Sent from my iPhone
Begin forwarded message:
Strengths:
Excellent room
Food and wine excellent
Beautiful gardens
Good amenities- pool, sauna, hot tub
Elemis toiletries
Mo, Nick and Farrel bar staff
Not good:
Poor welcome and leaving: impersonal, uninterested, wrong information. No ‘hope you enjoyed your stay, see you again etc….’ This reflected the whole stay- individual elements excellent but overall ambience cold, unwelcoming and impersonal.
Additionally, we were made to feel odd because we didn’t want a 4 course meal and therefore weren’t allowed to eat in the Dining room ! We were banished to the cold, empty Conservatory where we huddled by a radiator. The 3 staff mentioned above were brilliant but what a ridiculous and excluding rule - only being allowed into the Dining room if you were willing to eat the full wack- in an age of obesity and dealing with older clients, should they not cater for smaller appetites? We were humiliated and embarrassed- and got extremely cold. When we told the manageress the next day, there was no apology or even sympathy. Not interested.
It was also my birthday ( which they knew). We always go away for our birthdays and the chefs invariably do a little flourish or something to acknowledge the occasion- not here. Again totally uninterested.
We will not come here again- despite its strengths, the ambience is cold and cheerless. Very different from previous ownership. Shame.