to spec, a cracked tile, and so on. Unfortunately, the fitters had also cut into a tile directly on our patio and damaged three patio slabs with deep cut marks. Thankfully, C&B were clear that these issues weren't acceptable and they would be fixed. However -- there is something of a feeling that once C&B has your money, the interest wanes. Our bathroom was completed (on paper) in mid February 2025, and payment in full was required before the project even began. I sit here now over three months from the 'completion' of our bathroom, and we still have one major snag not addressed and also the patio slabs have not been repaired. The damaged patio wasn't much of an issue when the bathroom was fitted in colder weather, but now we're actually using the garden in warm weather and it remains damaged. I quite literally have the time to write this review because yet another appointed time for the repairs to be made has been missed - they were meant to be here at 10am, and are a no-show for not the first time. I'll now chase again, they'll be apologetic again, and the dog-and-pony show will resume again. On the recurring theme of a loss of interest once the complete fee is received, one part of our planned bathroom design was unavailable when it came to be fitted. We opted to not delay the install and swap to a cheaper part. An immediate refund of the price difference was promised; it took two months and countless emails chasing to see this refund into our account. Again, the issue is not the people - those we spoke to were apologetic - but considering how I was chased three times in one day when the balance settlement hadn't arrived due to a slower-than-usual BACS transfer (they still received the money the same day), it's difficult not to see the double-standard inequity. Like I say, this is a great shame. The design and in-store experience with Nab, and the customer care in the run-up to the job was 10/10 stuff. The installation, likewise, was impressive. Our Kitchen is next on our renovation docket for later this year, and as the bathroom was first finished our intention was absolutely to hand that project to C&B. But the aftercare has been pretty rough at best and pretty dreadful at worst (despite the good people involved), and now I think we'll be looking elsewhere. That disappoints and bums me out; it's a premium product, at a premium price. You will get premium service... up to a point. But when you reach that cliff edge of good service, it's hard not to feel a bit ripped off even when the completed work is excellent."

"Recently had a new bathroom designed, supplied and fitted. Nabeel was excellent and interpreted our requirements perfectly. It was really helpful to be able to visit the showrooms to help in the selection of tiles and furniture. The fitting by Victor and Claude was carried out to an extremely high standard. We have been very pleased throughout and would highly recommend."

"Just a short note to thank Helen for designing our loft bathroom. It was only a small space with two sloping roofs to contend with but after a consultation and sharing the measurements we talked through our preferences and she designed the perfect bathroom. The 3D visuals were great and she listened to our needs with the bathroom spec meeting our budget. Now all installed fitting perfectly, it looks exactly like the design and we are so pleased. Ordering was easy, delivered a day early as well with great communication along the way. Thank you Helen!"

"I am so glad Me and Mrs stumbled in during the 1st lockdown last year and met Helen. She was waiting for her booked in customers but she managed look over our plans and in those 10 minutes gave us our perfect ensuite! From start to finish she was full of great ideas and guided us through the whole process. All I can say to those customers who didn't show up - your loss was our gain!"

"We've just been through lockdown having agreed our new kitchen project with C+B in February, even so, we had communication throughout from project manager Ian and finally when safe, they started eight weeks ago. A few little issues with supplies but all resolved, and the quality of the fit and finish is utterly superb. Nick Millar is a superstar, his rendered images are almost spot on to the finished product. We couldn't be happier and the transformation has been amazing. A very big thank you to all the trades and especially to the fitter Rob, who is an artist!!"