The Petersham Hotel, Richmond — Restaurant in London

We recently held our wedding at The Petersham Hotel in Richmond, and it truly exceeded every expectation, a flawless experience from beginning to end.

My husband and I arrived on the Thursday, with 16 of our closest friends and family joining us from Friday through the weekend. Many of us stayed right through to Sunday and Monday, and every single guest was utterly enchanted by the hotel, from the serene setting and panoramic views over the Thames to the calm, elegant atmosphere that flows through every corner of the building.

From the moment we arrived, the service was impeccable. The hotel operates like a well-oiled machine, the team is experienced, polished, and effortlessly warm. Even the General Manager introduced himself to us personally and was absolutely lovely. It’s rare to feel so welcomed and looked after at every level, but that’s exactly what The Petersham does and with grace.

Our wedding day was unforgettable. The ceremony room, overlooking the river, was light, beautiful, and serene, an idyllic place to say our vows. The Terrace Suite, where we held our wedding breakfast, was elegant and atmospheric. Later, we danced the night away in the Wine Cellar and enjoyed an incredible buffet, the space was unique and added a special intimacy to the evening.

Simon, our food and beverage contact, was extraordinary. He went above and beyond at every turn, organising every detail with quiet precision, supporting us calmly throughout, even coming to our room to walk me down to the ceremony. His thoughtfulness and professionalism were deeply appreciated. He even boxed up our cake for guests to take home, a small touch that meant so much.

The wedding breakfast was served perfectly, every dish hot, delicious, and delivered seamlessly to the right guest. The portions were generous and beautifully cooked, with rave reviews from everyone. The evening buffet and daily breakfasts in the stunning, light-filled restaurant overlooking the Thames were equally impressive, plentiful, tasty, and stylishly presented.

One of the most surprising things was how fair and reasonable the pricing was for such an outstanding level of service, food, and setting. There’s real value here, with absolutely no compromise on quality.

The rooms were elegant, peaceful, and comfortable. Every member of staff, from reception to housekeeping to the dining teams was friendly, helpful, and genuinely invested in making our experience perfect.

The Petersham reminded us of a wonderful blend between The Savoy and Betty's Tearoom, refined and romantic, but with warmth and heart. It is a truly special venue, beautifully run, and an absolute dream for a wedding.

We are already planning our return as this place will forever hold a place...

Rooms on the whole are spacious but some are a little tired. The tea and coffee provided is definitely nothing special and the Nespresso style is just that, there is nothing on the pods to say what they actually are blend, decaffeinated etc they look like generic refilled pods and only any good for an espresso. We stayed in a Deluxe room which says it has a balcony however I think this is being generous as they are not wide enough to have a chair straight and look out over the view unfortunately and when it rains virtually none of the run offs actually take water away and so you have a small stream running through and no matter the weather you have the extraction system running so no quiet. We ordered room service on our last night and had a choice of only three sandwiches, cheese, chicken or roast veg but no chicken left so down to cheese and pickle or roast veg and humus. We ordered the cheese and it was delivered promptly but with no cutlery present and only one glass for two drinks. The sandwich arrived with some side salad leaves and vinaigrette, a bag of crisps which had been emptied onto the plate and a very sorry looking and tasting sandwich which had clearly been thrown together with ingredients sourced from Tesco, the bread was normal sliced brown bread which was clearly made with pre sliced cheese from a packet as the cheese was chewy around the edge and a load of chutney. For a reasonable cost this wouldn't be totally unacceptable but each sandwich was £12!

Housekeeping were excellent and the room was cleaned and serviced each day.

All of the front of house team on reception that we interacted with were excellent and helped on numerous occasions especially a gentleman with glasses and a lady (apologies for not getting your names).

The food at the restaurant is a totally different matter on the first night we came down and were told in a gruff manor that dinner wasn't being served and we'd have to eat in the lounge area, after querying this with reception the gentleman with glasses went and had a word with them and we were then told we could eat in the bar side of the restaurant which was always what we intended as we clearly told the gentleman on the Sunday night that we would be eating from the Club Menu. The waiter was fantastic and couldn't apologise enough as there was no reason for us to be refused service.

All in all for a four star venue the menu and room service menu are very disappointing as was the quality of the food especially the room service menu. Friday to Sunday 6pm a four star menu but outside those times it's at best three and if judged on room service then two star.

Unfortunately not somewhere we...

• Lovely hotel but service severely lacking!

Stayed here to celebrate me and my partner getting engaged on the same day, having just proposed in Richmond. Hotel was lovely in a great setting overlooking the Thames and we always wanted to stay here after living locally for 4 years. We walked into reception to check in and the receptionists gave off a rejecting feel, as if we did not belong here. We paid £300 for our room which was already v expensive but we were celebrating a big occasion so was OK about this. We checked into our room and told the receptionists / front of house manager that we had just got engaged.. no ‘congratulations’ or even a smile, just a blank look! We would not normally expect free things but when celebrating birthdays or anniversary’s in other hotels before they have always provided something complementary.. we asked whether they could offer us anything after getting engaged a couple of hours before and they duly brought up to the room a bottle of £100 champagne with the invoice to pay there and then. We sent this back and asked the receptionist to clarify the situation as we thought maybe there was some confusion, however, she said in an angry manner to pay or leave it. There was no offer of even a glass of Prosecco or even something smaller to celebrate. This left us with a bit of a sour taste on what was a special day for us and was surprising given the amount that we paid in a hotel that is also a wedding venue! Even on checkout there was no “how was your stay?” Or even “have a lovely day!” which you’d get in even £20 hostels.

Again a lovely hotel in a great location but if you want a service to match the price then this...