The Cromwell Lodge — Restaurant in Cherwell District

This is a venerable old place, but it is badly in need of modernisation, everything about it from the car park through the garden and to, and including the reception, needs redecorating and sorting out; I felt so sorry for the guy in reception as it was a diabolical mess of old screens, old wiring, old furniture and shelving etc, and the company that owns the place should be ashamed to even present it as the first place of entry into the hotel itself. It seemed to me that this old place was being held up and only still functioning by the goodwill and immense efforts of the very pleasant and well-meaning staff. We stayed only for one night, and stayed in room 23. It is quite a hike to get to room 23, not only a hike but a bit of an obstacle course to get there too, as the low doorways and ceilings on the way had to be carefully negotiated. On opening the door you see a marvellous ancient beamed room with a sloping ceiling because you are really in the roof space, but then while walking about the room you soon realise that these beams are a bit of a hazard to say the least! It went the same way with the bathroom but perhaps just a little more hazardous than I would have liked, especially with those little journeys during the night. Two steps down through a very low doorway with beams at head-height either side and more beams to bounce your head off when actually in the bathroom, all very pleasing on the eye but very hazardous to one's head no matter how hard it might be! The bath itself was one of those groovy-looking, stand-alone baths that incorporated a hand-held shower attachment, but there was no shower curtain nor non-slip mat in the bath. To shower I had to kneel else I would have flooded the bathroom and possibly killed myself by slipping in the bath. OK, enough said on that score. The bed was really very comfortable, and I slept very well indeed, ably assisted by a small electric fan that I discovered in the wardrobe, and the TV itself was modern and worked well. As I said at the beginning, the staff worked hard and well, and strove to make me feel welcome, and I did sleep well, however, It is too old, too much in need of redecorating and updating for me to...

Really poor experience here. Stayed for one night on a weekend. We paid over £100 for a room that was incredibly basic and in desperate need of an update and refresh. The cost didn't get close to representing the state of the room which had such poor lighting, it felt like staying in a cave.

Because it was the festive season our room opened immediately onto a marquee in the courtyard which was stacked with tables and chairs and seemed to be used as a dumping ground for furniture in preparation for Christmas parties. There were also what seemed like weeks worth of cigarette butts immediately outside our room door.

We arrived for breakfast before 1000 and ended up leaving 40 min later when our meals still hadn't arrived (breakfast finished at 1030). The couple next to us had the same problem. When we asked where our breakfast was, we were told that "we normally stop serving at 1030, but I'll see what I can do". Tables weren't cleared after guests had left. The coffee served in the thermos flasks was probably the most rank-tasting instant coffee I've ever had!

Whilst waiting 40 min for breakfast to not arrive, we had to listen to one member of staff telling off another member as they sat in the open bar doing their administrative work, next to the breakfast room. The same member of staff was constantly complaining if anyone came to her table, saying she wanted to be left alone to work. The idea of leaving and going somewhere private, away from guests, didn't seem to cross their mind.

The staff, whilst friendly, seem to move through the hotel without any degree of urgency or professionalism. Most seem to not recognise the simple things that experienced hotel staff would see straight away.

If I owned this hotel, I would be very worried. The management is shocking and this appears to be a hotel in rapid decline.

I travel extensively in the UK and abroad and this is one of the worst hotels I've stayed in for quite some time.

*Edit - shortly after my departure, the hotel staff reached out to me to discuss a refund. This was done proactively by them. Whilst it doesn't change the content of my review, it shows a positive attitude toward trying to resolve issues and was...

This was our first visit to this hotel, Because I was travelling with my partner who is wheelchair reliant we had to enter the hotel from the back, This is accessed via a small service road to the right of the hotel with a slight incline this road also leads to the car park. There is a small ramp which leads to the hotel garden, which has various wooden picnic style tables and forms the smoking solution. The pathway leading to the hotel reception is formed of crazy paving and not ideal for a wheelchair but we managed. Check in is painless and quick there is also a facility to store luggage should you need to. After picking up our key we made our way to our room located on the ground floor outside of the main complex adjacent to a large marquee which the hotel uses for functions. The room although basic was clean and the bathroom was nice consisting of loo, sink, and shower cubicle. The bed was comfortable and the television was a good size, also in the room was an iron, ironing board, fan, heater, kettle, and two mugs. There was complimentary tea coffee and hot chocolate with sugar and milk (improvement more tea bags coffee and sugar please) also another improvement could be mini fridge and pint of milk instead of the cartons. The bedside lamps were nice but could do with extra AC socket by bedside cabinet|Time for Dinner... Dinner was lovely very filling and the service was fantastic... We booked Room Dinner and Breakfast so we had a complimentary drink with our Evening meal...I had another pint, which although nice was a tad expensive....We decided to go out after Dinner returning very late/early morning we experienced no issues. After about 3 hours sleep it was time for breakfast...We both had full English absolutely lovely and our waiter the young chap was polite...As we booked Room Dinner and Breakfast we could have also had continental breakfast with our full English but we were full so decided not to. I had a coffee and my partner had a pot of tea also very enjoyable... Time to check out...I left our key in the letter box at reception and we left to begin our return home...All in all an enjoyable stay...Staff friendly, hotel clean, and price...