The Cross Keys — Restaurant in Uttlesford

Our experience of The Cross Keys Hotel, Saffron Walden started very positively. The restaurant was very busy at 14:00 and we thought we would try our luck and see if they had a table for two. The greeting by the manager was extremely friendly and they quickly accommodated us. We had a drink at the bar until our table was ready. We took our seats at the table and this is where the issues begun. We sat at the table for a while and no one came to give us any menus or ask whether we wanted more drinks etc. I went and took a menu from the till. Eventually I caught the attention of a passing waitress as asked whether someone would be able to take our order. The food advertised on the sandwich board outside was not available unfortunately but the menu looked promising. We ordered our food and then waited about an hour for the starter to come out. The restaurant was about 1/3 full at this time. Staff were not interested in tending to their customers. Two blond haired waitresses were chatting in the bar area and the manager was stood in the bar area eating cheese cake. The table adjacent to us had waited around 40 minutes for their deserts to arrive. Once again we had to grab the attention of passing staff to refill our drinks. The starter that arrived approximately an hour into our experience was dry on one side and had clearly been sat under a heat lamp. Once we had finished the started we promptly waved a waitress over and asked for the main course to be sent out as time was ticking on. Again we waited and decided that we have had enough. We went to the bar and asked that we pay our bill and explained about the poor service. To the barmaid credit she apologised for the poor service and said that she would remove the food from the bill and we just had to pay for our drinks. Just as we were doing this the main course arrived. I said to the barmaid the food has arrived can I pay for the additional. The barmaid said don’t worry as she had already taken the food off the bill and we could still have the food. I asked whether she was sure and she said that she was. We ate the food which was mediocre at best, the food was cold, potatoes and parsnips under cooked and the ‘gravy’ was very watery. As we stood up to leave the manager came over and said as we have eaten the food we now have to pay for it. I said that I didn’t mind paying for it, but that was not what the barmaid said. She said that she didn’t care what the barmaid said, she was the manager. I replied fine but I want you to get the barmaid and for her to tell her about the conversation that we had. The manager brought the barmaid out who in front of a restaurant of customers was made to apologise for making a mistake. It was humiliating for the member of staff. The manager was rude and gave the impression we were trying to get free food by complaining. The only defence the manager gave for poor service “the staff become complacent when it gets quiet”. No apology, no reasoning. I had already paid the bill so there was no need for it. It is such a shame for such a lovely venue. A lazy manager, unprofessional and massively lacking customer service and management skills. She did not support her member of staff and chose to humiliate her for £30. Please replace the manager and lazy staff working the restaurant floor. If the staff were on the ball and the food had come out in a timely manner I am sure I would be writing a positive review. I won’t be returning and if you have plans for the day I would recommend that you also...

We have very recently from our second stay at the Cross Keys hotel in Saffron Walden. Overall, our stay was ok, the hotel has some plus points but also some which are negative.|On the credit side this ancient hotel is very attractive externally and has definitely has ‘old world’ charm. The hotel is extremely well located in the centre of Saffron Walden; this is the chief reason we returned to this hotel, since for our purposes a central location was important. The hotel does not have its own car park but there is a large public car park (Swan Meadows) about a 5- minute walk away that is reasonably priced and indeed is free between 6 pm and 8 am, hence parking is not really a problem here.|The hotel dates back centuries and therefore unlike modern, purpose- built hotels the rooms are all different shapes and sizes and do not have air conditioning. I believe all bedrooms are upstairs and there is no lift hence the bedrooms are unavailable if one cannot climb stairs. Our room on this occasion was on the small side but was clean, adequately furnished and the bed was comfortable. The old - fashioned sash window could be opened quite easily to ventilate the room, but I suspect that in the depth of winter these single glazed windows might mean the room gets very cold. Unfortunately, two out of three of the bathroom lights were not working and although we reported the issue almost immediately upon arrival this problem was not rectified during our two- night stay, I was given to understand that the light bulbs were in some way unusual and not easily obtainable. Maybe the hotel needs to upgrade their lighting system to a more conventional one so that non-working bulbs can be placed more rapidly.|On the negative side we found that the service at breakfast time was very slow indeed. This was also a problem that we encountered last year and were hoping there may have been some improvement since then, however, this was not the case. Fortunately, we were not in any hurry but if one’s time is short it might be better to obtain breakfast elsewhere. It would seem that the chief cause of such slow service is a lack of staff; whilst the staff members we encountered were pleasant enough we never met anyone who appeared to be in charge overall. |It should be noted that no staff stay on site overnight (although one is given an emergency number to ring if you need help). In addition, after 10pm the only access to the hotel is via a fire escape staircase situated at the back of the hotel. On one evening we arrived back shortly after 10 pm to find the staircase lights were not on (which could lead to trips and falls) in addition, there were a couple of men hanging around near the bottom of the staircase. Although these men caused us no bother whatsoever, if I had been on my own I think I would have felt rather frightened at climbing up into the darkness with the possibility of being followed. So, for these reasons I do not recommend this hotel for lone travellers who think they may need to return after 10...

Second time I have visited here, would not go back Visited on a Saturday, had a table booked for 1.30pm. I arrived and waited by the door as they have a 'waited here to be seated' sign. 10minutes before I was acknowledged and seen to, 10mins!! So many staff walked passed, no-one smiled, no-one said 'someone will be with you shortly' nothing, I felt like I was invisible. I should've just left as it just continued to deteriorate from there. When finally got seated our drinks order was taken. When the drinks arrived the young lad just kind of stood by our table with a tray, no 'hello' or 'good afternoon' He was also unsure what my drink was (I ordered an orange & lemonade) and only knew what the other drink was because it was in its bottle still. Food- when that eventually arrived, it must've taken a good 45mins, served by another young lad he just stood at us and asked us if it was our food! When we asked what it was that he had, he said he didn't know! Just kind of guessed, 'prawns and some kind of egg thing' when our other item arrived by another young lad he took it to the table next to us and just dumped it in front of the gentlemen there and went to walk off before the gentlemen called him back saying it wasn't his and then we had to call him over as we thought it was ours, yet again he didnt know what the dish was either. What kind of staff don't know what any of the meals are?? Aren't there tickets with the order on for them to read before taking the food out?? Don't the chefs tell them what the meals are?? No-one checked by on us, my friends plates were cleared whilst I was still eating, literally just taken, nothing was said. No offer of more drinks. When my plate was taken, no offer of dessert menu. Back to being invisible, sat for what felt like 30-40mins, no-one checking on us for anything, are empty glasses were just taken, no offer of the bill. Saw a staff member walk past us eating a cake and then stood between us and the bar eating it. Then heard someone tell some new people that had arrived there would be a 45min wait on food - would've been nice if we had been told that when we arrived, but why such a wait when we had booked a table? I would say maybe staff shortages in the kitchen, as they had a lot of front of house staff, just a shame the ones we encountered didn't really know what they were doing. Maybe they were new, but then they should have someone experienced with them showing them what to do, it should not reflect in such a way to the paying customers to then have a bad experience. Terrible service, food took way too long and was not a great standard considering how much it was. Will...