Staff were very helpful and friendly, if a bit haphazard! Food in the restaurant and the bar was really nice and well-priced. The bed was one of the most comfortable we have ever slept in and the room was very pleasant. There was a party in the function room below us, but there were no.problems with noise. Interesting place and good value for the price

The staff were all very nice and personable and the property is beautiful, however the building and grounds are in serious need of maintenance. ☹️

The hotel is beautiful, extremely comfortable beds. Friendly service

There might as well have been a ladder to get me to my room. Badly signposted, no lighting on the main stairs, more stairs to go up, to go down, to go up again. Got to the end of a musty, dated ‘antique cream’ coloured corridor to find the rooms ended in 31. I was in 32. I realised there was yet another door (that looked like a cupboard door) - I went through that, expecting to find some kind of edible delight with ‘eat me’ written on it, as the walls and ceiling performed a masterpiece of collapsing perspective. The room was basic. No bedside lamps, a rotting window; a barely warm radiator. An awkwardly long ‘bathroom’ with an anti-tardis shower; I have seen babies dribble with more pressure. Dated wired telephones (telephones???) that had been unplugged by previous guests (who might no longer be with us) due to their audible affliction to ‘ping’. Single use plastic bathroom cups completed the utopian experience. Upon checkout, I was greeted with the ‘How was your stay?’ gambit, just to finish me off. Wow, that was a unique experience. I was not inclined to say “ Well….” - this chain is not, and will not do anything to make this a better place to stay. The incredible edifice they have acquired has a huge appetite for improvement to achieve a decent standard, but profit outranks any call to arms.

The vaulted ceiling in the reception area is a nice feature.

I wanted to fall in love with this place. It looked gorgeous on the outside and the grounds were lovely. The desk clerk was friendly checking in. But getting to our room was difficult with luggage. Hallway turns and several doors and staircases. The room itself was shabby. The wallpaper was peeling and it just overall looked tired. Breakfast the next morning -- for a charge -- was not the best and the sausages gave me indigestion. I think they were a little "off". I had to search out a pharmacy to purchase an antacid. Probably would not recommend.

Wonderful sight, lovely staff and good service.

This was a stunning old palatial character building and grounds. Wonderful and helpful staff. Good food and beverages. Really enjoyed our two nights.

Before I get into the experience of staying at the property, I will say that the bar/restaurant staff were amazingly helpful and friendly; the food was wonderful, as well. If I was only reviewing them, I would give it full marks. The hotel, itself, though, was very disappointing. From the start, we were concerned, as the parking lot and surrounding green space if full of garbage and poorly cared for. Once we entered the hall near our room (17), we noticed a strong moldy, musty smell that got worse inside our room. The room itself was in need of not only a deep cleaning (the bathroom, in particular, had not been cleaned well for some time and had visible mold and built-up dust) as well as renovation (carpet stains, wallpaper stains). We stay in historic hotels whenever possible and can say with certainty that the issues were not what one would expect from a property being older, but were actually issues of poor cleaning and upkeep. As an indicator of the shoddy state of the rooms, the bedside lamps are not plugged in, as there are no outlets and the hotel has not seen fit to bring in extension cords or other solutions, but simply leaves a non-functional light for people to suffer through. We were only booked for one night and we were exhausted upon arrival; otherwise, we would have demanded a refund and gone elsewhere. Save yourself the disappointment. Go for dinner, which is highly enjoyable, and stay elsewhere.

Wonderfull location and setting, Service in the evening was outstanding However morning was a different story, We came down for breakfast (as booked) the place was totally empty -No reception, No guests ,No staff in restaurant, After waiting 20 minutes with only a flask of luke warm coffee available 3 young ladies arrived into the dining room and still no staff or service and no one in reception, Searching around we found a woman who proved very rude indeed and clearly having no customer service training or intent said she had been busy elswhere and harshly demanded that I return to the dining room,there demanding we sat at the window table as we were at a table set for dinner asking which one (as there were 5 windows) she became even more and aggressive, the the 3 ladies then tried to move to window tables. which only had 2 seats,they were instructed to stay at the larger table, As a point of interest there were approx 20 tables in the room no staff no assistance and some tables with dirty linen and no cutlery , with only 5 guests requiring 2 tables was it really an issue where anyone sat? Even though we had been waiting for a very long time she took the orders for the 3 ladies and we were left to wait a further 15 minutes at which point the ladies had left that presented as breakfast and left the dining room , we thought a simple 3 egg omelette may be quick and easy, we were presented with what appeared to be a pancake base with a thick layer of cheese swimming in oil

Lovely and convenient

Staff to endure that the room is cleaned. Inside thevwardrobe was dirty, the rail and the hangers. lnside the bedsides draws were dirty. The cleaner only emptied the dirty basket in the bedroom and not the one in the bathroom. The window in the bathroom was dirty. The bath was too small hence when having a shower the curtain around the bath was touching my body when the shower was on.

We had a wonderful stay at Bestwood Lodge staying in the King James room. A beautiful room with a balcony overlooking the gardens. Had a meal in the restaurant and the food was delicious. The lodge is a beautiful building with lovely gardens. Linda and Graham were so friendly and helpful. They looked after us very well. Want to go back very soon!

Zero value for money ! The bedrooms are beyond tired . I’m amazed at what looked to be a great hotel from the outside was so poor on the inside . We paid £130 for the evening and it’s a £60 room at best . We didn’t even stay for breakfast . The hotel has been left for that long and I would estimate over 30 years that it’s probably too costly for any investor to put any money into it .

What a special find on our road trip around England! On short notice, we were able to book a room for one night. The room was spacious and the bed comfortable. Little touches like bottled waters, biscuits, etc were nice extras. The hotel itself has an interesting history & the grounds are lovely for taking a walk, having a drink on the terrace, or just enjoying some sun. The hotel is in need of some restoration and updates, and hopefully that will happen soon so that she will shine again.The staff were so gracious and helpful, and we thoroughly enjoyed chatting with them. Dinner was delicious and we enjoyed relaxing in the lounge in the evening.

The staff are very friendly and accommodating. Had a pleasant stay. The room was very spacious which was very nice. Only downside was there is no fridge in the room and there were cobwebs in some parts of the room. The breakfast was very basic as there was not alot of choice for us. It would help if there was more different types of bread available eg seeded or sourdough bread.

Beautiful grounds, great food, lovely staff! Definitely would stay here again. Would recommend to friends.

Staff are really friendly but it's just a shame the building is going to ruin. It has a beautiful setting.

We stayed in the beautiful King Charles suite. The hotel and grounds are beautiful as was the room. It had a separate sitting area with a second tv and tea making facilities. The bed was huge and very comfortable. The bathroom was enormous with a twin shower.

Breakfast - very average. The room was tired, shower takes so long to work.

Amazing staff very helpful. Stayed with elderly mother and uncle who walked into reception with walking sticks. Receptionist immediately changed both rooms to lower level as no lift in hotel. Beds were very comfortable and had great nights sleep. Loved it so much I have booked for another stay in October.

Beautiful historic building and gardens, room needed a bit of a clean but ok

Lovely historic hotel. We had a large room with huge beds and a lovely bathroom Really gret they had kettle tea coffee and biscuits. People were friendly. Need to be aware there is no lift though. My wife is not too strong and struggled with the stairs. But good stay overall.

We have good memories of this place as we honeymooned here almost 3 decades ago and daughter was married here. You have to bear in mind that this place was built in the 17th century by Charles 2nd for his mistress Nell Gywnn so the place has Class !. But it's a bit shabby around the edges although it does have location, location, location. So you can't fairly compare this hotel against boring modern rabbit hutch premises. Go for the superior named rooms though not the plain numbered also ran boxes. Only complaint we made was there were gravy stains on the breakfast milk jug. Under new mgmt having just been bought out from Best Western so give the new mgmt time to knock heads and crack the whip a bit over the staff !.

Beautiful historical feel around the building. Only downside is that there’s no lifts so had to lug our luggage up the stairs.

I was in room 10 and starting around 11 pm building work started in the dining room below and continued to 5 am !!!! Why this room was used during the building work is unbelievabletere were spare rooms

The room was OK, However, the heating was not on (electric heater provided but then room tropical or cool). The window frames need attention as there was a draft. Admittedly my stay was during a cold snap in April but the room was cool in the morning. The hotel is in need of some maintenance but my stay was good value.

The setting and character of the hotel is very impressive. Don’t necessarily book here if you’re looking for the latest power shower and boutique decor. This property is much more about the setting and grandeur of its past. We enjoyed our stay

The staff are very friendly and made my birthday better as it didnt go to plan. The staff looked after us really well. Hotel is gorgeous but rooms need a lick of paint. Most comfortable bed i ever slept in

Service was great. The food was lovely, can’t fault that at all. The original building and interior is a marvel! However, the hotel resembles a cheap b&b. Broken lighting, poor interior choices that simply don’t compliment the original building. And worse of all, the room was freezing cold, I went to bed fully clothed. This place has so much potential and should well be a luxury place to stay, however it is has some way to go before it reaches that.

Nice but had 2 single beds pushed together other wise good and nice

Fab stay, staff great, food good. Hotel impressive.