Croft Park Café — Restaurant in England

On Bank Holiday Monday we visited Croft Park Cafe for the third and sadly last time. We first visited after seeing it advertised as a dog friendly cafe, we have 2 yorkies both of which can be nervous, and we are slowly socialising them in different situations. On our first 2 visit we were greeted by a lovely lady who reassured us the dogs were fine and told us they would seat us out of the way, so the dogs didn’t get spooked. The dogs did make some noise on both of these occasions, and we were again reassured this was fine (a few barks but by no means constant unruly noise, we would have willingly left had this been the case). On our last visit I thought the cafe was closed, there was only one couple eating. There was no warm welcome, infact looking back there was a bit of an atmosphere but we went inside to an out of the way table. We had enjoyed our previous visits so much that we invited my sister and niece to join us with their dog who is an older very calm boy. Previously we had been given water and dog treats for the dogs, this time nothing other than an older female member of staff who came over and approached my dog from behind and tried to stroke him, this spooked him, and he barked his head off. Unfortunately, she then insisted on standing very close to him and questioning me about how long we have had the dogs, she then walked away saying something along the lines of “we will have to see how it goes”. We placed our order (which included food for the dogs) and waited, it does take a long time for food to come as it is cooked to order – I can only assume someone must have rung their order through and ours was behind theirs as we waited a long time. Suddenly the older female staff member appeared and told us we would have to go outside as the other guests were complaining, at first we thought she was joking – she wasn’t. We told her to cancel the food and we would leave, she informed us our food was 2 minutes off being served so we couldn’t cancel. She left us to struggle outside with our drinks, we had to clear a table outside of someone else’s debris and wipe the table down ourselves with baby wipes. Just over 10 minutes later our food arrived, all of which was very nice except the hot chickenless sandwich which was at best tepid but at this point I was ready for home. We paid and left and will not return. It’s a shame I thought we had found a hidden gem, I was wrong. I would not have been so shocked and disappointed but for the fact the place is pushed as being dog friendly – it isn’t...

Nicely presented lodge with extra touches like dish washer tablets, liquid hand soap, complimentary smellies, prosecco and ice in the freezer. Bath robes and slippers provided for adults to use for the hot tub. A quiet site and mostly clean but decking and outside furniture suffered from bird dirt which wasn't much fun to clean on holiday. Hot tub nice, children particularly enjoyed it. The tub resets to auto after 90 minutes and then bubbles away periodically so don't be alarmed if you hear it reheating through the night. The buttons are a little temperamental on the tub at Ash lodge, you need to push very hard to reduce the temperature. The steps to the hot tub could also do with a clean. A hair dryer would be a nice addition to the master bedroom. Children's beds were very uncomfortable but owners responded promptly by providing mattress toppers which improves the situation. Overall a nice stay and very...

We've visited Croft Park Café a couple of times and always get a warm welcome, great food and value for money. Today was the same, with the added bonus of a Sunday carvery on offer too. It was absolutely delicious. The brocoli was the tastiest and freshest I've ever had. There were three meats to choose from, yorkshire puddings, roast and mashed potatoes, carrots, swede, broccoli, peas, cabbage, cauliflower cheese and stuffing balls. As always, they kindly brought across a blanket, treats, water and bowls for our dog Louie. Even though we were quite full from the generous lunch portions, we couldn't resist ordering pudding. The hot brownie with ice-cream was amazing and the treacle sponge and custard was fantastic with the lightest sponge imaginable. Thank you Croft Park Café, it's wonderful to have a dog friendly place with consistently good food, friendly service and value for money...