Boot Inn Studley — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

Firstly we were made to wait 50 minutes for our pre booked and prepaid reservation. We had to wait outside in the wind with 2 small babies and 1 small child. After 30 minutes we had to hunt down a member of staff because no one had bothered to give us an update so we were worried we’d been forgotten about. We were told 5 more minutes which was actually another 20 minutes. If staff had been honest we would have went elsewhere as waiting that long with small babies and children is just completely unacceptable. We had perfectly timed out reservation with our babies schedule but due to us having to wait so long this completely threw the entire plan out which resulted in a very stressful dining experience as we had 2 extremely fussy babies who were out passed their bedtime. Staff were hard to find and seemed stressed which is very confusing when considering that all bookings had to be made in advance and paid for so you would think you would ensure you only book what is at the capacity of staff to ensure diners aren’t left waiting 50 minutes for tables to be turned over or needing to hunt people down just for an update. This was my first ever Mother’s Day and this completely ruined my experience. The bar was dirty wet and sticky which I didn’t realise until I put my arm down and got covered in muck. I pre warned that we needed a table with space for our babies pushchair. This was not accommodated and we had to basically rearrange the entire table to get it to fit. I was hoping the food would make up for the poor customer service but this was just as bad as everything else. Chicken was dry, roast potatoes were inedible as I couldn’t even cut them they were that hard everything was either under or overcooked and lacked flavour. By the time we received the dessert we had to make a quick exit as the babies needed to get to bed so I was only able to manage a couple of mouthfuls of the only part of the meal that was actually decent. £38 per head for 2 mouthfuls of brownie is not value for money and how we were treated even after pre warning you we would be bringing babies makes me feel this I not a family friendly venue so will not attend again and would...

Lovely place, nicely decorated and stylish, however staff have attitude and are less than helpful. Booked our Boxing Day meal in September, came back in November to prebook our dinners, we were told to just order on the day. On Boxing Day we were told they ran out of the items from the set Christmas menu...it's perfectly acceptable on a daily basis but not for bookings taken months in advance! One item in particular was the whole reason why we wanted to go there in a first place. Alternative in a form of a steak was offered and we were expected to either have it with no complaints or chose a different item from the limited set menu. When we expressed our dissapointment the waitress just said "sorry" and shrugged her shoulders with a tired expression on her face. No refund or compensation was offered. When we were deciding on what drinks to have the manager who was serving us was impatiently tapping his fingers on the bar. Found it a bit rude and even though we've tried to still make it a nice Christmas meal and food was okay in the end, although a bit bland, the whole experience was overshadowed by staff's lack of professional approach and "can't be arsed" attitude. Asked for a bottle of red wine, it was explained to me it was in a cellar and therefore it's colder than a room temperature, which I didn't mind, but why not have a bottle of house wine upstairs in case someone orders it? Staff were also shouting and laughing in the kitchen with a complete lack of consideration for the people in the dining area. Also gathering around the bar, including the manager, waitresses and kitchen staff, chatting and having cocktails like they were not at work but like they were customersand we were disturbing them. Very dissapointing and I would not recommend it, especially for £200 we paid. I tried to chanel my Christmas spirit and have a good time with my family but deep down we were all dissapointed and I was fuming I booked our boxing day meal there. Just avoid, not...

Update - the company issues an apology and made up for their staff shortcomings, so while that particular team were not helpful, the actual company in charge are extremely accomodating and customer-orientated.

It was meant to be a special family Sunday dinner for my husband's birthday. When we arrived, the table was not ready, which is fine, but once we were seated it took further 40 minutes for someone to come to us asking for our food order. We did not mind the waiut and eveb though we were warned they were running low on chicken, we were happy to settle for a roast without any chicken, but pork and beef only. Once someone finally came to our table to take the order, we were told there was no roast available and the kitchen packed up their Sunday dinner service, so we woud have to settle for something else. And this is where it becomes especially bizzare - there was no ordinary Monday-Saturday menu available, just a Sunday one with the roast as the only meal one would go for, unless they were vegetarian. The only options that were not vegetarian were 7oz steak ( I'd go to Miller and Carter if I wanted steak), fish and chips ( my local chippy serves great selection of that greaze) and gammon wih egg( a pub grab you would expect from a local canteen, not the Boot). So, having stopped Sunday roast, at the start of the dinner service and without any warning that Sunday dinner is only served till... customers were invited to settle for an extremely limited selection of unsavoury options. I suggested that we choose something from a regular meny, but was told it was not an option on a Sunday.... We ended up leaving. The night was ruined and despite having dined at the Boot many of times, we will not longer be coming back and will be warning others that The Boot appears to have forgotten what good service should be like and is no longer a place one would want to go for a fine dining experience...