The Birdham Hotel & Restaurant — Restaurant in England

Booked a room via a popular site and, after calling to confirm (where I was told I had room #6), I left it at that. A couple of weeks later I had to cancel then quickly re-book but, happily, was told my existing booking was still available - family room with one double and two bunks. Necessary because I was travelling with my sister and nephew and could not share. You can guess what's coming next. We check in late afternoon only to find our room had been swapped for no apparent reason other than possible 'favours' to someone else. A double bed and a put-me-up. Upon notifying the man at reception, he acknowledged this was an issue and began solving. The nett result around 30 mins later is that the people who had been given my room were moved back to their original booking. After 5 mins of being in the room we were about to leave when the key turned, and a lady employee walked in without knocking. She was surprised we were there, I said it was OK but it's another minor tick off in the long list I'm trying to present here! The reason? Those that had been moved on left their charger behind! A basic courtesy surely is to knock before entering rooms?! Queue the next morning. Breakfast. The chef was almost an hour late. Breakfast was not served at 7:30 as stated, more like 8:30. Still, there was at least one person in attendance who seemingly did as good a job possible staying away from the seating area, leaving us to help ourselves to toast in a faulty machine that nearly caught fire. Honestly, smoke piling out thick and fast as bread got stuck and no clear or safe way to dislodge... Luckily the coffee was good. All 3 of us ordered poached eggs, all 3 were underdone. So much so that the eggs leaked water and nobody wanted them. My full English without mushroom of course came out with a large mushroom filling half the plate. Poor communication or someone couldn't bother following instructions, you decide. Clearly the late 'chef' was trying to make up for lost time but really quality would have been better in this case rather than send out underdone food. We informed the manager(?) who simply apologised and whisked our plates away. I guess it's lucky nobody was too hungry! No alternative offered, no replacement. Rooms are pleasantly decorated, spacious, and the bathroom tidy with a quality feel. The freebies are plentiful with tea, coffee, chocolate, and several welcome bathroom additions too including a wooden toothbrush and toothpaste kit. Although the toilet did make a horrendous squealing noise when refilling. Shower pressure good. In the end it's disappointing to see nothing knocked off the bill after all that which I might have expected but, in true fashion, I leave an honest review in the hope they do...

Having eaten at The Birdham on three previous occasions we were sorely disappointed on Sunday 30th October. On arrival we were shown to our table after the barman, Brian, went to find a waiter. The table had been set but not wiped down properly with crumbs left on the table. Our drinks order was taken and then we had to ask twice as to where they were. Thirty five minutes later they arrived. The excuse was that the barman was busy and that only one waiter knew how to use a 'waiters friend' to open the wine! Our food orders were taken and we were told that we would receive a 'carvery warning' as one of our party was eating from the 'a la carte' menu. Two starters arrived and the third ten minutes later! The 'carvery warning' was not delivered prior to the 'a la carte' meal which meant one of our party was sat waiting whilst two others queued. The carvery ran out and the queue grew longer. No surprise that the food ran out as there was no form of portion control and the plates I saw pass me whilst sat waiting were piled high. I hate to see food waste and needless to say that food was left on the plates which some diners had piled high! After waiting another ten minutes in the queue we decided to give up and leave in what had been nothing but a complete shambles. The other objection we had was that a diner allowed their dog to jump up at the servery counter and another diner allowed their dog to sit on a dining chair. We do not mind dogs being in restaurants but there is a limit when it comes to hygiene. When questioned on why the whole experience had been so bad we were told that The Birdham was under new ownership, the kitchen staff were not liaising with front of house (that was quite evident) and they were short of staff. We were not the only ones to complain regarding service, in fact, one diner wished me 'luck' when she left. The barman did apologise but apologies don't make up for shoddy service. It is a shame that The Birdham has not kept up to its high standards that the previous owners had and I hope the new owners do make the necessary improvements...

The Birdham at Bembridge continues to improve after several changes of name and management. We have stayed there for a 4 day break in Spring or Summer with our son, daughter and twin grandchildren 10 times since 2012. Each stay was enjoyable and the evening meal and serving staff have been consistently excellent. The bar has a friendly atmosphere. We had very good weather and a pleasant stay. |The front of hotel guest rooms have original single glazed wooden sash windows which are difficult to adjust and suffer from traffic noise if open at night. I'm told planning regs. require new windows to be bespoke wooden copies and upgrade to modern standards is thus very costly. Other windows have been replaced. In very hot weather the hotel overheats and the guest rooms can be uncomfortable. Fans are provided! Otherwise the is accommodation acceptably clean and comfortable.|Our recent visit, April 2024 was slightly marred by a bizarre change of policy. The morning breakfast coffee for guests turned out to be containers of instant coffee which tasted awful. Previously there were 2 or more filter coffee machine on the side where guest could help themselves and these were replenished when necessary. We were told if we want "speciality Coffees" these could be obtained from the bar coffee machine but would be chargeable and for every refill! Since when has plain black real coffee been a speciality coffee! This mean, penny pinching attituded is way beyond acceptable. My Daughter who lives in France said this could never happen there, only real coffee sold. She made a significant protest but the manager refused to agree.|So, if don't mind rubbish coffee with breakfast, the Birdham is still a good hotel to...