Grove Hotel — Restaurant in Great Britain

I have some bad meals before elsewhere in my life, but service and meal here was way beyond substantial and I would highly recommend you stay away especially during high season.

Firstly turned up to our table being given away and no table available.

No manager to sort it just a front of house team of what looked like barley legal teenagers that had no clue how to run a restaurant especially a busy one.

The first two lads that tried to sort a table just gave up and began to ignore us when they couldn't find one, a young lady came out and I told her we were waiting for a table and one had become free so could she clean it for us.

She did clean it, but the surface was so sticky you couldn't even peel your menu off with without a struggle.

I knew this was the beginning of a disaster and should have just left at this point but it gets alot worse.

Tried to use the qr code to order, wouldn't work.

Went to the bar to tell them this and again they just melted down and just stood there staring at me as if they wanted me to resolve the issues, after some gentle persuasion they figured out that they needed to put the food through on the till.

This is surprisingly where it got worse again and this isn't the worst part.

Waiting over an hour for food, so we asked where it was.

We were told we were next to have food, that there was a staffing issue, the chef had left early and the manager had to step in as the grill chef. What chef leaves early on a booming bank holiday weekend where the rest of the staff are completely incapable of doing the basics of their jobs.

After another 3 tables of meals and another 45 minutes, we asked again where our food was.

Sit tight for this next one, it gets worse again

They told our friends we were with they couldn't have the fish they ordered, because the manager / step in chef couldn't get the batter to work so couldn't serve us fish.

Batter in a commercial kitchen is simply powder you add milk to, what human is incapable of this.

So they were offered scampi as a solution but no refund to absorb the lower cost so they had to go up to the bar themselves to get this refund after another melt down from the incapable staff.

Then after waiting for our second half of meals for a further 45 minute so over an hour and 45 into waiting.

We were told our burgers had been given away and hour earlier.

So we were left with no food for a further half hour and then randomly two burgers appeared.

Both missing salad and sauce.

Just chicken thrown in a dry bun and a burger thrown in a bun. Both so over cooked they were unedidle and I wouldn't of even fed them to my dog.

During all this palava we were asked  for a manager over ten times as the young staff were completely incapable of dealing with anything and all we kept getting told was the manager wouldn't leave the kitchen to see us, which I'm sure is breaking the law just to leave junior staff to deal with the sinking ship.

So after 3 hours we were left hungry and a load of incapable staff. Finnaly after we waiting until the very end of the night the manager finnaly left the kitchen and had no choice but to face us.

She said she would make no excuses for the horrendous experience we had been through and then proceeded to offer us over 20 excuses.

After a bit of back and forth we managed to obtain a refund.

After speaking to other locals and people who have eaten here it seems it's an ongoing issues they have with staff and not this season either.

The Easter weekend is kind of like a trail by fire for the establishments in this holiday town, before the insanity of summer and I can safely say they failed at providing any kind of service level this weekend so during high season it is going to be a complete waste of time.

I highly recommend you never ever step foot in this establishment and definitely do not part with your money for the substandard food and service they offer. I will be taking this complaint as high as I can go in hope to rectify and make sure none else has to have the experience

Full...

We stayed at The Grove last Tuesday 18th June 2019. We had booked for 2 nights but only stayed one night and only because it was too late to move elsewhere! I have to report a very dishevelled property. Our first glimpse was a door very badly in need of repair and paint and the carpets and furniture throughout were in a worn and dirty condition. The room was small but on the positive side the linen and towels were clean and in good condition. The en suite was tiny and very quirky - we were on the ground floor, the shower was by the window which was in clear glass and outside there was a patio with tables and chairs!! There was a grubby blind on the window which we had to close and which left the bathroom in partial darkness. There was some form of emergency lighting on the ceiling above the bed which could not be turned off and which left the bedroom bathed in green light throughout the night. We did have dinner in the hotel and also breakfast the next morning and both were fine and the staff very friendly and helpful. We complained about the state of the property to Rob who understood our concerns and reduced our B&B by £30 and said that a refurb was due! However, we could not wait to leave the next morning and then visited the magnificent Cathedral in St David's before leaving to return home a day earlier than planned. The hotel is run by the Brains Group who advertise The Grove as one of their "Signature Hotels"! Shame on you Brains for leaving the staff to deal with the complaints and not doing the refurbishment which I expect has been due for many years. The building is old with lots of potential if properly cared for by Brains. It was like "Faulty Towers" without Basil for entertainment! My advice - give it a miss! I will certainly avoid any other Brains property...

AVOID AT ALL COSTS!

Pulled into what looked like a lovely pub for breakfast. Turned up at 11.03am to be told breakfast finished at 11am, absolutely understandable. We were told by the staff member, the cafe across the road sold breakfast until 11.30, so decided to pop over there to feed my pregnant wife's cravings. We had planned to go back into the pub for a drink after and was also going to even book an evening meal for that evening. I popped to my van to get a water bowl for my dog when I saw I large screw placed statistically under my wheel, perfectly placed so when I drove off it would puncture my tyre. We had only been parked up for half hour.

I can imagine they get a lot of tourists parking in their car park without using their facilities which must be very frustrating. However to consciously sabotage someone's property and endanger my pregnant wife and child's life, I'm absolutely DISGUSTED!!!!! We were driving home that evening too, via the motorway, thank god I spotted it. Who knows what could have happened if my tyre had blown out!!

I popped in after having a few hours to gather my thoughts and just explain how different the situation could have ended if i hadnt spotted it! I approached the staff member who couldn't apologise enough, who stated it was just them and the landlord in! They "couldn't believe the landlord would stoop that low".

I rarely ever make a fuss, but some things need to be addressed and I hope this situation is dealt with in a SAFER way next...