Rafters — Restaurant in Newport

I checked in with my wife and two young boys, and were made to wait about 3 hours for our room, which is fine given the check in is clearly stated as being 4pm. We got some lunch in the Merlin’s bar and our luggage was taken to our room when it was ready.

The room itself was clean, and nicely presented, so we were off to a good start.

Following some mini golf and a trip to the pool, we were ready for our dinner booking at Rafters.

We weren’t aware the restaurant is based a bus ride away or a 24 minute walk (according to google maps), and this isn’t made clear at the time of booking. So we joined the queue outside the hotel for the bus with several other guests.

We waited for 20 minutes for the first bus to arrive and a rather rude driver told us all ‘No!’ when some guests tried to board.

Eventually, once he allowed everyone to board the bus was full and we were told to wait for the next one. This arrived another 10 minutes later.

The driver was far more pleasant and told us all that they were down two drivers and they had people waiting all over the resort at different restaurants waiting for buses.

We arrived at Rafters, 40 minutes late for our booking, and apologised, explaining that there were issues with the buses.

The lady who greeted us, Rebecca, simply told us ‘you’re 40 minutes late,’ in a rather curt and rude manner.

When we tried to explain that we would have arrived within the 15 minute grace period had it not been for the issues with the buses, Rebecca was dismissive and rude.

I told her that I didn’t care for her attitude or how she was talking to me and she told me the same. I asked to speak to the manager as I felt this was not the way a situation like this should be handled or the level of customer service you would expect for a resort such as this. She told she was the manager!

I asked her what she expected us to do considering we had already waited for ages for the bus to get there and there was no sign of any bus to go back to the hotel to find an alternative option for dinner etc.

I also explained that both our young boys were feeling poorly and waiting outside in the cold for the bus wasn’t ideal. Rebecca’s reply was: ‘why did you brought two sick boys into the restaurant?’ I told Rebecca that they were recovering from colds, as is common place at this time of year, and asked her what she would suggest we do with our sons, leave them at home or in the hotel room? What kind of a response is this!?

In the end, she asked if we wanted to be seated, again in a rather rude manner, and I opted to take her up on the offer given we had no other choice. Had we been in a city centre with other options, I would have walked straight out the door.

We were seated, had main courses only, paid and left. I really wasn’t in the mood to spend any more money in this place than I had to. We spent the whole meal very upset with what had happened and my wife and I both decided we would never return to Rafters or to Celtic Manor as the service is appalling.

It’s been a very long time since I was this incensed by the service I have received somewhere. Most places you go to eat or stay have a certain level of customer service and understanding, whereby they will try to accommodate or help the situation. In this case, we felt the manager made it all way worse by her attitude and inability or unwillingness to empathise with the customer.

I am in healthcare and always give friendly, respectful service, so when it is my turn to be the customer or client, it is rather galling to not receive a similar level of service myself.

The upper management at Celtic Manor need to sort out their customer service, transport system and communication when booking restaurants.

Needless to say, I will not be returning to or recommending this resort.

*original complaint in February 2025, still waiting for management to get back to me. Says it all about this...

Went for the Christmas Sunday dinner and frankly it was not all that. The view was amazing from the restaurant and the restaurant itself was very nice, and those are the highlights.

The starters were lovely. Around the table we ordered the chicken liver parfait and cured salmon and both were very tasty. Absolutely loved it.

But unfortunately that was the best of it. With the roast beef, I was very disappointed with the meat itself. Low quality and tough, a slow roasted meat should be tender and juicy and melt in your mouth. There was no seasoning at all. The Yorkshire pudding was dried, a couple of them around the table were burnt on the top. The roast potatoes were a joke, they were undercooked and crunchy in the middle, no seasoning, very similar to how it would have been if it was just boiled. The Brussels sprouts weren’t even trimmed and still had the stalks on them!! They gravy tasted like something you whip up at home from a jar of Bistro’s. The only good thing on the plate was the carrot and parsnip.

Dessert was underwhelming yet again. Around the table we ended up with one of each thing from the set menu and the best was the panna cotta. The Christmas pudding was close to inedible, the two of us who ordered gave up after a couple of spoonfuls. The toffee cheesecake was peculiar. The flavor combinations on the plate made very little sense; chocolate ice cream doesn’t really go with toffee cheesecake.

Service was poor. Inexperienced wait staff who weren’t entirely sure what they were doing. Any questions about the food was met with confusion. No one bothered to check in on us during the meal and if you needed something, you’d have to try and get their attention. One of our party dropped their fork and had to get up and get it themselves because no one was around our table for so long! The food also took a very long time to arrive, all the starters were cold so I don’t see why we waited nearly an...

I’m frustratingly disappointed with our dining experience which was a gift from family. Rafters was described to us as a 5 star dining experience, it is better represented of a upper class pub dining with strict dress code.

We are travellers from Australia, we read the dress code and had been told it was no shorts or flip flops after 5pm. No trainers.

When we phoned to explain that we did not pack dress shoes but only trainers (clean and not torn or anything), we asked what our options were and we were told that we can book into another restaurant.

We borrowed shoes from family members, only to find upon arrival most persons wearing trainers, some in flip flops and 1 guest in shorts!!

To add insult, we asked if we could vape or smoke at the outside area but were refused, we queried this as other guests were already smoking and vape and that the restaurant provided ashtrays. We were told that they discourage breaking of rules this but do not enforce the rules.

Our meals where fine however they did mix up the steaks and my husband got my steak although we were 2 of 6 guests at the time we ordered.

They cater for larger parties so do expect an intimate dining experience. They are also willing to pull tables together which I expect from a pub.

In short I felt like a second rate person who was told to adhere to a standard that was not applicable to other guests.

My recommendation to the restaurant is to downgrade the dress code in line with what you are willing to enforce as by reducing expectations you reduce disappointment.

I commend the service, it was very attentive.

To other guests, if staying at the resort, it’s pleasant enough with beautiful views.

The manager did offer us a bottle of their house rose to take with us.

To anyone else go somewhere else.

If from Cardiff, try the Tyr Winch Pub which offers freshly made food with an equal dining experience and atmosphere. It’s where we ended...