Kilworth House Hotel — Hotel in Harborough

We recently got married at Kilworth House in September 2024 and it was the best day of our lives. It is hard to express both how beautiful the hotel and its surrounding grounds are, and how amazing every single member of staff were - their genuine care and attention meant the day went flawlessly and neither my husband or I needed to do anything on the day except enjoy it. Natalie was our wedding coordinator and (I should mention that we planned our entire wedding in 6 months) throughout, Natalie was always available and replied to any questions we had quickly. She always had everything under control and remembered previous discussions. We know she is organising many weddings and working with lots of couples at any one time, but we always felt a priority, special and important. Natalie helped us to feel relaxed and enjoy the planning progress. She also helpfully (and kindly) reminded us of any upcoming deadlines as we went along, which was much appreciated when trying to hold everything in mind. When we arrived the day before the wedding, Natalie was there to run over any last minute details and then encouraged us to go and enjoy our included beauty treatments (including full body massages!) whilst she sorted everything. This was the perfect start to our day and set us up to enjoy the whole weekend. On the day of our wedding, Natalie came to both of us early to check in and reassure that everything was handled and was on hand for anything as the day progressed. Milly ran our wedding day from a front of house perspective, and kept everything running smoothly. She was so incredibly kind and did her job so well we honestly didn't think about anything on the day except celebrating with friends and family. In fact, all the staff were so incredibly lovely and made us feel as though we were the only wedding they have had and will ever have there. We had our ceremony, wedding breakfast, and party in the orangery and it was beautiful, the natural light and painted glass were stunning and our photos have come out so incredibly. The grounds were also amazing and very well maintained. We also felt that whilst the house remains in keeping with the era of which it was built, it is well maintained and does not feel neglected, run down, or shabby. The attention to detail with the maintenance is amazing. We also had use of all bedrooms on the night of the wedding which meant we could use the cellar bar for an afterparty. Every guest commented on how beautiful, large and luxurious every bedroom felt. We stayed in the Marlowe and it was perfect waking up there married! The food for both the wedding breakfast and the dinner buffet were stunning. We had 112 guests and somehow quality was maintained on every single dish. Kilworth were incredibly flexible with the menu, and created two desserts for us specially! They also created an evening buffet menu specifically for us, as we opted for a Gyrus bar. This too was stunning and just what everyone needed to keep the party going! We have had so many comments and messages about the quality of the food and just how special the day was in general.

We hope to have remembered to mention everything, but are sure there is lots we have missed. It truly was the most special and incredible day and we cannot thank all of the staff at Kilworth for making this so. Natalie you really were fabulous, thank you again. We will definitely be visiting again and hope to come for a night on our...

KILWORTH HOUSE REVIEW – 15th December 2012

Our family today visited Kilworth House for my brother Philip’s 52nd birthday. The party of 9 was booked in for 12:30pm in the “Wordsworth Room” owing to their being a Christmas Event on in the Orangery.

On arrival we were shown to the lounge where we waited for the rest of the party to join us for pre-dinner drinks. We ordered a selection of drinkswhich included a bottle of white and red wine with 5 glasses. The waitress came along and placed the drinks on the table along with two bottles of wine and the five glasses. Unusually for Kilworth the bottles were left on the table with their screw caps on. We waited for a few minutes to see if they would be opened and the wine poured but it didn’t happen. Not a major problem, so we poured it ourselves but not the normal standard of this hotel, which has always, prided itself on efficient high quality service. Definitely not five star, more Chef & Brewer!

On to the meal ordering, my daughter has only recently been diagnosed with IBS so is dairy intolerant, but still a food lover. We ordered our food and she enquired of the Head Waiter in the Wordsworth if the salmon dish was dairy free, so he went to find out. On his return he said that it was not so she asked if she could have the smoked salmon on its own to which he sternly replied, “No”. No explanation was given but the attitude again was not becoming of this establishment. I personally went to the reception desk to complain and we were finally told that it was in the form of a terrine. Why not tell us that in the first place, again more of the Chef & Brewer style service.

To the dinner table we went carrying our two bottles of wine with us!! What is going on here?

When at the table the food was beautiful and fitting of the establishment but yet again the service let it down. My son asked for Ice Cream for dessert and then enquired about what flavours they had, to which the waitress replied, “I don’t know”. Why did she not say, “I will find out”? Once again less than satisfactory of a hotel which has never shown this type of attitude in any of our previous visits.

Now these issues are not on a scale to ruin our afternoon but everyone noticed the service was not up to standard, why? Perhaps the Hotel is getting complacent and it is getting carried away with all the great reviews it has? One thing is for certain the service standard today was 3 out of 10, definitely not 5 star service!

I love the place and will return but I will not put up...

We chose Kilworth as our wedding venue and we couldn't be happier - it was absolutely magical, a DREAM dream venue! Natalie, our main venue contact, was SO professional and always there to support us during our wedding planning process. We were worried that we would be stressed on the day without a wedding planner, but we really did not have to be worried at all, because Kilworth staff executed it so well and we just got to genuinely enjoy the whole day! Special shout out to Mehmet who was just such a joy our whole wedding from start to finish, and always there for us eg when we needed to practice our dance at midnight the night before the wedding, print the speeches, take home cake the day after, etc - everything! We had guests coming from all over the world, so it was wonderful to have a place that was exclusive to us with 40 rooms our guests could stay in. And one of the best things was that the party could go on until past 4am because they had a cellar bar open downstairs after midnight, which is a rarity in wedding venues (meaning our wedding in total lasted 16 hours! Followed by a breakfast the morning after). EVERYONE told us how beautiful our venue was, and Kilworth did literally take our breath away every time we went to visit. We were able to seamlessly move between different outdoor and indoor spaces, and there were enough rooms that we could have a separate kids room, photobooth room with projected pictures, evening buffet room, main orangery etc. And we had a very solid plan B for our garden games and drinks reception in case of rain that really reassured us! We also got 4 hours of (much needed) free spa treatments the day before, including massages, nails, etc, and we were able to book the Shakespeare for our family dinner the night before, which was a wonderful 3 course meal. All in all - Kilworth had everything we could ever have wanted - and more! We are so grateful to have gotten married here and are looking forward to coming back in our future anniversaries. Thank you so much :) We...