Ashling Park Estate — Local services in Chichester

We were incredibly disappointed with our experience here, the headline is that while my husband was using the shower in the lodge we were staying in it flew off with force and hit him in the forehead. I’ve included a picture of the shower after. We mentioned this to the staff and owner when we checked out and the reaction/service was frankly appalling given he was hurt and could have been very seriously injured. The team asked us to spend time explaining what happened, made numerous excuses, referred us to the builders but did nothing to apologize or even check if he was ok - he had to ask for Ibuprofen and wasn’t offered any other assistance. Someone actually said it was “above their pay grade” to deal with this.

The rest of the experience was decidedly mediocre - a few examples listed: at breakfast the first day there wasn’t coffee as the waitress hadn’t been trained on the coffee machine.

Breakfast in general on both days was underwhelming - on the second day they gave us enough food for 1 person despite the fact that we were 3 and with no consideration of dietary items. We asked for extra items but only half arrived.

We arrived just as the kitchen was closing on a Sunday and the team made little effort to notify us that they were closing or to help us find another place to eat. The repeated response was “it’s unfortunate it’s Sunday”.

There were no extra keys and we had to share one set. It also meant that there was no housekeeping as we’d have had to leave the key with the team.

No one was able to provide recommendations of local restaurants or walks.

The lodge was incredibly hot and stuffy with only 2 small fans and we couldn’t leave the windows and doors open because there was a huge number of flies (no traps or anything like that provided).

The area is beautiful and we found some lovely things to do but because we spent a lot of our time doing research and not because the staff were helpful. Next time we’ll be staying somewhere else.

Update: As a courtesy I shared this review with the management team before and posting and was accused...

Six of us were booked in for Sunday lunch at 2pm. We sat down promptly and within 2 minutes were asked if we were ready to order our food….despite not having food menus. We ordered a bottle of Ashling blanc de blancs and 2 beers. We were brought food menus and we all made up our minds quite quickly. After about half an hour we tried to catch someone’s eye to order but….no joy. The Restaurant Manager, we presume, was chatting to one or two tables but he never acknowledged our table of 6. We were getting anxious and finally managed to get a young man’s attention and asked him if we could order. This was about an hour after arriving. Of the 4 main courses to choose from, 2 of us chose the pork. A good 20/30 minutes later a young lady approached out table, we thought to say our food was just coming. Sadly not. She came to tell us that there was no more pork and offered the two of us either the beef, or venison which….did not appear on the menu. We chose one beef and one venison to replace the pork. After sitting at the table for an hour and a half we were eventually served our mains. All this time the Restaurant Manager never acknowledged our table. No-one apologised for the delay. The food, mains and desserts, were adequate but not overwhelming. We paid our bill without question but when we were home we were astounded that the two of us who had originally chosen pork at £19 were charged £21 for the beef and £25 for the meagre venison! Several of us were in catering for many years, before retirement, and found the lack of attention extremely disappointing and the fact that we were charged extra for the pork dishes replacements astounding. We were offered the beef and venison as replacements for the pork! We know that this restaurant is a fairly new venture but it needs someone with “people” experience to tend to the needs of...

We stayed for two nights in Fall which is one of the 1 bedroom lodges. We loved the accommodation - very comfortable with fabulous views from the decking, and they are cleverly designed to give privacy. The only downside was the shower was handheld over the bath which was awkward to use, and the soaps and shampoos were actually in quite a difficult place to get to if you were having a bath but these were very minor issues. We had dinner in the restaurant on the first night which overall was absolutely delicious. One of the starters was a bit bland, but the main course of lamb was outstanding, with only a small quibble to be a bit more generous on the veg! The puddings were also fabulous. Both the sparkling rose and white wines made by the vineyard were also excellent. Service was friendly, efficient, and attentive. The best bit is that you can also take your dog to the restaurant with you and ours was given a lot of fuss and a water bowl - lovely. On the Sunday having declined the roast lunch as we knew we were going to be out all day, we took up one of the staff's suggestions that we have a hamper delivered to our room for supper - this was roast beef sandwiches, and scrumptious roast potatoes which we warmed up in the microwave in our lodge after a day out on the beach at East Head. Delicious and such a good idea. We will definitely stay again - it is not cheap, but for the quality and setting, it...