The Spread Eagle Hotel & Spa — Hotel in Chichester

My partner and I had not had a chance to get away since long before even the first lockdown, so after seeing the HSHotels online, my boyfriend and I decided on The Spread Eagle after seeing that they had a great verity for vegetarians and vegans. Unfortunately that was a mistake. I truly think, in the nicest way possible, they should scrap their vegan menu altogether, none of the food was up to scratch especially for the price. The arancini balls were so dry they were difficult to eat (even the lady serving us agreed it was dry after sticking her finger in the food at our table) and my beetroot pasta was store brought pasta with what tasted like beetroot juice from a jar poured over. For the price and level expected from this hotel, totally unacceptable.

To add to our disappointment at The Spread Eagle the service was slow and disorganised. At one point after someone saw us walk in and ok us to sit in the court yard, I then went back in to order drinks, after waiting at the bar for 10mins I gave up and had to order at reception, to then wait another 10 or so minutes again for our drinks to finally arrive. (This was again repeated the following evening but we actually waited longer).

At breakfast, I asked for avocado on toast, I then received warm bread with half an avocado sitting on top, meanwhile my partner had an English breakfast, his toast forgotten and after we reminded them the toast was then brought out long after he had finished his breakfast. Meanwhile we were sitting in a breakfast room around four dirty tables.

I appreciate that they mentioned they were under staffed, as people had called in sick, but to then add service charge to our bill was surprising. Especially as I noticed we were not the only people getting frustrated with the lack of service over these few days. I heard the reception staff mention to another unhappy customer that the added service charge was a “new thing” they are trying out, it seemed strange to add this on during a time you know the service isn’t up to scratch.

Word of mouth is an important thing that I believe The Spread Eagle and other hotels should take into account. You have great reviews online but as I have discussed my stay with numerous people now, I have found out I’m by far the only person that has been let down by your teams service or lack there of, short staffed or not.

The only redeeming factor was the spa and spa treatments, the rest was an embarrassment. Unfortunately there were even more issues we had but I’ve written enough and my advice is to not go for the food or the service. But again, maybe the spa treatments and if you have the time to wait, maybe a...

The hotel itself was lovely, as was the spa. The spa is pretty small though, when we arrived we went in and there was nowhere to sit and it felt like everyone was watching each other to see when they might be able to use the jacuzzi, sauna and steam room (the sauna for example could only fit max 3 people in). But in the morning it was pretty much empty and really pleasurable to relax. I also had a massage at the spa, which was a really good and thoroughly relaxing

Now the bad... One of the main reasons we booked to come here was that they offered a vegan menu for dinner. But dinner was about as far from good as you can get. Service felt very hectic. I ordered soup for starter, but after 2 waiters had come to replace my knife and fork with a soup spoon I was told that it wasn't available. Never mind, I changed my starter to the fennel salad, which turned out to be delicious.

We were then left waiting 30 mins+ for our main, which only arrived after we chased up with a waiter. What arrived at the table 10 minutes later turned out to be the single worst dish I've ever been served anywhere. I'd ordered crispy tofu, which was floppy and completely unseasoned. Served with what seemed like leftovers from Christmas dinner - stale and tasteless brussels, carrots and chestnuts. I only ate a few mouthfuls, and that's almost unheard of for me. My wife's meal of mushroom macaroni also didn't look great - one of the most anaemic looking dishes I've ever seen - and her comment of "it's a bit disappointing to come out to eat something worse than you'd cook for yourself at home" is hardly a ringing endorsement. Really disappointing, if you're going to offer a vegan menu then at least make some sort of effort.

I did mention to one of the waiters that the food was pretty bad and he was apologetic but I got the distinct feeling that my comment wasn't passed on anywhere. I also replied to the hotel's feedback form with all this information along with my contact details but never heard anything back.

In short, it's a nice place to stay and very homely but I'd very much not recommend the food unfortunately (although the...

My wife and I had a fantastic spa break at the Spread Eagle. The hotel just popped up on Google whilst looking for a spa hotel and we're really glad it did! Set in the middle of beautiful Midhurst, the town and hotel have so much history it's almost daunting. The staff are so friendly and efficient. I made an error when booking online and a quick call to the hotel (late evening) and it was quickly rectified with a confirmation email following immediately. We arrived early and were invited to use the spa until our room was ready. Instead we had a little explore of the lovely town and got an email when our room was ready. We spent a couple of hours before dinner in the spa. The pool is just the right temperature, the steam room really efficient and the jacuzzi beautifully invigorating. Unfortunately the sauna was out of order.

We mentioned prior to arrival that we were celebrating our wedding anniversary. We were delighted to find that we received a room upgrade and a complimentary drink in the bar! The room itself was as far away from a cookie cutter 'Travelodge' style as you can get! A huge four poster bed (with a step to get on!), dark wood panelling and uneven floors. I'm currently writing this lying on the bed waiting for our room service breakfast. Although the dining room looks lovely, there was a wedding here yesterday and it'll probably be really busy. We decided to take advantage of the offer to have breakfast in our room (more romantic anyway!)

All in all, a great stay in a great location.

One final mention for the amazing warmth, efficiency and friendliness of all the staff - thank you very much and we'll...