The Saddleworth is a beautiful hotel in a stunning countryside location. The views are breathtaking and there is a general sense of calm and relaxation.
It is a family run hotel and customer service is excellent with the staff making you feel very at home... once you find the entrance! I walked around for about 5 or 6 minutes until somebody leaned out an upstairs window to direct me to it.
Unfortunately, various elements of the hotel really let it down. At £160 per room, per night (B&B), I would expect quite a luxurious stay, but some elements really make it seem as if it is anything but.
There are no tea and coffee facilities in the rooms. The showers are "push button" which switch off after about 40 seconds, requiring repeated pressing. They also have no temperature control. There is a laundry/ironing facility, for which there is an extra charge - not unusual for a hotel. But the hotel doesn't have irons or ironing boards that can be used in the rooms, if you want to do your own ironing you can only do it in the hotel's laundry room.
Wi-fi is advertised, but it wasn't working at all in the "coach-house" where I was staying. I was told that they had been having problems with it and that it was working intermittently, but my device didn't pick it up at all during my stay. And my device could only locate it in some areas of the main hotel building, but certainly not in the new function room.
We didn't have our dinner in the hotel the night before my friend's wedding, which I was very relieved about because I read in the information book in my room that there was a dress-code for the restaurant. I found this very surprising as the hotel only has 13 rooms, and is not very conveniently located for passing trade. I would have thought they would be trying to make guests feel welcome and comfortable in the dining room. I'm sure if I had decided to eat there, I would have been made to feel welcome and as comfortable as possible, but as I didn't have anything suitable to wear according to the dress code, I couldn't even consider it.
The food served in the hotel was good quality, although there was no real choice for breakfast. If you wanted a cooked breakfast you were given a cooked breakfast. There was no menu to consult or buffet, everybody got the same.
I cannot fault the staff for their customer service, but I feel that you do not get what you pay for with the price charged. I'm planning on staying in another country-house hotel of very similar quality in Ireland soon, and the cost will be approximately 175euro for two nights B&B and one dinner. I feel that the Saddleworth are trying to be a chic city hotel in a country-side location, when really they should be concentrating on being what they are; a family-run country-house hotel with top quality customer service and good quality food and facilities. read more