The Oystercatcher — Restaurant in England

This was the 6th pub that we have stayed at within the St Austell group on their Winter deals.||||It’s difficult to review as this is the only self catering accommodation that we have been to, all the others have been hotel rooms and it is difficult not to make comparisons with the properties that have had a lot of money spent on them.||||On the face of it, it would appear to be extremely good value for money at £90 for 2 nights (a 2 nights for the price of one deal). However, as an example, we paid just £60 more for a two night deal in a beautiful suite in The Harbour Inn, Porthleven, three weeks ago, and breakfast was included. ||||The accommodation at The Oystercatcher isn’t a patch on the previous places we have stayed. Whilst very well equipped with the usual high end linens and toiletries, there is a little room for improvement. ||||The duvet was too small for the bed and not as sumptuous. The pillows were very thin. The bed, however, was extremely comfortable.||||As noted on other reviews, the decor is dated and in need of attention and, on our second morning, we opted to wait until we got home to shower as the pressure was non-existent. The bathrooms in the renovated properties are stunning with fabulous walk in cubicles and power showers.||||The kitchen had everything you would need and plenty of glasses, crockery, cutlery, pans, etc., a full size oven and hob, fridge and dishwasher. We didn’t use any cooking utensils but they were varied and plentiful.||||I will say that it would be useful to include what is provided on the website, dishwasher tablets, washing up liquid and so forth. There are no condiments other than salt and pepper so you need to bring anything else with you. It would be helpful if this was clearer.||||Also mentioned on previous feedback, the sofa was not comfortable at all and I would challenge any member of staff to sit on it for a few minutes to understand what is meant by that.||||The view is to die for and the whole place was spotless, absolutely up to the standard we have come to expect. Milk, water, the Nespresso machine and a good selection of teas and coffee were very welcome.||||The staff on site were all super, something that we have encountered in all the St Austell establishments. They definitely get their recruitment right. From the moment we stepped through the doors to when we left, nothing was too much trouble.||||So this is a difficult one as we can’t help but compare this experience to our previous five. ||||In essence, the pub had clearly benefitted from investment in the decor but the apartments haven’t. It’s a shame a breakfast option isn’t available in the week, at the moment, although it is served in the summer.||||If you walk down into the village the trek back up the hill will challenge you if you don’t have a reasonable amount of fitness.||||All considered, we had a great break and answered “yes” truthfully when asked if we’d had a good time, plus were blessed with dry weather. ||||It is beautifully positioned above the beach and, for the cost, it was a super way to spend a couple of...

We stayed in apartment 6 over February half term. Originally we’d been booked at another st Austell brewery place on boscastle which was closed for refurb, so ended up here instead. ||It was fine, for £560 in February. Looking at prices for later in the year - £2000 for May half term! I’d have been really disappointed.||The apartment was warm, plenty of hot water and the beds were comfy. The kitchen and bathroom both worked ok.||However, the overall feeling from the apartment was that nobody really cares about it, thus nobody has spent more than 5 minutes thinking about its comfort and functionality. ||There’s nowhere to put food in the kitchen (a shelf above the microwave would be a useful addition), so our provisions were stacked all over the tiny work surface. There was no scouter to was dishes, so I had to go and buy a pack as only blue clothes were provided, along with a tiny amount of washing up liquid. The knives in the block were all blunt and I ended up having to buy a sharp knife too. Pots and pans weren’t quite big enough to cook for a family of 5 (we asked at the bar if we could borrow something bigger, but no). The cutlery and glasses were a fairly random selection - 20 knives, 6 forks and maybe 4 spoons. I know a lot of people don’t cook on holiday, but I book self catering for a reason and it’s annoying not to be able to.||The bathroom had been bodged and codged over many years so the silicone around the edges is inches thick, with the mould beneath visible. There was a rusty shelf screwed in very high up, and the bolted down toiletries needed refilling and/or didn’t pump.||There were no instructions in the room about bins or recycling, though we found the big bins by the cluster of staff stood around them smoking.||The bar was ok, staff friendly and helpful but the tables were sticky and stayed uncleared for a long time. Menu was the same as every other menu in town so we went down to surfside on the beach when we did eat out.||The sofas are both collapsing in the middle. There’s no table in the living area to put a drink, and the 5 of us couldn’t comfortably be seated on the 2 sofas. One of the dining chairs has a broken leg.||The carpets in the communal stairwell looked weirdly greasy and dirty.||All in all this apartment is fine if you’re just using it to crash at night, but it needs a bit of love, attention and consideration to make it a place worth...

Really disappointed

We have had numerous visits to the Oystercatcher over the last 10 years and were excited to go out for our first meal post lockdown and see the new extension.

However when we were seated (and after being given the menus) we were told there was no gas. This meant there was a very limited menu (no chips, garlic bread, wraps, fish, etc).

However this was not the end of the problems:

• we ordered 2 child portions of cheese sandwiches for 3 year olds. These came up on doorstep bread which they couldn’t fit in their mouths, adult salad (mostly lettuce with one tomato) and tasteless unflavoured nacho crisps. These were left uneaten

• we ordered a latte and the mug came half full

• we ordered 3 burgers (without chips) and one without cheese. They all came with cheese. The salad contained of leaves and one tomato.

• we ordered tomato soup. French onion soup came. We sent it back and they came back with tomato soup which tasted of onion (probably just emptied it and refilled the bowl)

• we asked if they could do garlic bread and the answer was no. Then a child’s pasta portion came with garlic bread and the table next to us got garlic bread and cheese which is frustrating

• staff were obviously stressed with the situation (our waitress was shaking bless her hence why we didn’t direct our disappointment to her) and there was no senior management.

All in all such a disappointing visit and a waste of money. They charged as full price for everything and no one asked once if the meal was ok or if there was anything else we wanted.

We will not be returning for a long long time. It’s a shame they have focused so much on the new fancy extension and less on the quality of food and service. The gas issue was a shame but we feel like we would have still faced the majority of...