The Wood Norton

Disappointing

When I booked this short break I advised that we were both vegetarian and that my husband disliked mushrooms and goats cheese. This was confirmed at check in. However the first evening there were two vegetarian options, for starters, one being goats cheese, but only one main choice. The chef couldn't provide an alternative choice and the menu remained the same for the following evening.
We have stayed in lots of hotels and have never been told by the chef that they couldn't offer an alternative, we were very disappointed.
I spoke to staff next morning and was given the email address of the manager. My email was responded to by a young lady who assured me that we would be catered for. Our second dinner was a much better experience.
Breakfast was OK, with a vegetarian and vegan option.
The hotel staff were lovely.

A beautiful hotel with a very amateur approach to customer service

The Hotel was in a beautiful setting with clean and pleasant rooms.
However, the Hotel fell well short of a similar standard with regard to customer service.
Here is a list of some of the shortcomings.
There were no blankets available to replace a duvet.
The dining room was very cold both nights and this was not rectified despite requests.
The barman did not stay behind the bar during the pre-prandial period, but was found on his mobile phone talking to reception on a number of occasions with guests waiting at the bar to be served.
The dining room staff were all very young and inexperienced and had clearly received inadequate or more likely no training about how to wait properly at table.
A more senior member of staff argued with me that I had definitely ordered a red wine he brought when he agreed that I had ordered a Chardonnay.
To be honest, it all felt akin to Faulty Towers, but without Basil!

Could have been fantastic

Stunning building and beautifully renovated and furnished. Our rooms were gorgeous in the main building- large, quality furnishings, fittings and linen. Really clean and very comfortable. Garden has been improved since our last visit. Nicely planted and maintained. Very pretty.
A couple of issues spoiled what should have been an excellent 21st treat for our daughter and niece.
The first was the pre dinner drinks situation. We d been warned on arrival by the really friendly and helpful receptionist that the bar would be busy for an hour but that the were other lounge rooms that would be available at this time for a pre dinner drink. We chose to come down a little later so they would be gone. They weren t, the noise level was unbearable and the wedding guests were in every room, leaving no space for residents. The other issue was the temperature. It was bitterly cold everywhere, including the dining room. All of the guests were commenting on this. Our daughter and niece fetched sweatshirts to put over their dresses. None of the fires were lit in any of the rooms despite the cold weather outside and a member of staff told us she was freezing too. They appeared unable to do anything about this.
The next problem was the dining room. It s a beautiful panelled room but the tables/presentation lacks any opulence - no tablecloths- really basically laid, felt like cafe/refectory and not a quality restaurant and not modern enough to pull of a minimalist industrial look. The menus were printed on cheap paper and were dirty having obviously been used several times before. There was only one vegetarian option and when we asked whether the chef could offer anything else we were told a flat no - no sorry etc. The girls serving were young, pleasant and trying to be helpful but lacked skill/experience eg, couldn t find our name and said she didn t know what to do, we had to ask each time we needed something, she brought one main course out at a time but hadn t cleared anything from the table first so there was nowhere to put them. Needed reminding several times for each thing we d asked for,eg would bring drink but no glass, we were never asked if we wanted a drink, pudding etc. Such as shame as the meals were beautifully presented and pleasant.
We returned to the bar/ lounge for a drink but it was still freezing and so like the other guests we spoke with, we quickly returned to our lovely warm rooms.
Breakfast was great and although the main waitress was super busy, she was pleasant, professional and efficient as was the receptionist when we checked out.
As one wedding party was leaving, the next was arriving. It s perhaps this that the hotel was unable to cope with and balance with needs of general residents. Such a shame and a wasted opportunity.