The Goodwood Hotel — Hotel in Chichester

We stayed at the Goodwood for three nights over October Half-term. We booked directly with the hotel & booked a King Garden room & paid extra to have an additional bed for our daughter. We found the booking easy and although more expensive than a booking site, we felt it was worth doing. We had a call a few days before asking if we would like to book any additional services, spa restaurants etc. We arrived early to use the pool and the facilities were lovely. When time to check-in, no additional bed had been put into the very small king garden room, I think the receptionist could see it wouldn't work so we were shown to a suite which accommodated us better this was an upgrade & we were very grateful for. We booked the Bar & Grill for two nights & had planned to book the Farmer, Butcher Chef for the last evening. When asked if anyone had any food allergies/ intolerance etc I explained that I did but to keep simple if I could just have 2 pieces of fish & vegetable with no artificial anything added I would be fine. I have to say the reception staff could not have been more accommodating, they really went above & beyond to help sort this out. The breakfast at the Farmer Butcher Chef was incredible, they provided me with an excellent alternative. My family indulged in the buffet & cooked the Breakfast was five stars. The breakfast service, staff, everyone were really great, exceptional ! Well done! Which leads on the the evening meal & sadly this then is where the Goodwood is really let down! The Bar & Grill was a disaster despite the reception team personally sorting out food for me it did nit equate in practice, the Bar & Grill is poorly managed with crazy slow service in a very quite dining room. Our waiter was new but great despite this, For someone who absolutely loves food having intolerance is awful and the anxiety I get worrying if the food will be OK is so stressful. Despite the staff assuring me the kitchen knew what was arranged it took three attempts to get food out to me that would not cause me issues serving the same piece of dry fish on two occasions. I ended up eating after everyone else. My dish was really simple it was not hard but they made the whole experience painful. I couldn't have been more disappointed. We still paid in full but I left hugely disappointed. The food my family ate was fine. We did not eat in there again. The management on the night was poor, as mentioned some of the staff were new, our waiter was lovely and for him to have so many issues was tough but he was great in the way he handled it, however we noticed there was not a good staff atmosphere with the team, the female manager seemed to make the new staff very nervous. After this experience we booked Bill's in Chichester the next night and in contrast they could not have been more accommodating the food was excellent, nothing was too much trouble. We then booked the Farmer Butcher Chef for the last evening. I appreciate this is a meat dominant restaurant and the fish or other alternatives not their ethos maybe. But this is the hotels main restaurant so I feel could be better. Once again the staff were great at the restaurant. My husbands food was amazing five stars! So beautifully presented, he had pork, it was a big piece of meat & he thought it was absolutely delicious. My daughters food again was lovely well presented. I'd asked for Cod & Brocoli they served with a brown lemon butter sauce which was delicious, the fish though beautifully cooked was such a crazy small portion about 10cm, a childs portion in my opinion & therefore disappointing. I had expected three times this portion or at least be the same as a meat portion. In conclusion we would stay at the Goodwood again breakfast was definitely the best mealtime. Rooms & bedding so comfortable. Staff were really polite. The restaurant is the reason for our Three...

Not quite what it used to be... 3.5 stars feels fair, but Google wouldn't let me add a half star.

My partner and I have stayed at Goodwood 4/5 times over the last 10 years, and also visited just for dinner at FBC. We have just returned from a 2-night stay, following our wedding reception and sadly, on this occasion, it just wasn't as good as it has been previously - especially for the price!!! We paid £500 on a b&b basis for 2 nights in a king room, booked through booking.com

We checked in late, but had prearranged this directly with the front desk. The chap who checked us in wasn't the friendliest, but it was smooth and he did escort us to our room and take our bags.

The room was well appointed, with iron and board, seating space, large wardrobe. Bed was particularly large and comfortable, but there were no accessible sockets anywhere near the bed. The TV made an awfully annoying buzzing noise when in use and the bathroom was a little lacklustre - the pressure and temperature of the shower were also lacking and tricky to set. Housekeeping came in whilst we were out after our first night, and took away previous towels and only replaced them with 1, so we had no hand towels at all and no 2nd bath towel for guest 2.

Day 1 we ordered breakfast as room service, this arrived on time, was a good temperature and the items on the cooked breakfast were good quality. Just missing little touches, like sugar for coffee, teaspoons and butter for toast. Day 2 breakfast was so much of a disaster, we got up and left after 15 minutes. The restaurant where they serve has nowhere near enough space for the hotel capacity. We were shown to a dirty table outside on the courtyard, by a server who said he'd come back with some cutlery if he could find any and to take our order.... We didn't see him again. Went inside to scope out the continental buffet, 90 mins before end of service and there was nothing left and a huge queue of people waiting. Very frustrating we didn't get to enjoy breakfast for the cost we paid - they definitely need to come up with a better solution for this when the hotel is busy.

Dinner at Farmer, Butcher, Chef was pleasant, but again, not quite what it has been before. Menu was good, nice wine list, staff were friendly, nothing was wrong per se, it just wasn't as good as previous visits.

We also grabbed lunch in the bar and grill on one day, and a couple of drinks in the FBC bar - mediocre and CRAZY expensive. £42 for 2 sandwiches and 2 soft drinks at the bar and grill, and £34 for 2 G&T in the bar!

Housekeeping staff we walked past in the corridors all smiled and said hello as we passed.

A shame it didn't live up to previous visits, won't rush back, as I feel for the money, there are other local offerings which...

We chose Goodwood Hotel expecting a luxury stay and I had hoped to get a swim. On the first night, after a delicious dinner in the restaurant, my husband prepared for bed (twin beds), and discovered that the middle of the bed was wet, as was the sheet, mattress cover, and the duvet cover was damp. |This was approx 10.45pm. Room service was prompt, polite and very apologetic, a change of rooms was offered which, with hindsight, we should have accepted but we are no spring chickens and were ready for bed. As the bedding was removed, not only was the mattress wet but also the divan base, with a very central wet pool. I should have taken a photo! The entire bed and bedding were exchanged for another bed and the room to be deep cleaned the following day. |The following morning, we spoke to Reception and requested a change of rooms. They had heard of the events of the night before, now called ‘an issue’. I expected that there might have been some offer of compensation for a very unpleasant and unhygienic experience but no, just many apologies and a small box of chocolates from housekeeping, who had not noticed a very wet bed and didn’t know how that had happened.|Not until check out, did we negotiate, eventually, a small compensation for our ‘issue’. It was disappointing that it took so long for some sort of acknowledgment, other than an apology, from the staff of a large, luxury hotel. And actually, that’s the only reason that I am writing this review. |The following night, there were a few noisy guests and late that Friday evening, there was a very loud knock on the door. Thinking that it must be an emergency, I opened the door to see a young man, who said ‘ wrong room’! |Pros; delightful staff, especially in the restaurant with a good but fairly pricey dinner menu, and excellent breakfasts.|Comfortable beds, eventually. |Cons: no walk-in showers, only overhead showers in the bath, with two grab rails. Could do with an extra grab rail, for added safety. I did know this before we booked and we had tried climbing into the bath...