We booked for a three night Christmas package, and what we got was mixed. The main problem was mostly the poorly trained staff, coupled with the lack of good supervision. Exceptions were barman Owen and dinner waitress (and night porter) Sarah both of whom were excellent, with Sarah the Elf particularly entering into the Christmas spirit. The East European waiting staff were also good, but some of the younger waiting staff were out of their depth. Dinner service was a shambles on Christmas eve, and better organised but still very slow on Christmas day. The food was excellent, when it arrived. We learned from other guests that the hotel had recently changed hands, and that a new manager had been appointed in November. In spite of the Christmas break surely being an important time to get things right, it seems this new manager decided to take a holiday over Christmas, and as a result there was a clear lack of organisation during our stay. As an example, one attraction of the hotel is the roaring log fire in the large entrance hall, which doubles as a lounge. When we came down on Christmas morning, this fire was almost out, just a few glowing embers. As there was no-one else around, I took it on myself to try to save it, and with the help of some kindling from the bottom of the basket, managed to get it going again. Thereafter, my partner and I spent most of the day keeping it going, as no staff appeared to care. The Christmas decorations were excellent, and probably done by outside professionals, but again there was no real Christmas spirit evident from the staff (with the above exceptions). The only extras we got were a glass of prosecco before our dinner, and Xmas crackers on the tables. We booked a Superior Double room for three nights. The extra cost for the first two nights was £125 more than the standard DB&B rate – for this we got a glass of prosecco and a cracker each! The bed was firm but comfortable and the room had two televisions, one for the bed and another at the seating area. Other than the bed, the room was furnished with poor quality worn-out furniture, which could probably have been bought in a charity shop for £10 each unit. Although fitted with quality double glazing, the window in the shower-room would not close properly, due to a poorly fitted safety cord. This, coupled with the fact that the electric wall fan heater was not working, meant that we had a freezing cold shower-room. I would have reported the faulty heater to the management on Christmas morning, but there was no-one around, and after that we forgot till too late. The tall wardrobe was mounted on a wooden plinth, making it impossible for my 5’2” partner to reach the hangers. We have stayed here twice before and have to say that this visit fell well short of our expectations. It is a lovely Victorian villa with lots of character, and lots of comfy couches in the lounge and bar areas. It was let down on this occasion by poor management, in our opinion. We’ll be looking elsewhere next Christmas.…
This response is the subjective opinion of the management representative and not of Tripadvisor LLC.