The Olive Tree & Garden Room — Restaurant in Newport

I have never experienced such bad service and to be at the Celtic Manor where this happened was such a shock.

First we went to get seated and the manager said your booking is in 5 minutes, I’ll come and get you then. She then went on to let others in, after 10-15 we went back up to be seated and she admitted she forgot about us.

When we were seated, we were placed in a window in the sun and it was too bright so we asked to move. The moving wasn’t an issue but we were put in a corner and basically forgotten about for the rest of the afternoon.

20 minutes for our drink orders to be taken. When we got them it took so long for the food that we had no drinks left.

When they took away the tier the manager was there and we asked for more drinks. She took our order and said she’d send the scones out. We must have waited at least 40 minutes and we realised most of the tables were being cleared and people were leaving, so we asked a waitress about the drinks and the scones. It was almost treated like they didn’t believe us because they had to go and ask someone else and they then went on to ask someone else again.

To top it all off, we walk out of the room to most of the staff and the same manager having a laugh and talking about going paint balling. Feel free to have a laugh, but at least do your job properly and look after your guests first. I’d but 0/5 if I could, definitely would not recommend or ever go back for...

Booked a table for 7:30pm and still had to queue for ages just to get in — what’s the point of reserving if they can’t seat you on time? Once we finally got to our table, we sat for 20 minutes without anyone acknowledging us or offering drinks. I ended up going to the bar to ask if we could order, and was told someone would bring them over. Another 20 minutes passed before the drinks arrived — unacceptable.

In total, we were at the restaurant for over 1 hour and 15 minutes and not once did anyone come over to offer refills or check if we needed anything. After finishing our food, we waited another 15 minutes for the bill and no one came. I had to go and chase that down too. Despite this terrible service, they still had the audacity to add a 10% service charge to the bill.

As for the food — it was just as disappointing. The mussels weren’t even cooked properly, which is a serious health risk. The selection of food was extremely poor, especially for a buffet-style setup. There was no clear system or orderly queue, so it was chaotic and stressful trying to get anything. To make matters worse, the plates were so hot that children were dropping them — a major safety issue that should never happen in a family restaurant.

All in all, this was a miserable dining experience from start to finish. Poor service, terrible food, and dangerous conditions. I wouldn’t recommend this...

My wife and son booked breakfast for father's day this year for (10:30), we wanted to make an occasion of it, as I work overseas. On arrival they couldn't find our booking although we had email confirmation. Shortly after we were seated, and we went to collect our choice of foods. There was absolutely nothing in the selection tables. When I addressed this I was met with 'its breakfast / dinner change over now'. Not pleased with this, I asked to speak to the person in charge. They places our a small selection of items (basically all the bits no one wanted and had been sat there). At this point we were already unhappy, but tried to make the most of it for my sons sake. Whilst eating at our table, thr cleaning staff literally came over and started cleaning the table, lifting plates and cutlery we were in the middle of using. I was astonished. We felt very pressured to eat and go. I was absolutely disgusted, more so with somewhere thag holds its self it so high regard. When I emailed about these issues, the issues themselves were completely ignored, not addressed, not even an apology (I can attach email if anyone wishes to see their response). DO NOT USE THIS RESTAURANT THE ATTITUDE AND SERVICE IS...