Bella Italia - Center Parcs Whinfell — Restaurant in England

We visited this restaurant as a group of 10, eagerly anticipating a delightful dining experience. Unfortunately, our expectations were dashed not only by the quality of the food but also by the demeanor of our waitress and the manager.

While the food was ok, we found it to be extremely overpriced for what essentially amounted to frozen pizzas and microwaved pasta dishes. Furthermore, the cocktails were pre-mixed, and the Rosè wine we ordered tasted unpleasantly like vinegar.

Normally, I'm not one to complain, but I was taken aback by the attitude displayed by our waitress and the manager at this restaurant. This was our first visit to Centre Parcs since it had became cashless and we were unaware that a 7% service charge had been added to all restaurant bills. When we requested the bill, the waitress immediately informed us that if we were paying separately, we would need to calculate our individual shares ourselves as she lacked the necessary qualifications. While I can understand the complexity of splitting the bill for a party of 10, the waitress conveyed her message in a rude and unhelpful manner. To make matters worse, she returned with the bill, said nothing, and walked away. As we began calculating our individual payments, we noticed an additional £20 added as a tip. Perplexed, we called the waitress back to enquire about this, as we had received our food via a robot delivery. The waitress provided no explanation and simply stated that she would fetch her manager. She then turned her back and walked away.

When the manager approached us with her arms folded, demanding to know the problem, we became even more confused. We explained that we were merely seeking clarification on the service charge, yet the manager insisted that it had been explained because it had been circled on the bill. After a few minutes of fruitless discussion and inadequate explanation, she reluctantly printed a new bill without the service charge. Throughout this encounter, the manager continued to be rude and condescending, despite our initial intention of leaving a tip. All we desired was a simple explanation of the service charge.

We settled the bill, but our dissatisfaction with the way we were treated prompted the manager to approach us once more before we left. Despite our expression of never having been spoken to in such a manner before, the manager merely offered a perfunctory apology and mentioned that she would "pass on our feedback" while praising her "great team." Very patronising!

Regrettably, we will never consider returning to this establishment, and we sincerely hope that the staff undergoes comprehensive training on how to treat customers with kindness and respect in the future so that no one else has to walk away feeling as...

There was a party of 13 of us dining this evening - Victoria was great at taking our order on arrival, my son Charlies order arrived wrong. The guy that delivered our food, practically shouted the meal in his hand to us and put the plates down rather aggressively to the point that my husband made a comment about his attitude and demeanour when serving our food! This is when Olivia showed up at our table displaying what to me was service of a 10 star rating! My son was upset as he was hungry and she went over and above and took my son with her to retrieve his correct meal. She was by far the most pleasant waitress working tonight !! She made my 8 year old son very happy when the male simply responded… it’s a kids pasta with butter!! I specifically requested spaghetti and not pasta tubes which is what arrived.

At the end of our meal, when we had finished eating, we were very quickly presented the bill ( which was over. £400) and asked to leave the table as it was needed - even though we hadnt finished our drinks!

Apart from Olivia who is a credit to your staff, your employees that were working this evening could really do with attending a customer service...

We pre booked our table for 6..30 for the last evening of our first Centre Parcel break. The evening was also my Daughter's Birthday so we had events planned for after the meal. It is all very well having robots bringing food to tables with the waiters / waitresses but get the service organised! After receiving first course within reasonable time, then the waiter bringing another set of first courses, and after an hour waiting while watching other tables which arrived after us receive their main courses, I ended up going to the Manager / Head Waiter and complaining. Within minutes our main courses arrived. The food was what I would call average. When you book to dine at what is supposed to be an Italian Restaurant you expect a quality service, a lovely serene calm atmosphere and being made to feel respected. We had to shout to each other to hold a conversation because the thumping music, which was more suited to a city centre disco and added to the chaotic scene,, was so loud. As a result of the dreadful experience, late main course we didn't have time for desert and ended up missing our next planned event for my Daughter. The whole experience...