Lympstone Manor Hotel Restaurant & Vineyard - Relais & Chateaux

First time we have had afternoon tea here and it was wonderful. The sunshine helped but the food, tea and service were wonderful. The cakes were incredibly fine and delicious and the scones were light and crumbly - just the way they should be.

We recently had lunch at Lympstone Manor when they were offering a special lunchtime deal. This place is beautiful, the setting is idyllic and we were very well looked after on arrival. After some drinks and canapés, we were taken to our table and shortly given our appetiser. Then nothing happened for 45 minutes, we watched tables around us being served ahead of us, and were confused what was happening. Because it’s such a posh restaurant and there was so many staff, we figured they must know that we were waiting so we left it longer than usual to point out that we hadn’t even had starters. By the time they arrived we had been sat there for an hour and after a 90 minute drive to the restaurant we were starting to run out of things to talk about, and were generally feeling awkward about the delay. We’d also eaten two bread rolls eat because we had been waiting so long and we’re very hungry which then really took the edge of our appetite for the main event. The food was all very nice and the rest of it came in a timely manner afterwe’d complained. The waiter did remove our soft drinks from the bill, (approximately £10) and offered to remove the service charge, but we declined that offer. I wouldn’t have written a negative review if it was just this instance, but the time before that, when we visited in April 2024, we were saying in one of the shepherds huts, and went for dinner at the new poolside restaurant. Again, we waited a fair amount of time for our starters, and when our main courses came, they were wrong so had to be sent back. When they returned with our food, our steak was half the size of the original overcooked one, the chips still had truffle on, which we’d asked to not be added, and our mushroom is missing. We ate this meal though. as it was getting late. In the end they didn’t charge us for a meal, but it was our anniversary and we had gone and stayed there as a special treat & especially to enjoy delicious food, and so had been left very disappointed and unsatisfied. I was expecting them to invite us back for dinner at a reduced rate or a complimentary meal, but they didn’t. And then again visiting this week I was left disappointed by what is a Michelin star restaurant. Maybe we have just been unlucky.

Everything about Lympstone Manager is excellent. The property and grounds are spectacular and the view is to die for. We had afternoon tea on our first visit and then attended the Celebration of Speed in July. Nothing bad to say. If you want a lovely meal in a pristine but not pretentious setting, this is for you.

We ate in the Pool Bar on a fiercely hot day. There were lots of little things wrong, and many right. Here are the highlights: the food was amazingly good, but we waited more than an hour even to get a piece of bread to chew on, we were well past hungry and rather jaded by the time the food actually arrived. Some of the staff were good, one of them untrained and had really filthy trousers. My wife said that if she had known, she would have left. They didn't manage the heat well and the diners had to open and close doors themselves.

Everything was perfect from the moment we stepped out of the car. The staff are very friendly and attentive, our garden room was so comfortable and loved the small details such as the fruit and biscuits. We stayed for 2 nights and ate in the poolside restaurant which has great views and Jamie the waiter was wonderful. The next evening the 7 course Estuary menu was out of this world will definitely be back

Stayed in shepherd huts, ate dinner in pool house restaurant and breakfast in main house. Lovely stay, enjoyed by all, BUT the food and service for coeliac is very poor. Have fared significantly better at package holiday hotels abroad! A real disappointment.