The Redwell Country Inn - Rooms, Food & Bar — Hotel in Lancaster

Abysmal service. Stay away!

We visited this restaurant for our grandparents/parents 40th wedding anniversary. Although the place looked impressive and the food was good (but nothing special), the service was absolutely appalling, in particular the manager.

Instead of just writing a log review, I will just bullet point some of the things that were wrong with the service we received: Champagne that was paid for in advance and requested to be on table was not when we were lead to table from bar. When we asked for it one waitress said “sorry, we are under staffed”. The managers response was “we didn’t want it to be warm” when we complained but it only needs to be one the table for a minute before you come and see us to our seats! Food took an age to come. The managers response was “we told you you should have pre-ordered food” but there were only 8 of us, it really is standard al a carte. On top of this we had to wait a long time in between courses too. By the time the main had come, we had already ordered extra bottles of wine. There were no stake knifes on table when food came, had to wait for them to come after food was delivered. By the time someone came to table to ask if everything was ok, two people had already finished (not to sound ignorant, but this may be because some of the portions were a bit on the small side. A main mean should be a good size when you are only having two or three courses) We had to remind them to bring coffees and a Baileys at end of the meal after waiting for over ten minutes after ordering. We then waited a further 10 minutes for them to forget the Baileys again.

On top of these, there were quite a few other little hick-up that I won’t go in to, but I think you get the point.

The killer reason though that has made me right this review was the managers attitude. During the meal he actually seemed quite friendly, but when I approached him to talk about the service we had received, he turned.

He became extremely defensive and on top of the comments I mentioned above, the thing that really shocked me was when he turned around and said “have you come out for a good time, or just for a good moan”. I could not believe that any person working in a customer service orientated industry would ever come out with this line. I have no idea how he ended up with a managers job at a restaurant like this, but he really needs to learn how to; one, manage his staff, and two, how to deal with a customer who has a complaint. Going on the defensive is the worst possible way to resolve a complaint, intact, it makes it 1000 times worse.

We will never be visiting again, nor will will we be recommending it anyone unless we hear that it has changed hands. It is a shame really as the food isn't bad, and it has a nice atmosphere, but when you are paying these prices, service...

We've eaten at the Red Well for breakfast on numerous occasions and previously this would have been a 5 star as the food is always fantastic however yesterday was my first visit since I was properly diagnosed with food intolerance (specifically egg and yeast). I ordered a full English and explained I couldn't have egg and noticed they had sourdough toast as an option on its own and asked if I could have this with the breakfast as I can't eat regular bread. I could but at an additional charge (I think it was £4). It's not so much the extra charge although there was no option to add something instead of the two eggs I wasn't able to have but more the way the waitress made me feel. I don't want to be one of those people but, believe me, I would love to just order and eat everything but I unfortunately can't. She made me feel like I was a total inconvenience, just not very pleasant at all. She may just have been having a bad day but don't take it out on your customers. We will be back as the food is great and we only live 10 minutes away, but it's definitely put me off...

Recently visited for two nights when doing training walks in the area. When we arrived, there was a mix up with our room and it wasn't prepared. This took a while to sort out and we sat in the bar whilst it was.|David, the lovely manager, came to explain in some detail what had happened and said that dinner was on the house as a result. Very kind and more than generous compensation for an error that wasn't even their fault.|The room was lovely, small but well appointed and very clean. Great biscuits and plenty of tea and coffee. Bathroom was nice and with decent toiletries.|Dinner was great on both nights as, despite thinking we'd eat elsewhere on the second night, chose to eat there on both nights because it was so good.|Breakfast was also very good. Lovely to see it so busy on both mornings.|Shout out to the lovely, chatty cleaner who gave me a couple of bags for our wet clothes from a soggy walk on the first day. You're doing a great job.|Overall, a really great stay and would recommend to anyone visiting this beautiful part...