The Wood Norton

Not sure how long you ll last...

We had a lovely stay and the food was spot on however the staff were a bit useless when it came to using the tills and recording our food choices. First of all we didn t get what we d ordered, then about an hour after we d ordered they said they didn t have one of the mains available, so my partner chose something else and we then got charged for 3 meals plus drinks that we didn t order. Eventually the waiter sorted it out on the system (3 wrong tickets later) the couple next to us had the same problem. When we left the next day our final tab also wasn t correct! In some places you d let I slide however when you re paying this amount of money you expect a better service. It s a good job we checked the ticket before signing and putting it on our tab!

Two night off peak stay at the WOOD NORTON

This is the first time I've ever posted complaints after a hotel stay. This is a bit long but I don't know how I could shorten it. Off Peak Luxury should be aware of where they are sending their clients.

The Wood Norton is a beautiful building with lots of history. Should be a lovely experience staying there. Our room in Pear Tree Mews was quite nice and a good size. Lighting was poor especially in the lobby area where the wardrobe and the case stand were. I had to move my case to the window end to be able to see in it. Also no magnifying mirror for putting on make up. To be fair this is much the same in many hotels. Nothing so far would have given me reason for complaint.

We were a party of 6. One couple were told they were being upgraded into the main building but asked to be moved because the room was so hot and when they asked if they could open a window and turn the heating down they were told they couldn't do either. They were moved into 402 Pear Tree Mews where they found the headboard of the bed hanging off and a large screw sticking out. They reported it but it was never fixed in a 2 day stay. I suspect if it really was an upgrade it was because nobody else wanted the room and that their room in Pear Tree Mews needed maintenance. The second couple were put into a room designed for wheelchair users. They were not consulted, discovered this when they arrived at their room. Sinks low to the ground, wet bathroom, high toilet. They were not told this when they booked and they were not asked when they checked in if this was OK for them. It is not unreasonable to expect that it would be mentioned at check in.

The restaurant was a very hit and miss affair, with meals arriving as and when. Often things missing from the plate. Our second morning breakfast was a farce. Wrong meals things missing. A normal full English was served half a mushroom and half a slice of black pudding which had to be exchanged for something else on your plate. Who serves half a mushroom or half a ring of black pudding?

We asked at the reception if we could use the allowance from our cream tea ( 8 per person) against our dinner on the second evening as one couple in our group were on a deal where they had 2 discounted evening meals against our deal of one dinner discounted and 1 cream tea. Answer came back from we know not where ... No! There was no explanation just that they were not allowed to mix deals. We accepted the decision. Had we known what a shambles it was all going to be we would have argued the point.

At no time did we ever see any management. All the staff were young (the waitress that served us for both evenings was about 17 and doing her A levels and was overrun). Same at breakfast time. There were never enough staff but those that were there worked hard but with no leadership. The bill was presented with service charge already added and a column for Gratuity. We asked what the difference was, she didn't really know but when asked said she received no tips from either service charge or gratuities. I think this practice is illegal. We deleted the service charge from the bill and gave the waitress cash.

When we checked out it was a shambles. Our bills were all wrong. Discounts we were due on our deal very confusing. We had to work it out for ourselves. While we were doing this a gentleman came and said he had asked for a bottle of Prosecco to be waiting for him in his room for when he arrived and there was nothing. He was checking that he wasn't going to be charged for it! that wasn't all but I cannot remember what his other problem was as I was busy trying to sort out our bills.

In all, a shambles and we would never return.

We will think twice about choosing Off Peak Luxury again. We've used Secret Escapes on a number of occasions and have always been pleased. Off Peak Luxury need to do their homework.

Could have been better

We were allocated a room which had been equipped for someone with impaired mobility with out informing us.This was not ideal,especially the bathroom layout and low level wash basin etc.
The restaurant seemed to be poorly organised and at times not adaquately staffed. The cooked breakfast portions were very small (ie half a mushroom!)
When checking out our bill contained some bar and restaurant charges that were not ours. This also happened to two other couples who were staying there at the same time. It took quite a while for them to sort this out, even though all the bar and retaurant chits had the correct nos on them.
All in all a very nice hotel with beautiful grounds,but hotel suffers from badly managed staff. Did not see much evidence of supervision and junior staff were left to cope alone.