THE PIG-in the Cotswolds — Restaurant in Cotswold District

Back in January I booked a room at the Village Pub to celebrate my partner’s birthday in May. However, it was not until the evening before we were due to go that I received an email (not even the courtesy of a phone call) advising me that the pub was closed that day. Our room was still available though, and dinner and breakfast would be served at the main house. We weren’t looking for a fine dining experience – we had previously eaten in the village pub where we had a great food and service, and we wanted a pub with good beer and good food. However, with such short notice we didn’t have time to start looking for an alternative so decided we would still use our reservation. We later learned that the pub has been closed on Mondays and Tuesdays for several weeks up until that point, presumably due to staff shortages, so we could have been advised much sooner about this. Despite the lack of timely communication, our room was very good, and we walked up to the main house that evening for a nice dinner. In the bar we were looked after incredibly well by the barman who made excellent cocktails for us and was welcoming and chatty. We asked if we could bring forward our reservation from 8pm to 7:30pm and were told this was not a problem by one of the serving staff. We were given menus and were delighted to see lobster on the menu which the barman kindly offered to ask the chef to reserve one for us. We placed our food order just before 7pm and re-confirmed 7:30 for our table to the same server. The barman persuaded us to share another cocktail as we had half an hour to spare. Five minutes later our server asked if we would like to go through to dinner which was all a bit strange. We explained that our table was for 7:30 and that we had just ordered another cocktail. Two minutes later she told us that our food had been plated up and was on the table. Since one of our starters was hot, we felt we had no choice but to go to the table, with cocktails in hand … not an ideal accompaniment for our food! At no point were we asked if we would like wine with our food even though we had been given the wine menu. The starters were excellent but the service appalling. Instead of asking if we would like wine with our meal we were asked if we would like another cocktail … really? On clearing the table after we had finished our starters the waiter managed to knock my knife off the plate which he didn’t even bother to pick up. At this point we asked the waiter to make sure we were not rushed and that we would like time to relax before the main course, it being 7:15pm. He then brought our wine promptly to the table and at the same time our main course arrived. By now it was 7:20 pm, we were about to be given our main courses and our table had been booked for 7:30 pm so everything seemed to be a massive rush, quite overwhelming in fact. This was turning into a disastrous evening and not the relaxed time we had been looking forward to. At this point we decided to abandon the restaurant and complained to the management that the rushed service was deplorable. They could learn a lot about service by visiting any of The Pig Hotels (a similar price point) where not only is the food exceptionally good but the service, from every single member of staff, is exemplary. Barnsley House needs to invest in recruiting and training staff who can deliver service to a similar standard and get management, servers, and kitchen staff with more ‘joined up’ thinking. In the end we were just desperately disappointed as our previous visit to the Village Pub a while back had been such a...

This is the best UK hotel we’ve ever been to. Everything is an impeccable taste and no detail is too small for the thoughtful staff. Service is friendly and efficient and you are treated as if you are really welcome, as opposed to so many hotels nowadays where you are treated as if you are a bit of a nuisance in their establishment. If you ask for anything in this hotel, it is there within seconds delivered by a smiling happy person who seems delighted to help you, by supplying you with that obscure phone charger that you forgotten to bring. The house and garden are absolutely magical and beautiful in a classic English country Garden way. The bedrooms are the height of quiet taste and luxury, without being remotely blingy or “boutique“. What a rare joy in these days where every hotel is trying to be insanely clever, unique and trendy, in a very millennial way, but mostly failing.

Edit:- 3years later * After having two fabulous family weddings here a few years ago, we were looking forward to returning to this special place. We booked dinner and although surprised that we had to search for staff members to greet us, we were initially very happily reminiscing . The cocktails were lovely and the food was fabulous as before. The only initial hint that things had changed was there was no maitre d’ in a smart suit. The lady in charge was wearing her own clothes. She seemed confused about the table numbers at times and the couple next to us received the wrong drinks which were subsequently added to our bill. Halfway through our meal, lots of casually dressed diners arrived all at once. I was sitting there in a dress and my husband in a jacket and shirt and everyone else was in jeans, woolly jumpers, trainers and one in a North Face fleece. The couple next to us explained that everyone there had been part of a cinema event including a film and two course meal for around £40. They had a different meal to us and were getting a bit fed up waiting for their pre preferred chicken supreme. This really pulled down our special occasion. Our meal cost over £200 so should have been a special experience. Instead we were amongst a large group of people who were having a much more casual and cheap experience. (No offence to them). When we were being refunded for the drinks mistake, I spoke to the aforementioned mangeress and she denied this. She said they were paying exactly the same as us. So either the couple at the table next to us were lying or my googling was incorrect (£46 for the Cinema and supper experience) or she was lying. I cannot fault our delicious food. I understand the chef is leaving for Calcot which is part of the original group. We shall be following him. The decor is currently the old tasteful linens and muted colours, but there is to be a makeover which I dread as I expect it will go ‘boutique’ and involve lots of jewel coloured velvet cushions and modern art. There was no sign of the fantastic previous manager (?Michel) but praise to the waiter and cocktail waitress who were excellent. As for the constant need to make it appeal to people in their thirties and forties, don’t forget the over fifties. They have the spare money to spend. Who knows what will happen to a once wonderful unique establishment. Next time, I would suggest that you advise fully paying diners that there is an event on which might affect their dining experience and give them the opportunity to come on...

Absolutely inept service. We had looked forward to a romantic getaway in the countryside and were expecting great service and accommodations after reading so many positive reviews. However from the minute we arrived, we were let down by inconsistent (and at times, straight up rude) service. To elaborate: no one greeted us or showed us the property when we arrived, we waited 20 minutes before anyone came to take our lunch order while we waited for our room to be ready, there was no turn down service at night, the maid walked into our room without knocking 2x, and the electricity completely shut off 2x due to the another room tripping the switch for the entire building (the fuse box was in our room for some reason). The room itself was very comfortable but it became apparent it needed maintenance - the inside door handle to the bathroom completely came off, and my husband nearly got locked inside.

The manager did apologise for the maid and the electricity issues and applied a bar credit which we appreciated. We were going to let it go and try to enjoy the rest of our stay. Unfortunately, on the day we checked out, at 11:30am we requested a taxi for 12:15 to bring us to the train station. We confirmed this several times to two receptionists. We had a quick lunch, requested our bags, and waited as 12:15 came and went. At 12:20 we asked if the cab was on its way and we were eventually told at 12:30 that the receptionist was “told the cab was needed at 1:15,” essentially trying to blame us for miscommunicating. We were then told that she was going to sort it out but at 12:40, the only thing she appeared to be doing was eating her lunch. She showed absolutely no urgency and we ended up missing our original train and having to wait at the train station in the cold for 1 hour for the next train (the waiting area was closed as it was Sunday and nothing is around the station). At the same time, we noticed that people arriving were not even greeted by the staff and kept waiting for ages to check in, like we had been. One couple had to unload an entire trunk of suitcases themselves as the staff looked on passively. The receptionist literally told them, “Yes, please,” when the guy asked if he should unload his bags himself.

Apparently, we were told the reason the service has really gone down hill is because the property has changed ownership in the past few months. It’s incredibly disappointing to have to write this review as some members of the staff (the waitresses in the main dining room and the bartender) were very kind and helpful. I would never write a negative review unless absolutely warranted. I understand COVID has been very hard on the hospitality industry and the property has a lot of potential. It’s just very disappointing when you spend upwards of £600 per night to have this many things go wrong and the staff to respond with indifference. A lot of these issues seem to stem from poor training and...