Vine Hotel — Restaurant in Stafford

We decided to try the food In this establishment as we have booked a stay next week. We sat down and browsed the menu, and I noticed that there was beer battered fillet of fish and chips. As it didn't specify which fish my partner asked and the bar maid tutted about having to go to the kitchen to find out. She returned and told us cod. As it says on the menu when you have an allergy or intolerance make it know. I wished to enquire about the lasagne as I'm allergic to mushrooms and have had an anaphylaxis shock to carrots (which has left me partially sighted those are sometimes present in it ) yet again the look on the same barmaids face and huge sigh and yet again tut really was shocking. She came back from the kitchen and said no one knew as it came frozen and they didn't know what was in it, not brilliant for anyone will allergies makes us wonder what else was cooked from frozen. So decided to have a burger as it was a safe bet. For starters we ordered soup of the day and crispy potato skins with a side salad.

The starters arrived the soup was freezing so was sent back and the crispy potato skins were really a jacket potato with a piece of raw bacon and a blob of cheese nothing was crispy and the side salad was just different types of leaves supposedly lettuce. My partners soup came back and was lovely and hot so he finally got to enjoy that . The chef was very apologetic.

The same barmaid cleared our plates and we asked if we were getting fresh knives and forks which she said we would be. For our mains I ordered a cowboy burger which was a bacon cheese burger with salad and chips included.( we stated twice no cheese) , my partner ordered the oozy floozy burger. Which included a breaded slice of cheese and salad. The mains came mine was covered in cheese so had to be returned.

The breaded slice of cheese was bigger than the actual burger. We weren't given knives and forks so after 5 minutes we got our own. 10 minutes after my burger was returned I received another one the bacon on this was very raw and I had to rip all the fat off it , it had char grill Mark's on it but wasn't cooked at all. Presentation of both was a lot to be desired. I cut mine in half so it was more manageable and after one bite I straight away noticed that it tasted odd. My partner had to take his apart as the "cheese slice" was just to big to attempt to eat on the burger. Also he noticed a very strange taste too when he took a bite of his. I also noticed that my salad tasted a bit odd so I took it apart and found yellow slimey leaves gross. I asked my partner to try a bite of mine and my burger tasted worse than his so at this point we decided enough was enough and wanted to leave. I wanted to tell someone about our meals but my partner just wanted to go he had had enough, I persuaded him to wait whilst I approached a gentleman. I told him about the meal and that we had left it and he came to check the food . I showed him the salad he agreed was nasty and that both burgers didn't taste like burgers at all still cant phathom out what the taste was and he apologized and refunded our money. I told him we were staying next week and wanted to check out the food before hand and he said to find him on the day and he would buy us a drink. I found him to be very approachable and polite and his customer service was brilliant unlike the barmaid who could do with some customer service training. If I had only had a drink and delt just with the gentleman it would have been 5 stars but as we had shocking service from the young lady and food cold and order wrong and the mouldy salad and strange taste , poor presentation I couldn't give more that a 2 star ar best. Really hoping our stay...

I recently stayed at the Vine Hotel in Stafford with my partner and her child. Overall, this stay had a few notable issues that affected our overall enjoyment of the hotel.

Let's start with the positive aspects. The room itself was decent, although it did have a couple of drawbacks. The overall cleanliness was acceptable, but I did notice black mould around the seals on the shower tray, which was quite off-putting and could be easily rectified with bleach. This is an issue that definitely needs addressing for future guests.

In the evening, we all ate in the bar. The food was acceptable, but certainly wasn't special. I had the 'Ultimate Spicy Burger' which was neither ultimate nor spicy. The quality of the burgers used was quite poor. If hoped for home made patties and not mass produced ones that had clearly been frozen. The meat was clearly mechanically separated and had a lot of stingy sinew that stuck in my teeth.

One of the biggest challenges we faced during our stay was the location of our family room. It was situated on the ground floor, directly adjacent to the smoking area for the bar. This resulted in a constant noise disturbance, particularly during the evening when the bar was open. Opening the windows to alleviate the heat allowed more noise in, as well as the smell of cigarette smoke. This made it challenging for both us and our 11-year-old to sleep, as the noise continued until closing time. The lack of sound insulation and the proximity to the smoking area were disappointing and significantly impacted our overall experience.

Additionally, I must mention the issue with the kettle provided in the room. It had a significant buildup of lime scale, and when i rubbed my finger against it, a considerable amount of lime scale came off. This raised concerns about the overall cleanliness and maintenance of the room. It would be beneficial for the hotel to regularly descale and maintain such amenities to ensure a satisfactory experience for guests.

On a positive note, the breakfast provided at the hotel was enjoyable. The food was tasty, and there was a decent variety of options available. However, the service during breakfast was somewhat slow. It took longer than expected to be served, which can be frustrating, especially when you're eager to start your day.

In conclusion, our stay at the Vine Hotel in Stafford had its ups and downs. While the room itself was acceptable, the presence of black mould, the noise and cigarette smoke from the adjacent smoking area, and the issue with lime scale in the kettle were definite negatives. These factors, coupled with the slow breakfast service, impacted our overall experience. I hope the hotel management takes note of these issues and works towards addressing them to improve the overall experience for...

Terrible. Walked in and there was just me and another couple in there. Have been working all week so wanted to get something to eat and then do some shopping before the supermarket closed. Which in all honesty should not reflect my review but does play a part. So I walked up to the bar and ordered my food and drink. This would have been about 6 o'clock given a minute or two either way. Sat down and waited. I've been before and food has always been fairly decent but taken a touch longer than most places to come out. Always a nice lady on the bar who is polite and good at service. Same again tonight, can't really fault her. After a while I noticed it was now 6:40 and I'd been sat there still waiting for my food. The other couple had had their meal and nearly finished. Food came out for another couple that ordered behind me in the queue. Then finally at 6:50 my gammon egg and chips arrived. The peas were poor, the egg wasn't brilliantly cooked, the gammon was fair enough, the tomato looked anemic, 2 or 3 tiny badly cooked button mushrooms, 2 onion rings the size of 10 pence pieces and there was hardly any chips, half of which were over fried scraps. This was just gammon egg and chips I waited for and it took over 50 minutes to come. The woman who was on the bar and also doing a lot of other things was so busy she probably didn't even realise how long I had been sat there to realise to say sorry it took so long. I just got it down me and got out of there. Supermarket closed by now and a bad experience all in. There's a cost of living crisis and inflation so going out should be a treat, especially after a long week. Sadly I won't be coming back for food. Thanks to the lady who is always polite and clearly working hard, but that was not good enough. So much so I have gone and done something I rarely do and...