I really truly loathe chains, as is well documented in my reviews, but I was so pleasantly…read moresurprised with this place.
Literally a stones throw (even for those less athletically developed) from the train station, it's a reasonable facade, with what appears to be a little parking at the front- your only warning- this is only for loading and carries a pokey allotted slot of something like 20 minutes- you're actually better off parking in their carpark to begin with, as there is a door that avoids the long walk along the corridor and the lift to the majority of the rooms. Sorry if you're in the front rooms and you follow my advice!
The check in desk is large, with friendly staff, and corridors shooting off to stairs and books, bars and lounges with ample seating, ample paintings and big fireplaces.
We were here for the bestie's hen do- the booking process was a bit of a juggle- someone who we initially did things through had moved to another hotel, so we were left with a chap who didn't really get it, and in paying we were left with someone who didn't know what money was being taken, and well, it took around 30 minutes to pay a share, and then be sent a wrong invoice- I was a little worried about how it was all going to go down- but when we got there- there was nothing to worry about.
The cocktail making was fab, a nice setting with green tiled bar, classic but strong cocktails. Slight issue that one of the cocktails was made with strawberries- an ingredient we'd asked to dodge due to the Bride's loathing of them. There was a cocktail making competition at the end- a bit of strange guesswork just having to pick one from the menu.
Straight into afternoon tea- which was lovely, and they did bring out extra sandwiches- which were required really to soak up the sheer amount of alcohol from the cocktails. We were given the space privately, and it was big enough to host our large number.
Things did run over- but that was most likely down to us...
Our rooms were large, clean, and comfortable- nicely themed so they didn't feel like just another chain. (My roommate even had a nice bubble bath the morning after, having a night away from the kids).
They set up our dining room, and left us to decorate it as we pleased, with a time slot beforehand to do so.
They let us take our own wine with reasonable corkage, the bar however was reasonable with friendly staff.
The food was great- a little crowdpleasing, but tasty, and well presented- the only issue I would say is the pastry was too thick- but they did give us a good menu range to choose from in advance.
We had a disco and games etc in the room afterwards, they helped with the changeover- this was fab until they came into the room 45 minutes early and told us we were done and we needed to clear up- it was a bit of a dampener, but we'd had a good night regardless- I think they just didn't want to work much later.
The bar was still open however, so we did have more drinks there too- the bar staff were more accommodating.
The next morning, breakfast was fab, self serve, standard tiny juice glasses, and live music, which was a but odd, but seemed to work.