The Old Station Tea Rooms, Holmsley — Restaurant in New Forest

I had been here last year on a visit to the area as was passing. But on this occasion it was my mums birthday and I wanted to take her somewhere lovely. What a seriously disappointing experience this was, I would go as far as to say the worse customer experience I have ever experienced and had to voice my concerns on here. If I could have I wouldn’t of given any stars but you don’t have that option on here. Obviously with the situation I know you have to book tables but on pulling up to this place there was no signs anywhere to say this. The car park was totally packed and I had to wait. Due to my mum being disabled I told her and my wife with our 4 month old to go ahead and find a table as there maybe a wait as the outside was packed. I helped my mum out the car and she made her way in whilst my wife got our little boy out of the car. My mum was able to walk straight in and sat down at a table. A waiter had seen her do this as she was serving the couple next to her but didn’t say anything. After a few minutes of sitting and waiting my wife came in with my boy in his buggy. My wife proceeded to wipe the table down with an antibacterial wipe, unpacked the babies bits and went to feed my boy his food. All of a sudden a male waiter walked over and said in a rude manner Have you booked this table. My wife said no I didn’t know you needed to book as there are no signs. The waiters response was well all of our tables are booked out for lunch, so you can’t have this table as it’s reserved. My wife explained she didn’t know. He then said you can go sit in the garden. But in all this it was his tone and how loud he said it. He was so loud in his tone that the whole tea room went quiet and everyone looked as if my mum and wife had broken the law. Both my wife and mum were so upset by the way they were spoken to that they got up, packed up and left to find me still waiting for a space in the car park. They both were very upset when they got to me which annoyed me as I wanted to show my mum somewhere nice for her birthday but instead had an awful experience. If there had been any signs around or even on the door or the staff member that saw my mum walk in had asked her then all this would have saved this awful and rude experience. I’m lost why a staff maybe would wait till my wife had wiped the table down and got the babies bits out before asking a question like that. Surely you would ask this of anyone walking in. I’m guessing they don’t have children and understand what it’s like when you child is due a feed. My wife and mum felt like this sort of place your face has to fit to be spoken to nicely. The gentleman that spoke to them needs to learn some manners and maybe some customer service as he could of handled the situation so much better and said quietly to them about reserving tables. We visit a lot of tea rooms and have never had this sort experience needless to say we will not be returning here and warning...

Absolutely abysmal service. It was less than half full inside, with nobody seated outside. We were shown to a table and left with menus (it was 3pm so we only wanted a cup of tea and a slice of cake each). The young girl disappeared to chat to her colleagues and it was a full 20 mins before she came back to take our order. We asked for 2 teas and said we would like a slice of cake each. We took a punt as there are no prices on the menu for cake or anywhere we could see. Now you need to know the cakes are not properly displayed and you cannot see them all and they are in another room. You would think the young lady would be able to tell us which cakes were available at this point, but no. We guessed chocolate cake (a staple of any decent tea room) and were told they didn't have any. Still no alternatives offered. I had seen a lemon cake on the front of the counter on the way in, so we smiled sweetly and said lemon cake then please and off she trotted. More leaning on the counter and chatting to the 3 other servers ensued, and finally nearly another 25 mins later our order arrived. The tea was nice and piping hot but the cake tasted factory made and like it had been defrosted. Not great at all and repeated on us all evening. Being typical Brits we smiled sweetly and went to the till and paid. Be warned here, they refuse cash, it is card only, there may be signs to say this but we didn't see any. I tapped my card and paid the steep £15 for the teas and rubbish cake and left. The girl who took our payment (not our server) looked at me quite snottily for not leaving a tip. I always tip wherever I go, but there was no way I was going to tip that terrible service, and hey, they don't take cash, right? I am local but never tried here before, and I shall warn everyone I know to stay away unless they want their time and...

We popped into the tea rooms yesterday hoping for a cream tea and a sandwich. Firstly, they don’t take cash which isn’t made clear until you’ve finished waiting in the 40 minute queue for, not the end of the world but quite annoying! Then they didn’t have many cakes/sandwich options left, which we hadn’t been told when collecting a menu (during the queue wait) I opted for a tuna sandwich, which at £6.50 is quite steep, but I was expecting a homemade sandwich, salad garnish and crisps at that price. Instead what I received was a warm tuna sandwich, with thick butter. No crisps. No salad. £6.50 for a sandwich I could get in a supermarket, is exactly why small businesses go under but the chains and supermarkets survive.

This is could ignore, but the service was short, sharp and blunt. When I asked for sugar for my cup of tea, I was shrugged at and pointed towards where I could find them. No manners, no ‘how are you?’ Etc. Customer service is what makes me happy to pay a little extra, and here it isn’t just lacking - it is non-existent. Please train your staff in polite customer service, it costs nothing but adds so much value.

Finally, there were crowds of people on hired bikes, spitting, belching and being generally loutish. Not a lot can be done about this on the cafès park I admit, but it meant the atmosphere feels like that of a canteen and not a lovely tea room experience I’d have liked.

If you are looking for somewhere a bit quieter, better food and quaint - I’d go elsewhere.

(Lastly, the toilets had one broken toilet seat, and needed a...