Down Hall Hotel, Spa & Estate

Not as good as expected

Wouldn't go if I knew it's a pets allowed hotel. Lots of dogs all over the place, in bedrooms, on the sofas, eating on the same table as other guests were . I like dogs very much myself but it was too much for me. Some staff very professional others totally the opposite.

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My wife and I booked a "feature" room for two nights just to get away for a bit of a break. We had fairly modest expectations - it's a big hotel which appears focused on weddings and corporate events so we were aware that it wouldn't necessarily be as personal as other smaller hotels, but we liked the look of it and my wife fancied a couple of treatments in the Spa.

All in al, we had a great time and were well looked after but the theme for us was one of a very near miss throughout our stay. Everything was sooo nearly perfect but just managed to miss the mark - EXCEPT, I hasten to add, the room and the food in the restaurant, both of which were absolutely perfect! The room (102) was spacious, clean, relaxing, beautifully decorated and furnished, with a big comfortable bed, good shower room. My only comment would be the lack of a proper coffee machine which I would expect in a room like this - there was a kettle and sachets of coffee but not the real thing.

And the food in the restaurant - cor blimey, as they say. It was sublime, utterly delicious, a proper treat on both nights that we ate there. Impossible to fault. My wife is vegetarian and she was impressed that the options available were different to the usual sort of fare as well. We loved it and would potentially go back to this hotel simply for the room and the food.

But then comes the but - it's not a big but, but it is a but. As I mentioned earlier, there were too many near misses that left us just fractionally disappointed. On arrival, there was only one person on the check in desk, for example, and the customer ahead of us was struggling with their reservation, meaning we had to wait a good ten minutes before being attended to. We had afternoon tea on day two - Halloween was the day before but the Halloween decorations were still up in the room which was not what we were after. Why not spend ten minutes taking them down? And the room in which tea was served was very musty smelling, they had tried to cover it up with air fresheners but there is clearly a bit of a damp problem! Tea, however, was EXCELLENT and we loved it, but like I said, it's the little things that matter!

We had breakfast in bed on day too as well - such a treat, but it arrived missing various elements (like butter and jam for the croissants, for example?!) and when we called room service to rectify the problem, they brought butter, jam and another round of pancakes which we hadn't ordered. Not complaining, just odd...!

The list of minor issues goes on but you get the idea. We loved our stay, please don't get me wrong, and we would probably go back but I feel the hotel just needs to tighten up a bit on the fine detail. The staff were, on the whole, great and did their very best (a few more smiles wouldn't go amiss) and the set up as a whole is wonderful - hugely impressive, if just a fraction frayed around the edges.

Would I recommend it to family and friends - yes, I would, but I would be sure to book a "feature" room and if you are expecting perfection then this won't be quite right for you. A very near miss, but a rather wonderful one!

Doing their best

It is possibly not fair to assess a place in time of Covid. The staff, somewhat paired down I imagine, did their best under very difficult circumstances and made us feel welcome. The Spa was not in operation, one of the chief draws to Down Hall.

The room was comfortable, clean and well maintained but no bottled water in the room? One would expect that in a hotel of Down Hall standard.

The breakfast and dinner were OK. Nothing wrong but a very limited choice and of average quality. We ended up choosing the Bar Menu which gave more variety and was much tastier than the limited Set Menu.

The grounds are delightful and well maintained.

I imagine Down Hall gets most of its business from Conferences and large Weddings, both not happening now. The stall are doing their best and were helpful though the wait to be seated and for orders could be very long indeed. Too few staff to mount such an operation but I think the Management are trying to keep going until times improve. Some nights a Service Charge was added to the Dinner bill other times it wasn't. All very haphazard.

So if you want a Spa, gourmet food and very prompt service then don't go to Down Hall at the moment. However for a relaxing break with pleasant surroundings and a staff doing their best under very difficult circumstances and at the good rate offered by Off-peak luxury, it's probably worth a couple of days