The Metropole is our local restaurant and eatery. We also had a year membership to the Spa. The Metropole has so much missed opportunity and it is a shame. I am writing this review as a local resident in hope that the new owners will be looking at how to make this institution better than it currently is. Our most recent experience was to book for some food after work. Can we book before 6pm for food? No. Can we book a specific table? No. Can we eat food in the covered veranda where you can eat during the day? No. Can we get friendly or approachable staff behind the bar? No. They really miss a trick here. We were booked for a lunch for out of town friends coming in to the town for a visit and after our most recent visit we cancelled. This place is the most impersonal and most unfriendly place I have ever visited. I don't really want to take friends and family to this place to be ignored and get fairly average food. The evening restaurant is lovely - the food is great and the staff (who seem nervous and pretty uninformed) are as helpful as they can but need much more training and investment. The staff at the Spa are nice and friendly and the Spa is a lovely space but for the money you would think you could get some help with the gym and how to train. The brasserie only serves food at particular times and absolutely not any other time. How they miss out on trade not doing some brunch/breakfasts or post work stuff - 6pm is pretty late and we just gave up and went home. The bar/brasserie staff are cold and unfriendly, despite whatever efforts we have made over the time we have lived here. You cannot engage in any conversation without the chilliest of response, unlike the friendly and helpful young women on reception. My advice would be to run small bites outside of the very rigid food serving times; train your brasserie staff in customer service; train your restaurant staff in the areas they are clearly underconfident in and turn down or change the dreadful piped music in the brasserie; let people book tables of choice and stop being so impersonal. We are local and would take all our friends, family and occasions to you but we are swiftly changing our minds due to the above reasons. I really hope the new owners bring about some change. read more

Excellent venue Excellent service Excellent food Highly recomended. read more

Nice enough hotel. I suppose in its day it was the place to be seen in. It has seen better days, most of the hotel is decorated to a good standard but some of it really needs new wallpaper & paint. The new parts of the hotel such as the downstairs ballrooms are excellent, fresh & newish with modern decor. For the clientele that I think they want to attract, they miss the mark. It feels like it should attract people with a bit of disposable money who want an independent hotel experience but it tends to attract people who would feel more at ease having curly fries & a burger in any WetherStones pub. Well, that was in the main bar/communal areas. Next time I visit there, I shall bring my Polish translation pocketbook as that's what the majority of the staff speak. read more