The Chapter House — Hotel in Great Britain

My wife and I had the opportunity to come to The Charter House on the recommendation of my in-laws. I am an ex-Zimbabwean therefore the idea of having some african food tickled my tastebuds.

We booked our table at 8pm on a weekday and arrived to a comfortably half full restaurant. Almost immediately we were greeted by a waiter and shown to our table.

Service: From the beginning we were treated as important. We were given plenty of time to discuss what we wanted as well as look at the menu (an important distinction from many other restaurants), and when the waiter came along to let us order, he only took our drinks. I am fairly certain that he would have taken our food order had we wanted but he seemed to note that we had not chosen yet. However, and this is important to note, he did not react in a way that made us feel rushed.

We were served by two or three staff, all of whom made us feel welcome. I wanted to know where the toilet was at one point and the waiter who answered really made me feel like a guest and told me the directions with a smile.

Menu: There is plenty on the menu to whet the appetite of many a South African or UK born person. I had the biltong to start and the half rack of ribs as a main. The amount of biltong was generous given the price but I was a little confused by it just being in a bowl full of rocket. That being said, actually eating the mean with the rocket seemed to work. The ribs were excellent value and I do not exaggerate when I say the bone came clean away from the meat. They provided a bowl for the bones and a hot lemon water bowl to clean my hands. The amount of ribs was a surprise as given past experiences, the half rack that was placed before me would easily be considered a full rack in many other restaurants. The taste as well as the tenderness was excellent, and brought back many memories of home. My wife had the Prawn Cocktail and the Chicken and Bacon Burger with halloumi and sweet potatoes. Both portions looked very tasty and were; and the portion sizes were generous. We both finished with a Sticky Toffee Pudding to share and it was divine.

Price: Given the amount of food supplied, the taste and price associated with it, I would say that this restaurant provides excellent value for money. The taste for all courses tested was excellent and the quality of presentation as well as food seemed excellent.

Ambience: The whole area inside the restaurant almost begs to be looked at, from the chandelier of old style bulbs and bottle bulbs to the wooden beams across the ceiling and the gates with wine bottles behind. It was about 50% full but even though we were placed along with many other patrons, it was never loud enough to make us have to speak louder. By the same token, we felt that our space was private. The waiters were attentive, understanding, knowledgeable and pleasant.

Conclusion / TL;DR:

If you are a South African or Ex SA, you will want to visit this restaurant. If you are UK based or just want to try some South African food, it won't cover everything but it will give you a really good taste of what South African cuisine can offer. A really good experience and a great example of a restaurant.

Rooms: I cannot comment on the rooms as I did not sample them on this occasion.

Disabled access: I cannot confirm if disabled access is present as there was a step to get into the main door. There was a corridor leading to the main restaurant to likely prevent loss of warm air, but one of the doors was kept open. There was space for a standard wheelchair as far as I could tell but if you were on your own you may need assistance from the staff. However, given the experience we had with the staff I would expect them to assist with...

Booking was simple and made directly with the hotel over the telephone for one of their ‘Executive Rooms’ including Breakfast’. Note; this reservation was guaranteed with a valid card and they have a 48-hour cancellation policy.||The Hotel itself was easy to find, however it has no dedicated parking, due to their city location. They recommend using the nearest at Brown Street Car Park (SP1 2DQ). The hotel does have Council issued parking permits available at reception, these are £8 per 24 hours (be careful with these scratch card permits to ensure you enter the correct details)! Alternatively, there are park and ride schemes available in and around the city.||Check in was friendly and comprehensive (including assistance completing the parking permits), and we were introduced to the various aspects available to guests, such as the bar, restaurant, etc. on the way to the room. Service throughout our stay was knowledgeable and staff were welcoming, helpful, friendly and professional to the point a minor repair was completed within 2 hours of being reported with no inconvenience to ourselves.||The room was large, warm, clean, nicely furnished, had a super king bed, open fireplace (not lit) and overlooked the Cathedral grounds across the road, whilst the adjoining small bathroom was complete with shower, sink and toilet. Water temperature during our stay fluctuated (nothing excessive) due to the ‘ancient’ pipework in the 16th century historic building. Normal facilities are available (tea, coffee, milk, bottled water, etc) and there is free Wi-Fi available throughout the hotel that operated, during our stay, at a somewhat weak strength at times. ||The downstairs bar area had comfortably stylish and relaxed, where you could get a full menu meal or snack. The bar had local beers available, along with cider and a comprehensive wine list, a good selection of spirits, especially gins, and some classic cocktails for the more adventurous.||Breakfast was taken in the restaurant and included pastries, fruit compotes, fresh fruit and juices along with a small variety of cooked to order options (the latter are ordered the night before).||The Hotel room prices are within today’s boutique hotel middle range of what we would have expected. All in all, an enjoyable getaway and one I have no hesitation in...

An amazing very large room. Frankly there was nothing lacking from: great bed, great bed linen, huge room, nespresso machine, hairdryer, iron, ironing board. And there was atmosphere in abundance with a paneled room and old mullioned window and fireplace - just beautiful. And the hotel was not expensive for the prestation. Excellent location for visiting Salisbury on foot.|The breakfast was delicious, cooked to order and just excellent. |Just a couple of little things could have improved our stay: being charged for an espresso at breakfast is really a bit mean; we checked in at 7pm at 8h30 we came down for dinner, but would have had to wait an hour for dinner! I don’t expect to not be able to eat dinner in an hotel where I am staying. Why weren’t we invited at check-in to reserve a table or warned there would be none available until very late? Or even nudged at booking to book a table?|And lastly the web site told us there was no car park but a permit was available for a local car park. I dropped off my husband and luggage at the hotel and collected the permit as instructed and proceeded to the car park very close by. Chaos! The small car park is in 2 parts that have to be accessed from two different roads off a one way system. So having not found a space in one half I had to drive round the block to get to the other half.still no space. Each alley of cars was a dead end so if you didn’t find a space you had to do a 9 point turn in the dark. After 40 mins I was still trying to find a space and was near to tears with the frustration of it all. The hotel were too busy to pick up the phone or assist my husband in finding an alternative. Eventually I had a space because my husband came out, found a couple about to depart and requested that they stay in the space until he could find me and get me to drive to the space.|Besides all that we loved the place and hope to...