Canterbury Bell — Restaurant in Thanet

So let’s me start with the positive:

Hotel Room (106) Clean, spacious, good desk space and decent size tv. Rooms are air conditioned which is a bonus when we stayed and room had a comfortable bed

Now the negatives:

Check in: Rude girl behind bar area directed me to the reception desk (which is at the back of the restaurant) and I was told to wait for someone called ‘James’ Desk was not occupied so had to wait. Several team members walked past me without so much as hi, hello or someone will be with you soon. Finally acknowledged by a lady who really looked as she was having a bad day, another team member turned up and asked her where ‘James’ was, her reply: ‘I don’t know, he’s probably on his lazy a%se somewhere’ not really what I, as the customer wanted to hear, especially as I still hadn’t been checked in at this point!

Dinner: Booked a table online for 8pm, turned up just before, waited at the designated area, 3, 4 minutes passed, again several team members walked right by us without so much as a hello, hi, are you waiting etc.( the place was hardly packed out) We then took the decision to seat ourselves, when I approached the male server, he asked if we had waited at reception and I said no as no one had approached us to offer help. His response ‘Only the Manager shows you to your seats’ so, okay, if indeed the Manager holds the right to seat people, surely it doesn’t stop the team members acknowledging anyone waiting to be seated? Apparently not, well not here anyway! Next we ordered, 2 drinks and 2 mains, the hunters chicken, should come with a trades description act, as nothing had hunted this chicken I can assure you!! As tables were being cleared right near us, more chat from team members, regarding swapping shifts etc. Again people have to talk I appreciate this, but I don’t want to hear about team members rota issues! £45.00 down and if we had been closer to home or familiar with the area , I would have left. Nice hotel, shockingly rude team that lack basic customer service, an invisible Manager, a team that are in apparent need of leadership or roles outside of hospitality and over priced lack lustre food! Listen up Marstons, Wetherspoon’s do it better, cheaper and offer more consistent...

First of all I must say that my husband and I never complain. We forgive or excuse as everyone can make mistakes. To do so is upsetting to all concerned and spoils our own experience. So, when we checked in and found a brown stain in the toilet we said nothing and flushed it. All ok. The soap dispenser by the washbasin was empty and remained so during our 2 night stay. Our evening meal on our first night was cod and chips. The fish was overcooked and the batter was so hard it was difficult to cut or chew. We said nothing. At breakfast on Sùnday morning I asked a male server if we could have some marmelade for our toast. He simply said thats all there is and walked away. No marmalade at breakfast? Are you kidding? We said nothing. At our evening meal on Sunday we ordered Turkey Roast. We waited 20 mins before asking the waitress where our wine had got to. She snapped sorry it is still being chilled. When it arrived it was warm. We also had to chase our meals and when they finally arrived the parsnips were too burnt to cut or chew. The roast potatoes were the same. The yorkshire puddings were soft and soggy and again were difficult to cut or eat. This time we did tell our snappy waìtress that we were disappointed with the meal and she snapped back, well thats the first today. Meaning complaint we assume. She continued by saying that she was upset too as they were short staffed and she had too many tables to look after. We asked to see the duty manager. He was very apologetic and first offered to remove the 2 meals from our bill. Then he returned to our table to apologise again and said our bill including 2 glasses of wine had been cancelled. This was kind of him. In general the Saturday and Sunday we stayed was very very busy due to nice weather and school holidays. The staff did not come over as very welcoming and they were rushed off their feet. Not a very nice experience really. We will not stay there again. Reheated food is...

We were seen to our reserved table very swiftly as soon as we got there which was approx 15 mins earlier than the reserved time of 6pm. I was greatful that my request of being near to the disabled toilet was granted due to my mum having a weak bladder due to diabetes and dementia. After being seated our waiter took our order for drinks and gave us the menus to look at when we were ready. There was no rushing us to order or whilst eating. Mum eats slowly and they did not take any finished plates away till mum had finished. If they had mum would have stopped eating and felt rushed. The waiter at all times was pleasant and helpful. Service with a smile,please and thank you's go a long way and he had all 3, as did other waiters who helped with bringing our meals and clearing away. The food was delicious and I and my family, there were four of us in total, are looking forward to having another meal there in the near future. The place itself was very clean, no stickiness to the tables and toilets were clean too!

After leaving the restaurant, the wind was extremely forceful so due to my elderly parents being with us ,81 and 87, I stayed with them sheltering next to a bush to take the wind of us while my fiance went to get the car. He pulled up and holding her arm I walked her over to the car. However the wind was so strong it pushed my mum and she fell over in-between the back wheel of the car and the curb even though I was holding her arm. Why am I telling you this? Because there were 3 maybe 4 staff with us in a flash, 2 of which were just leaving to go home, that helped my mum up and got her in the back of the car after making sure she was ok, which thankfully she was all but a few bruises and embarrassed pride. The staff are faultless and I cannot thank them enough for the help they provided to my mum. Thank you all and see you soon Happy New Year...