Jepete
Google
From the outset, I should say that I would give this 3.5 stars if I was able to. It is not an "average" hotel, it is better than that, however my experience, combined with the price I paid, makes me think 3.5 stars is a fair score on this occasion given our experience. I will also say that we are real foodies (the main reason I booked this hotel) , well-travelled and that we have high standards. ||Firstly, the great bits: The hotel is set in a picturesque village in the Forest of Dean. There is plenty of outside seating in the lovely courtyard garden and the hotel interior is cosy and welcoming. The service we encountered throughout our stay was excellent - friendly and pleasant. The breakfast was superb - quality produce, well cooked and beautifully presented. I really enjoyed my fruit salad and eggs Benedict. Parking is available though it can fill up fast due to the popularity of the restaurant. ||We were on a dinner, bed and breakfast tariff over a bank holiday weekend so prices were inflated. I had researched carefully as we only had one night away, and the consistently high scores on this site made me choose this over several other shortlisted boutique hotels. ||Our room (16) was at the back of the hotel overlooking the car park. It was small and unexciting with no bath (I don't know whether I missed this detail on booking but this would have been a deal breaker for me if I had noticed it). The bed was comfortable but the room was stuffy and very hot in the night (not an especially hot time of year - temperatures probably reached low 20s during the day). A fan was in the room so I am guessing this has been said before. The walk in shower looked inviting however when we came to use it in the morning there was absolutely no hot water. This is such a basic requirement for any hotel. They reduced my bill by £20 for the inconvenience of not being able to have a wash... small compensation when spending what we paid for one night's accommodation.||Dinner was a mixed bag. A good wine list and sensibly priced, delicious bread basket and clever amuse bouche. I had scallops to start, served with a rather tasteless slab of butternut squash - didn't really work - and husband had a picture perfect wild garlic panna cotta which he enjoyed. We both had salt cod as a main - a strange combination involving cauliflower, broccoli and bouillabaisse sauce. Puddings were delightfully presented but underwhelming. As already mentioned, service throughout was excellent. |We paid £419 for dinner, bed and breakfast for 1 night and had a supplementary bill of £118 for extras which fell outside of the DB&B allowance. We absolutely did not enjoy the quality of accommodation or food that we had anticipated for such an outlay. |