Definitely 2 thumbs up (Mrs G and myself)!…read more My 4 star rating is based on the whole experience- and what an experience! A truly wonderful long weekend (3 night stay). The food (both dinner and breakfast) was definitely good, not Michelin star by any means (they are preparing meals for hundreds at the same times after all! - but good and plentiful with many choices and options. Breakfast from full English to Continental and more. Dinner involves 3 courses, good and friendly service with many choices including a different roast every day, a different themed cuisine every day (E.g. Asian etc) and specials (look just above the desserts on the daily menu). The rooms are clean and roomy enough, service is good, but it must be about time to bring in new mattresses please!). The building itself, inside and out, and the history is MAGNIFICENT. And then the entertainment every night - a LOT of fun and John-Philip was amazing. We have never (by choice) been on a cruise but this must be a somewhat similar experience for a quick getaway with things to do all day long (and evening til after midnight) The food, both dinners and breakfast was both plentiful, varied and pretty good. Service was very good. Our first visit to a Warner Hotel. Will we be back to another - YES!

As a building this place is fantastic. You really do feel as though you are staying in a place…read moresteeped in history. Hotel rooms, in the main, are typically Warners - a step up from a Travel Lodge but not much more. A couple of historic rooms are available (including a haunted one!) with a little more character. Breaks here are half-board and you'll find yourself sitting on an allocated table in a huge restaurant. Service here can be buffet or a la carte at your pleasure. Food is OK, a notch above school catering but a long way from fine dining. Leisure facilities are good. The majority of guests will be retired, and a long-time retired at that. Evening entertainment is provided and ranges from acceptable to quite good. It's easy listening in the main. Themed breaks happen throughout the year ranging from entertainment breaks through to sporting or arty breaks. A small additional charge will apply. This place used to be good to use as a base for travelling. Unfortunately, increases in prices have made other options more attractive. Warners are trying to lower their target market but this is not really yet evidenced. No children

The visit to the Vineyard for my birthday meal had a slightly strange timing, coming as it did on…read moreApril Fools' Day and not on my birthday! It did make me feel a bit like the queen, having 2 birthdays! The Vineyard had been on my foodie radar for awhile, from the days of chef John Campbell who held 2 Michelin stars here. So, when I started dating my girlfriend who lives in Newbury, she organised to take me here for a celebration dinner. The hotel and restaurant is definitely a dress up sort of venue and walking past the bowls of flames on the outdoor pond and through the automatic front doors made it feel like a special occasion. The whole place has light coloured decor with modern accents, which removes the air of over-bearing starchiness that can pervade some fine dining venues. We elected to have drinks while perusing the menu and 2 glasses of freshly squeezed orange juice were accompanied by some moreish canapes - large mild Ligurian olives, salted almonds and some savoury straws. Chef Daniel Galmiche has his hand on the tiller in the kitchen these days. He is described on the Vineyard's website as the king of contemporary French cooking, which are a big pair of shoes to fill. A lovely touch came at the end of the evening when he came round the dining room to meet the diners and have a short chat. He gave us a tip on how best to eat our dessert course. The menu has 4 choices in each of the starter, main course and dessert sections. It covers both meat and seafood and perhaps a couple more choices in each section would have been nice. After making our choice of food and wine, we were shown to our table. I have to say that the service from what seemed to be an exclusively French brigade was top-notch and very smooth and unobtrusive throughout the evening. We had an amuse-bouche of goat's cheese straw with beetroot tagliatelli and avocado mousse. A good idea with balance of flavours but the cheese straw proved hard to break down into small enough pieces to complement the beetroot. My starter of scallops in an oriental broth yielded top class sweet scallops cooked to perfection but the oriental accents were perhaps a little muted for my palate - however, with scallops this good, the accents were perhaps missed less. My girlfriend's starter of foie gras terrine was lovely and rich but the portion size was quite large - I helped to polish the dish off. For mains, I had Balmoral Estate venison fillet cooked to medium rare perfection accompanied by my favourite ingredient in the world - seared foie gras. Top notch ingredients cooked perfectly accompanied by salsifi, butternut squash and quince to help cut through the richness. The girlfriend had a plate of veal - slow cooked rack, braised shin and sweetbread. Again, well cooked but quite a large portion size. This meant that we had to share a pudding, both being unable to manage a whole one on our own. The girlfriend chose well - blackcurrant souffle with licorice ice cream.Chef Galmiche's tip was true - to get the full effect of the flavour combination, you had to eat the souffle and ice cream in the same mouthful. The souffle was really intensely flavoured with blackcurrant. I also have to make mention of the pianist who entertained us through the evening. He was very friendly, giving me the name of a piece he was playing that I particularly enjoyed and taking requests. We had a lovely evening here - great ambiance and venue for a celebration or date. The food is good and with a little tweaking of choice and portion size, it could be great.

Absolutely amazing…read more We stayed here for a weekend for a Valentines Day treat. The hotel was lovely, the spa very relaxing, but the best reason to come here would be the food. In fact, you could just skip the whole hotel thing so long as you can sucker someone in to driving home (or get a taxi). The friendly maitre d' greets you enthusiastically upon arrival and summons the discreet and charming sommelier. With a name like The Vineyard, you know to expect wine, but the reams of paper that contain the wine menu are just breathtaking. Every nuance of taste and knowledge are catered for, or you can merely leave your choices in the capable hands of the sommelier, who, with a discreet wink to how much you intend on spending, will guide you through the perfect accompaniments to your chosen dishes. Then comes the restaurant. You are led into a delicate tiered room bedecked with a baby grand and a talented pianist to add to the atmosphere. Outside, flames burn around the central courtyard fountain, echoing the soft glow of the intimate lighting inside. The menu is astonishing and should come laminated to prevent the odd Pavlovian accident. Even the most decisive of people can find themselves giddy at what to order. There is of course a tasting menu to reassure you, should the vital decision elude you. But whatever you pick, the rapturous praise you will bestow upon what you receive will be the same. This is gastronomy. This is the reason the French can no longer justifiably sniff at English cuisine. And I went there when it only had one Michelin star. Since my visit, another has been awarded, and the praise has more than doubled. As for cost, who the hell cares? When the food is this good, you just pay the bill and worry about your knees at a later date.

Love this spot. Especially if you walk here through the surrounding countryside. It is in the small…read morevillage of Inkpen, and has a great farm shop attached, which is open and strange hours. Great decor and is a cosy, idiosyncratic pub.

great food, great beer, friendly service, 2 nice open fires…read more The rooms are very clean as well as the toilets in the bar. Andy, the cowman is a character. He makes us laugh a lot.

The little gem of Donnington…read more I have been staying here on business for a few weeks having stayed at some competitors' hotels in the local area and cannot recommend the Donnington enough. The service is always friendly yet efficient and the staff are more than happy to help with any queries or niggles I have during my stay. Rooms are split into two tiers; standard and executive (executive rooms being larger with a sofa, walk-in shower and separate bath, and robes/slippers included). Room service food is superb and always delivered promptly even during busy periods. Free Wi-Fi is available throughout the hotel. The bar area is great and the staff are friendly and attentive. The decor provides a warm, intimate and relaxing atmosphere and is great for winding down in the evening. Breakfast in the restaurant in the mornings is superb and well worth the money. The cooked breakfast is particularly tasty and features meat from local farms. The spa and gym facilities are where the hotel really shines. The pool, Jacuzzi, sauna and steam room are not to be missed (quiet times in the week are from around 7pm). The changing room/shower facilities are well thought out and provide ventilated lockers, trunk/swimming costume drying, shower gel, shampoo/conditioner, hair straighteners and driers.

Stayed here on a business trip. Fairly standard hotel near Newbury in the South of England…read more Facilities for the meeting were very good. Staff were friendly and attentive. Rooms were clean and the price was reasonable.

Honestly one of the worst service experiences I've had. Went for lunch and no one came to ask us…read morefor our order for 15 mins after we had sat down. Went to the bar and asked if we could order there, they told us no and someone would come by. We waited so long we went to put our coats on and leave and suddenly someone finally came over. His badge said he was the "duty manager". Finally ordered and the sandwiches came out. They were fine, standard pub fare. My mum ordered a cup of earl grey tea. They didn't bring milk and when she asked for some the same manager was shouting at the top of his voice so everyone could hear how "unusual" it is to add milk. Who cares? No need to embarrass her. Used to come here all the time and won't be back. Heard many others around us have similar issues.

I have stayed here several times after a night out in Newbury. Its a simple, no frills, standard…read moretravelodge. Good points are comfy bed, duvet not blanket, hot showers/clean towels/body wash, front door is open all night. Bad points, no hairdryers, no lift, 5 mins drive out of town. My top tip is to insist on a room at the back so you dont get the noise of the lorries on the motorway, you can park round the back too, if you can book early then you can get a good deal maybe £20 a night, otherwise its £50, make sure you have about £15 for a cab home from Newbury Town centre, oh and bring your own hairdryer.

Do you like beige? Yes? Then this is the hotel for you…read more Everything about this place is mediocre; the functionally bland rooms with their tiny en-suites, the price, the food, the location, the frustratingly slow wifi and the colour scheme. Beigeness. And that's not even a real word. The website description starts with the excitement inducing sentence: 'This welcoming hotel is less than 5-minutes drive from junction 15 of the M4 and 2 miles from central Swindon.' QED. Incidentally, waiting 90 minutes for room service is not pleasant. I actually gnawed part of my arm off due to the hunger. No doubt the restaurant was busy and it's near Christmas and blah blah blah. On the plus side the staff are nice enough and very helpful. In addition, there is a swimming pool, sauna, Jacuzzi and gym for all your fitness needs. Oh, it's also close to a steam museum... So, if you're the sort of person who likes to stay in cheap, clean and vapid environments for a night, don your M&S khaki trousers and drive your Toyota Corolla down the M4 for a fun-filled yawn-fest. This place achieves in providing you with everything you need but nothing you really want.

This is an excellent hotel contrary to the snide review made in 2014.. The staff are excellent, the…read morefood is good and there is a gym, pool and sauna included. The rooms are clean and en-suite, some are a little small but perfectly acceptable. Prices reflect demand so mid week they are high due to business usage. Weekends are very reasonable. so if you want comfort, good food and recently modernised surroundings that is what you will get.

We stayed here for a couple of nights, with a B&B package, and ate in the restaurant on the first…read morenight (though the food is the same throughout the pub). The building dates back to the 1600s, but was refurbished in 1745, when the attractive classical portico was added at the front. The interior is therefore as you'd expect: lots of wood everywhere, heavy ceiling beams, and the 40+ rooms are scattered across a first floor which is all odd angles and narrow passageways. The bar downstairs is spacious and on several levels. Our room was a superior double, and it was spacious and well equipped: a lobby area had a large wardrobe (containing the iron, ironing board and hairdryer), and the room itself had a superking-sized bed, with a sofa bed, two lounge chairs, desk and bedside tables. The bed was very comfortable and the radiators heated the room really quickly. The bathroom had a bath with a shower above: great for baths (lashings of hot water filled the long tub really quickly) but the shower pressure was not very good, so you had to stand under it or use it hand-held. The floorboards were also really squeaky - a facet of being an old building, but it would irritate some people. Overall the room was comfortable; the furniture was a little tired, but it suited our purposes. Breakfast consisted of a buffet (a limited selection of cereals and breads, and the coffee is filter only) with various cooked options to order. On the first day, we both had the full cooked breakfast (mine vegetarian). These were okay, except mine did not have the vegetarian sausages advertised on the menu (they didn't have any). The second day we went for smoked salmon and scrambled egg on toast, and smashed avocado and poached eggs on sourdough toast, and these were much better. On the first evening, we ate in the restaurant, with starters of deep fried mushrooms, mushroom & truffle soup, and burgers as a main course. The food was perfectly good pub grub, and very good value for money, with two courses with drinks at £25 a head. The hotel has ample parking in a car park behind - you just have to give your registration number to reception on arrival - and also very good Wi-Fi. We found the staff to be very friendly and helpful throughout our stay. Overall, we thought it was very good value for money, and we would happily stay again.

Nice little hotel above the pub and great location, right in the centre of the high street. My…read moreparents usually stay here for our family reunions and so we've eaten here a few times and they always have good traditional pup options.

I had my wedding reception in Penny Square Barn. What an amazing venue this was for a wedding…read morereception. The barn is owned by the fabulous farmer Bruno and Gill, such wonderful people! I stayed with Bruno and Gill for B&B and one of my fondest memories is having a bottle of vino and a gas with Gill in the kitchen. Honestly Batcombe is just a fantastic place with some amazing friendly, interesting people. Bruno had just put in toilets when we got married here which was fantastic and the barn had not been used all winter so we had a lot of cleaning up to do. Its no frills but it makes it for economic sense as a wedding venue if you have the vision and want to get married in a glorious location. The main barn itself is gorgeously rustic, just put some dichroic floods as a backdrop and it becomes wonderfully atmospheric. We had a friend climb around like a monkey and do an amazing job on lighting and hung long swathes of black fabric over the not so pretty metal door entrance to the barn. In the smaller barn annex we also hung fabric to disguise the galvanised roof. We were able to have a fire going outside and allowed to have fireworks (before 10pm of course) and a flamethrowing fire engine. The villagers were just fantastic and welcoming and Bruno was an absolute star! Not only was he a bell-ringer, but he ran the bar at the village hall and made sure we had enough fuel to run the genny for the weekend. Barn does get cold at night so its worth renting a couple of space heaters. We got a TENS from Mendip council and ran our own bar which was fab. This is a beautiful quiet village so its not the spot to pound music late into the night as noise does carry but its a perfect venue for an event such as a wedding in the summer.