The Old Manse — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Title - good food with a side of attitude

We stayed at this hotel and dined with them for a dinner and a breakfast. Let’s start with that first as I fear it’s the only positive thing, both meals were very nice and the drinks were good too minus the merlot which had obviously been open for a while as did not taste as it should. Generally majority of staff were pleasant enough.

We would’ve mentioned the drink at the bar and happily got it replaced but we got approached by a member of staff before we could whilst trying to enjoy our evening away, about the complains we had for the room which we stayed in of which she did in front of other customers and members of staff which was grossly inappropriate and unprofessional.

The issues with the room which I made them aware of were leaking window which made my handbag soaking wet shower was either burning hot or freezing cold a bit of a pot luck dirty and dusty in the bathroom wallpaper hanging off the walls stains up the walls snug and fireplace as advertised but we’re not open snug door was open so we went to explore and I got told off as it was closed even though the door was wide open in the day but when I went to see if the fireplace was working or even in there as I didn’t remember the lady had a go at me.

I am still awaiting to hear back from the hotel as the barrage of accusation and rudeness from the lady made me so upset as she’d ruined our evening by being this way with us as customers so I didn’t want to continue the conversation as it was very unproductive. We told her this many times before she eventually got the hint.

We finished our drinks and went outside before we were going to bed as we were done with the evening after that experience bare in mind we had had a fab evening at the Italian restaurant just local to the hotel. She then later followed us and started talking again about the situation which we asked her to leave alone as she was being abrupt and argumentative so I walked past her and ignored her as she had already made me cry that evening. She had earlier mentioned about a refund / partial hotel refund and my partner said we would talk to her in the morning as she had upset me enough. When we went to check out in the morning there was no one there and we waited a little while before leaving the key in the key box as it says to do so.

I’ve never been treated like this in a hotel and will never recommend this hotel to anyone.

I would expect to be called or emailed or messaged regarding this complaint and the lack of professionalism by this member of staff. You have all my details through bookings and I wish to find out the resolve as I have had no refund as per the member of staffs advice.

Further to this I called to speak to them after waiting a week for a reply, Ricardo spoke to me and told me I should have used common sense and not used the windowsill- silly me using it for its purpose. And even tho Christina followed us out the hotel to continue making an issue and not resolving things she wasn’t aggressive or abrupt because he’s worked with her for 6 years she can’t be.

They offered us to switch rooms but then said there were none available and then they magically are again. But with us leaving the next morning it was easier to not pack our stuff up and move for a nights sleep and just disinfect our stuff after we left as I didn’t fancy sleeping in the car even though I suggested to my partner we go home early.

Absolutely disgusted when speaking to Ricardo, as he kept talking over me telling me I was wrong to go to different parts of the hotel without waiting at reception first. That approaching me and my partner for confrontation in front of other customers was acceptable to do while we were trying to enjoy our evening a while after the feedback was sent. When I mentioned she followed us out he didn’t seem bothered that this was intimidating behaviour. And the fact my Marc Jacobs bag is now ruined is my fault because he shouldn’t have to tell people the windows leak as it is an...

Last night, we stopped for a takeaway that is advertised on a big board on the side of the building. They didn't know what to do, and finally sent my wife into the building to order at the tills. I entered after her to tell her what to order and the manager caught me at the door with a stern "You cannot enter unless you have scanned the NHS app". That's perfectly fine if we had been told before being sent to the till. There was no call for that tone - they are applying the rule inconsistently as my wife was sent in by them without being asked to scan the app, and this rude demand was the first I heard from them. The manager lady stood at the door blocking my exit continuing to ask me to leave. I had a nervous dog with me which does not do well in closed spaces. She then squeezed past me in the narrow passageway, totally ignoring the 2m distance. The dog growled and almost had a go at her but I was careful to manage him - it stopped with a small low growl. This was despite me telling her he doesn't handle strangers well and he has a red lead with "CAUTION" written on it visibly. I was soothing him down when she turned around immediately and asked me to leave the building. All within a few seconds. I found two hairs in my meal when I opened it at home. There was a white couple ahead of us in the line who were treated really nicely and the attitude towards us was in direct contrast. Perhaps using Covid as an excuse to use people of colour badly? And the two hairs in the food, unacceptable if accidental, criminal if on purpose! The place is best avoided.

UPDATE: Re response from the pub, very disappointing. The pressure on coloured people to comply immediately to surprise instructions before you breathe, is the racism that defines the tragic headlines of our day - my kid felt it too. Funny you did not ask my wife to check in, but spring it on me while I was at the door, and then blocked my way to leave the building - this whole incident took 10 seconds and had me confused before I knew what was happening. I wasn't irate - I told my wife loudly I was leaving, as You told me not to approach her. The dog would have been fine if your rude lady hadn't broken the 2m rule and tried to climb over him.

Hundreds of welcoming pubs in the country are helping their guests navigate the rules right now, without letting the situation descend to this so rapidly, in like 10 seconds.

I would have forgotten all about this if it had not been for the grisly discovery of contamination in the food you served.

Now, you've used your opportunity to communicate constructively with me to explain in great detail why I had it coming. Clearly, you feel I was entirely in the wrong and the two hairs in one takeaway meal are therefore justified. This is the real crime - either petty revenge or exceptionally bad hygiene. What makes a human being do...

I booked a table online for an afternoon tea 2 weeks in advance, this was for my dad who was coming to visit from abroad, I wanted him to have a lovely traditionally English experience. I received the confirmation email and the deposit was taken. On the day, about 5-10 minutes before the booking, I had about 5 missed calls, I wasn’t able to answer due to poor signal in Bourton. I was worried something was wrong with the reservation but we were walking towards the restaurant now. We got there and the person at the front desk said I never confirmed my meal choices and therefore the restaurant were not able to serve us the pre-ordered afternoon tea. I said I never received any communication about needing to confirm any meal choices. I checked my spam inbox and everything - I had nothing, no missed calls from earlier in the week, nothing. I am not sure what they were trying to achieve by calling me 5 minutes before booking time. I also reread the confirmation email from when I booked it and there was no mention of any further action. I said I booked this 2 weeks ago, how come it isn’t ready, for which the employee at the desk said “I wouldn’t know, I was on annual leave”!! I’m not sure how this is of any relevance to this situation but ok 😂 This was a busy half term lunch time so we decided to stick around and, fair play, the staff offered to arrange our lunch on tiered trays to give it an authentic feel. And they didn’t charge us more than what we would have paid for the actual afternoon tea. But nevertheless the experience my dad travelled for was lacking and the staff response was very defensive. “I was on annual leave” - this will now be a forever family joke for us if we want to come up with an irrational excuse. The food itself was really lovely. Shame it got overshadowed by the poor service. We are really not after some fancy dining experience, but we felt we were treated quite poorly by the staff trying to shift the blame on me, rather than admitting that there was lack of...