Grafton Manor — Hotel in Bromsgrove

I really wanted to give 5 stars if only for the venue.

A few things:

We were promised in the help of the setup on the day, but the person was on holiday.  The general manager arrived at about 3 pm, but we’d done by then.  There was a young chap about who I had to seek for some assistance.  I was introduced to the manager sometime later and this helped.

Upon arrival the details were incorrect in that it said pay on checkout, but the rooms had already been paid for, and a relative nearly got charged the wrong rate.

We had the “Garden Suite”, which was just in the right place for accessing the marquee.

None of the TV’s worked in either the main lounge (no signal), blamed on the weather.  The other room, the TV socket on the back of the TV was broken, and, therefore, could not be plugged into the TV.

The water wouldn’t run away in the shower fast enough, and nearly overflowed.  Reported it to the manager, and took our key and would sort it out later.  He returned the key and said all should be well.  Next morning the same problem, and I reported it again on checking out.  I was a bit surprised that there was only one key to the room, namely, ours

I don’t think the pictures of the room really show things properly.  They all needed more TLC.  We told before booking that some rooms weren’t available as they were having a refurb.  I think that they should have started with the main ones they display.

The bar area out side of the marquee was looked after by a young lady who chatted and did a splendid job.

It was difficult to keep trying the find the barman sometimes in the evening.  The manager came out to help during the party.  I decided not have a tab, and it would have been difficult for them, and in the end, I decided that the contactless option was best.

I had to get a huge TV, on a stand, removed from the entrance to the ladies’ toilet.

The heating of the marquee was just right.

The buffet was plenty for 50 people, although I did wonder at the beginning, but I needn’t have worried, and some had to be cleared away.

At breakfast the person serving didn’t know that our breakfast was included. She didn’t always have an eye for detail, when the orange juice had run out.  She walked by it several times.  The inclusive breakfast includes the usual cereal, tea, toast, etc., and the cooked items was to choose four items from the list.  I chose: Fried egg, bacon, sausage, and mushrooms, and I got: Two fried eggs, one rasher of bacon, one thin sausage, a few overcooked mushrooms.   I did get an extra pot of tea.  My children were in separate rooms, and I asked their breakfast to be added to my room, as they chose items were extra: Egg Royal (should be served on a muffin, but they were out of muffins) and smoked salmon and poached eggs.  Others (three) wanted toast and four small pieces were present for them.  There was no offer of preserves.  In fact, at my earlier breakfast, I had to request marmalade.

At the end of the evening, the general manager allowed us (residents) to have a final drink at the bar.  He kindly covered three other drinks ordered by my niece’s partner.

Hire of marquee: £350. Three rooms at: £95 per room Buffet: 50 x £15.50 Total: £1410

Would I book again?  Perhaps not as the rooms need a lot more doing to them.  Plus, I found some inexperienced staff, and lacking in numbers.  See...

A hotel 🏫 found in an; incredible, well maintained, cared for, lots of original features preserved, historical building.

I visited Grafton Manor Hotel whilst on business. (My usual hotel had no rooms, so I had to look outside my normal search area, and by luck 🍀I came across the Grafton Manor).

On entry to the hotel I was met by a very polite gentleman 🧑‍💼 who ran through the usual paperwork and timings. I had booked the double room named The Talbot. I was shown the dinner 🍽️ menu and immediately booked a table, it looked good with varied options.

Ascending the first flight of stairs you are met with a huge window overlooking the garden 🏡. You go up another small flight of stairs and meet the hallway, plastered with historic memorabilia/paintings, photos and what appeared to be an original Royal Standard of the United Kingdom flag usually used in Scotland.

On entering the room, I was blown away by the size of the room, it's not usual to have such room and it really did feel homely albeit the decor is nothing like what I have in my home. I felt really comfortable. In the room we're coffee and tea making facilities, a pack of biscuits (I love a pack of biscuits in my room! Especially in winter ☃️❄️!) A TV, couch, table and chairs etc. In the bathroom 🛁🚿 were some complimentary toiletries and towels etc. The bed 🛏️ was extremely comfy and needless to say, I slept very well.

The room was immaculately clean 🫧 and when you consider the vast size, has to be commended.

I went for a walk around the grounds. The small chapel is accessible if you speak to reception. Another lovely feature of this property.

On to dinner in the restaurant and I had a lovely Burger 🍔 and a meringue and strawberry 🍓🤤 desert, it was very yummy 😋 and I cleaned both plates.

The breakfast menu 🌄 had plenty of options, and included continental, cereal, fresh fruit 🍑 and yogurts. I had poched eggs 🥚🍳 on toast and it was really nice, cooked to perfection IMO.

I genuinely feel I found a little gem 💎 here and hope to return again when I'm in the area. The value £99 including breakfast and considering all the above, was fantastic.

Thanks for hosting and looking after me during my stay.

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We attended a wedding here yesturday and stopped over night as the wedding evening went on till late. We booked in with Darren at 7.30pm after the wedding reception and paid cash, but no receipt was given to us. We paid in front of 3 other guests who paid by card and received a receipt...when we booked out after breakfast, we were called back and asked to pay, we explained we had, but no receipt was given to us...The lady asked whom, we had paid and we said Darren, in cash £125.00. The lady said he hadn't put it on the computer...We were called back in front of the Wedding party and other guests and made to look like we hadn't paid, this was very humiliating and caused us embarrassment!! We have stopped at some high class hotels and never experienced this before...The hotel was clean, but very tired and dated. The breakfast was nice, but no clean tables to sit at and we had to ask for cutlery and a napkin each, after eating cereal erc these dishes/plates wasn't taken away and so we had a cluttered table, Wedding reception and evening was brilliant tho. Unfortunately on this occasion we wasn't happy to be called back to be asked to pay again, We won't...