Mellington Hall Country House Hotel — Hotel in Great Britain

The description of Mellington Hall sounds impressive, the web photos made it look impressive, the room rate suggested it must surely be impressive. Sadly it’s not. The building at first sight is indeed impressive but closer inspection reveals it to be tired. The presence of a large static caravan site behind the building made alarm bells ring very loudly. In reality this is little more than a glorified club house for a caravan park. The restaurant was a room with a few tables and a menu which would be put to shame by most pubs. The breakfast room was a breat deal more impressive and the breakfasts were pretty decent. ||||My room was large and comfortable but looked over the car park to the caravans. ||||Most disappointing of all was that after dinner we retired with half a glass of wine to the lobby which doubles as a lounge. No sooner had we emptied our glasses than the friendly waitress told us she was about to switch all the lights off bar a couple of table lamps where we were sitting, as the staff we all going home - this was 9.15. We ordered a couple of night caps only to be told the bar had closed at 9 o’clock. A pity we hadn’t been told.||||It was so farcical we weren’t angry. Fawlty Towers lives we thought. For nearly £200 a night we got to eat dry average food and sit in the dark with empty glasses - this during the August peak. Things became even more farcical when at 10 o’clock somebody tried to get in through the front door - which was locked. A face appeared at the window. We let him in. It was a tourist from Spain who had, so he told us, let the hotel know he would be arriving late. The message must have got through as a room key had been left out on the reception. Our new European friend could, of course, not get anything to eat or drink. Like all those in adversity we bonded, chatted and laughed - but we were embarrassed that he had such a poor and expensive experience.||||The trouble is that the marketing for Mellington Hall gives the firm impression it is a quality establishment reinforced by the high room rates. The reality is it isn’t. During our mid Wales tour we stayed in two pubs at half the price and twice the quality with much, much better service. We mentioned all this to the chap on reception the next morning. He wasn’t interested. He just told us they always close the bar at 9 o’clock. ||||Would we go again? - no ||Could we...

I have been coming to this beautiful place for 55 years and, although it has changed much over the years it is still beautiful and so relaxing. Always a warm welcome at the touring park, facilities clean and the grounds so well maintained, the beauty of this place as a child was the freedom we had and all the bushes and trees to make dens, treehouses, play hide and seek, it was truly magical. Sad to see this weekend that the small wood that, as children, we used to call the ghost walk, had now been cut down. I would imagine there is a very good reason for this, when we came a few weeks ago, some of the trees were falling down and being held up by each other, but still sad nonetheless. The lake is now lovely after all the hard work, as children we could hardly see it through the trees and it has now been opened up with swans, geese and I am sure herons. We didn’t have a meal in the hall on this occasion but from past experiences thoroughly recommend the afternoon tea and meals with excellent food and service from polite friendly staff. All the woodland walks are lovely and, although it is different from years ago, it is still a perfect haven of peace and we feel so lucky to have this wonderful place...

We booked Mellington Hall on a whim through a booking site for a last minute stay with my sister and her children, we didn't really know much about it. We felt as if we found an absolute hidden gem. When travelling with the children some places can feel stuffy and like they are not welcome, but from the moment we arrived the staff went above and beyond to make our stay memorable. Not only for the adults but for the 4 and 8 year old too. Afternoon tea was so good, and the children's afternoon teas were a wonderful touch. One of the children fell asleep at the time of our dinner booking and they brought our meals up to the room which we thought was just incredible (you wouldn't get that in a chain!). One of the things that we all loved was that the food was locally sourced and obviously home made - in a very good way. We stayed in a family suite and the room really did feel like staying in a manor house with sweeping views out of a huge gothic window. The kids thought we were staying in castle. Breakfast was brilliant and again the children were catered for with kindness. Thank you to all the staff. We loved it so much we have booked to return...