The Royal Wallingford — Restaurant in South Oxfordshire

We didn't have the best ever bnb experience unfortunately. When we arrived, after a long day trudging in the rain and the mud, we were very much looking forward to having a beer. However, despite arriving shortly before 6pm we were told they were closing and weren't serving any more. We would have accepted this had we not seen the sign outside detailing closing times to be 7pm. What the hell! So we went in search of beer and food and on our return, we were unable to access the property again and were forced to climb over the gate to let ourselves in! We tried calling the number provided several times of course but it just went to voice mail. Other niggles included - our en-suite room was clean and modern but the soap dispenser was broken and the shower tap turned freely which meant it was impossible to increase the water temperature. The staff were nice enough but didn't want to take responsibility for any issues we encountered. "I'm sorry about that but I'm just the chef" wasn't a helpful response when we didn't receive the breakfast we had paid for at the time of booking. Again we had tried calling the number provided but it just went to voice mail. Also, we only leaned after booking that that breakfast wasn’t actually served but would have been supplied in a hamper delivered to our room. Anyway, our overall perception of customer service was poor and added no value at all to our trip experience. We wouldn't recommend...

Can't comment on the bar or the food but I certainly would not recommend staying here. I had staff letting themselves into my room because they said they weren't told it was occupied. Have you heard of knocking first and waiting? The room staff were accompanied by children too, who somehow felt it appropriate for them to intervene when I was rightfully indignant about people letting themselves into my room unannounced. Pardon me for being shocked and annoyed at people randomly entering my room. Apparently it's OK for the cousin of the room staff to get involved at this point. Is this child employed by the The Royal? Should he even be on the premises? If that's not enough the rooms face onto the road, which is very noisy, but throw in the music from the bar below as well and you have the epitome of everything that is wrong with this place. There is zero to recommend staying here, so don't. Go somewhere else. Anywhere is better than here. If you're management and ever read this, unlikely I would suggest, but if you want to discuss my experience, feel free...

Booked a night with dinner as I was working in the area. Given a friendly welcome, shown to my room (the check in email hadn't come through to my phone at that point, my provider struggles with service there). Room was clean & tidy, shower was hot, bed was comfortable. Went down to dinner; service was friendly and attentive, and the food was fabulous. The navarin of lamb was quite possibly the best lamb I've eaten in a long, long while. Overall, a great place that just does customer service right. I'm hoping to be sent to work in the area again soon, just so I have an excuse to stay...