Barnett Hill Hotel

The service was excellent. Mr Lajos looked after me with the highest professionalism, and i am looking forward to returning with my team The food was amasing and the coffee was exactly as I like it, the grounds and walks make this venue the perfect location for a break or a conference

I booked this hotel in February via SpaSeekers as a birthday present for my wife arranging for an overnight stay, evening meal etc for 7th May with a spa treatment included. Per SpaSeeker instructions I rang in advance on 24th March to confirm which spa treatment (we both opted for massage) and evening meal time. All smoothly confirmed over the phone, massages at 5pm, evening meal 7pm. On arrival on 7th May at 2pm we asked if we could have the massages a bit earlier. Just as well because we were then told we had not booked any spa treatment and it was not included. Quickly resolved it was included when I showed the voucher but was then informed we had not confirmed the treatment, it was not booked and so there was no one there to give the treatment as they don't have the staff for this on site, they are called in from elsewhere. The receptionist was not then particularly helpful. A 2nd women sitting further back behind a computer started calling across to her colleague telling her there was no booking. We were then told we could still have our bed & breakfast & evening meal though! I asked what good was that and then it was suggested they might be able to get someone in to do the treatments at 10am the next day. I walked away and called SpaSeekers who were very helpful and called the hotel directly. SpaSeekers came back shortly to say the hotel acknowledged they had a note against my booking for 24th March confirming everything but it had been missed and not processed. We took SpaSeekers option to cancel, take full refund and went home. So, a surprise birthday present for my wife turned in to a complete disaster. Read other reviews on this hotel and think carefully before booking. They seem to be either very good or get it completely wrong as they did for us. We won't take that gamble and will never come back.

The Duty manager Lajos made sure our wedding ran incredibly smoothly despite numerous last minute requests. We had a fantastic day and no request went unanswered. I can’t express how happy we were with the venue, staff and overall experience. The rooms were great and it was easy to check in and out and the grounds were absolutely stunning. Thank you very much to all staff and thank you so much Lajos for all the work you put in on our behalf.

Pros Coordinator – our wedding coordinator was brilliant from the start; Liz was great in communicating, understanding our needs and providing flexibility and attention to detail to planning. Liz made sure we were consulted every step of the way, was quick at getting back to us, made us feel like everything was in hand and taken care of. The final details were handled well and Liz ensured the team was fully briefed for the big day. Team - the staff did a fantastic job setting up the venue. We provided certain decorations ourselves and the staff did a great job decorating to exact requirements. The operations manager, Lajos, was our coordinator on the day. We were very impressed with him. Lajos was at the venue late the night before and present for the entire wedding day. He checked in on us at every step, without overwhelming us and really made the day flow smoothly and stress free. Everyone knew their roles, the day was well orchestrated and if there were issues on the day, we didn’t know about it. Very happy with Lajos and the team. Hotel – the rooms were beautifully made, especially the honeymoon suite that overlooks the rear of the hotel and the gardens. It made the day even more special. The hotel grounds were immaculate and every guest commended on how beautiful the grounds were. Food – the taster menu was arranged 6-8 weeks prior to the wedding. We made suggestions to the menu and were happy with how the food came out on the wedding day. The canapés, wedding breakfast and evening buffet were delicious, beautifully presented, and the breakfast the following day was superb. Cons Dance Floor - the room allocated to evening dancing, is required to have a proper dance floor, roughly £600. No other venue we visited required a dance floor. Overall, we were given the best possible wedding day.

After staying at other hotels within the Alexander group and experience brilliant service, delicious meals, beautiful hotel rooms, we decided that we would try Barnett Hill unfortunately this was a total disaster. Check in was OK even though our room was small it was comfortable and functional; however the hot water was just above lukewarm so if you were someone who likes a hot bath you would be disappointed. We went down for dinner at 6:45pm, we were given a dinner menu that had very limited choices (only 4 main dishes) however we both chose the lamb but unfortunately even though it was only 6:45 PM it was no longer available. We couldn't find anything else to eat on the menu but we were tied in as we were on a dinner bed and breakfast rate. The waiter suggested that we order from the bar menu and he bought us the menu over and we eventually managed to find something to eat. However as we had now chosen from the bar menu we were no longer allowed to sit in the restaurant even though we had been sat there for 15 minutes. We had to move to the room next door even though they could of bought the food through to us, we now had to sit in a noisy bar at a small table in the corner. We then waited 40 minutes to be told by the waiter that there was a problem in the kitchen, and it was going to be at least another 15 minutes for our starters. At no point did the waiter offer us a drink or some nibbles to compensate for the extra time we were expected to wait. It actually took an hour for the starters to arrive thankfully we only had to wait half an hour for our main course. Food was edible, typical bar food, definitely not the culinary experience we were hoping for on our night away. Just before we left the restaurant the waiter explained to us the hotel was severely understaffed, and they had a real problem taking on and keeping staff because the hotel was quite remote. The next morning we went down to breakfast at 9:30am only to stand around and wait, nobody came to see us to a table we went to reception and asked if they could find us a table to be told that there's a buffet and go and help yourself to food and then you can go and find somewhere to sit down, I said no that's not acceptable, I said I'd like somebody to seat us to a table before we go and choose. A breakfast buffet is a pet hate and we would avoid any hotel that has one so much so that I always check prior to making a booking and this time was not exception. When I called the hotel to ask if they had a buffet for breakfast I was told it’s a cooked breakfast to order just like at Great Fosters the only difference being the chef. So not only did they mislead us but when we arrived for breakfast at 9.30am and the buffet didn't close till 10:00am there was no bread there was little milk there was half a small jar of fresh fruit that somebody had helped themselves to and then left the rest, one or two pastries the only egg option was scrambled eggs which hardly looked appetis

Excellent service for our conference, one of the team delivered a fresh decaf coffee for each of our breaks after he found out I can't have caffeine. Grounds were beautiful and so peaceful for a morning walk before the conference began. Thanks