My stays here, now three times (four nights), have been booked by my company. My experience of the restaurant, not the hotel itself, will mean I will asked to be booked elsewhere.
The rooms are passab... more
My stays here, now three times (four nights), have been booked by my company. My experience of the restaurant, not the hotel itself, will mean I will asked to be booked elsewhere.
The rooms are passable but with minimal toiletries and no tea & coffee making facilities. There is an iron & board though!
Beds reasonably comfortable if a bit on the firm side. The rooms are clean and the housekeeping is good.
But my four experiences in the restaurant: dinners are poor to very poor. The hotel's location, as the name suggests, is out of town. The nearest shop is a half hour walk away and there are similarly no options to eat out, so it has to be the hotel's restaurant if you want dinner. Most recently, the rib-eye at £20 is far too expensive and mine was tough and chewy, with much of it ending back on the plate! The vegetables in the side dish were unappetising and barely edible. The one good part were the chips: excellent. Perhaps I was unlucky as my dining companion's sirloin seemed okay. Overhearing another diner on my second night, I don't believe my experience is unique.
Second night: prawns. Skimpy dish for £6 with about half a dozen medium sized prawn. In truth it would have been just as good serving the chilli/garlic melted butter and mop it up with the half mini-baguette.
Trying for a safer main I opted for a cheese burger. It was substantial and reasonably okay, but bun was falling apart half way through. Wouldn't have been so bad but waited 25-30 (conservatively) minutes after my prawns. Then it was served with a "sorry for the wait"… would have been good if one of the waitresses had acknowledged the slow service before it became the ridiculously long wait. Sadly my experience on the previous two nights were similarly disappointing. Given there isn't much else to look forward to on a night away it is doubly disappointing. Did I complain: first and second time yes, but it was met with a degree of indifference by the waiting staff who clearly don't understand the value of customer care!
There's a certain Bon homie from the bar man, but overall the service lacks professionalism and is slow. The food ordering is a quaint system done at the bar, then you wait and get called to the restaurant where your order is almost at the table before you are! Wouldn't be so bad if the following course arrived in a reasonably timely manner. Spending around £25-30 including a glass of wine, you could get yourself a decent Indian/Chinese/Italian meal if there were any of these within walking distance, but sadly there aren't!
Breakfast on the other hand is good, particularly the cooked options: the Full English being available including local Bury black pudding. Choice of drinks and toast are on the table efficiently and all was well cooked and hot. It would be better bringing your dinner in with you and set your sights on breakfast as the main meal of your stay. less