The Orangery — Restaurant in Stratford-on-Avon

The restaurant situation was one of the most frustrating parts. Most of the restaurant staff are extremely young and not very helpful. During the day, we tried to call several times to book a table. At first, one woman at hotel reception picked up and said she would connect us to the restaurant, but after holding for ages nobody answered. We tried calling again and again, but no one picked up. Finally, when we arrived at the hotel around 4–5 pm, we asked in person at reception to book a table for the evening. We were told there were no tables available and that we would have to eat in the bar area instead. Since the hotel is in the middle of nowhere, we didn’t really have another option, so we agreed. We went down around 6–6:30 pm, found a table near the bar, and ordered food. The meal itself (meat with potatoes and vegetables) was quite tasty, but the portion was small – definitely could use more potatoes and vegetables. What really annoyed us was that during the entire hour and a half we were sitting there, the restaurant dining room had plenty of empty tables. I honestly don’t know what’s wrong with this management system.

Desserts were another disappointment. The “Ice cream Sunday ” for £8 was literally just three tiny scoops of ice cream with chocolate sauce. I also ordered sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream but was given salted caramel instead.

Before booking this hotel, I (unfortunately) didn’t read any reviews – which was a mistake. Once we arrived, I started reading them, and I was shocked at how many bad ones there were. Even worse, I realised nothing has been improved, despite the management always replying that “changes will be made.” For example: I read a review where a guest asked for an ice bucket for wine or champagne and staff said they didn’t have one – I actually witnessed the exact same thing during our stay. Guests in reviews also complained about no straws in the bar – and still, there are none.

Even simple things like coffee are not handled well. I had a morning latte, which cost £4, but it came from a machine. For that price, I expect at least a proper barista coffee, not a machine-made drink.

If it is machine coffee, it should cost less, not premium...

Avoid...... we sat down at 20:15 in a very draughty and cold window seat, we placed our order for food by 20:30. Starters came out at 21:30 (1 hour after we had ordered them) and they were stone cold, we sent them back and asked to be moved as my wife was froze, 25 mins later I watch a waiter deliver our starters to our old table and left them!! the manager came over and tried make excuses to why our starters won't be as warm as others, which was an absolute crock of poo!!! (I have never been served cold food in a restaurant) At this point the waiter had actually found the right table and delivered our starters again COLD, by this point I was Hangry so we just ate the cold starters, 22:20 our main meals came out and guess what COLD well I think the radiated heat from my chips had warm my steak enough to be at room temperature! My wife's fish was hotter than the center of the earth but her chips were stone cold. By this point I just wanted to get out of there, which we did just before last orders at the bar. We observed numerous other tables that night in distress, from having there mains before the starters, poor service and another table that had waited that long for food that when it did finally come out they were that drunk they couldn't remember what they had ordered. To top it off half the staff didn't understand what you were saying. It was an absolute diabolical meal and one we will never forget. We will not be returning and advise other to read the reviews before going, as...

This was our 2nd stay here, which was complimentary due to a poor experience overall the first time. The evening meal was nice despite a very limited pub style menu (previously we had a la carte and a bar menu was on offer). The staff provided excellent service. Breakfast, however, we might aswel of been in a different restaurant. The bowls for cereal and fruit were all dirty. The milk for cereal was room temperature, and the coffee (from the machine was cold). I didn't attempt the cooked breakfast as it did not look very appetising. Breakfast was complimentary for us but I'm pretty sure it was priced at £16.50. Extortionate if it was correct. Our first experience was not good at all. What we ordered was not what came they had changed the ingredients without telling us. Had we of been informed I wouldn't of ordered what I did and my friend wouldn't of ordered extras. Parts were missing from...