Ye Olde Bell Hotel & Spa

Lunch with friends in St Leger bistro - a very friendly, characterful hotel and restaurant with a varied lunch menu. We chose from the Festive menu and were all very pleased with our food. The service was attentive, but we weren't rushed and there was plenty of time between courses.

We booked the Date Night Dreams package which comprised bed, breakfast and evening meal. We were very disappointed. The room we were given was not romantic at all. We stayed in room 72 which is a courtyard room, away from the main building. The room was warm, nicely decorated and clean. However, the bathroom was very small, rather like a caravan bathroom. Initially, the bed seemed ok, but we both had a poor night’s sleep as it was so uncomfortable. The evening meal was the most disappointing part of the stay for us. We arrived for our evening meal and were taken to a table in the general bar area. It wasn’t at all romantic as we sat with families. The tables weren’t set, the lighting wasn’t romantic, there was no music, no candles and the only flowers was a pot of plastic sparkly snowdrops - not romantic at all! Later, we found there was a different restaurant area, which would have been so much better and was what we were expecting as part of a date night dreams package. The food was fine, but we didn’t enjoy the meal because of the setting. Fortunately, the breakfast was nice. We sat in the same bar area, but this was fine for breakfast. The table was set nicely, a lovely lady looked after us, there was a good choice of food. Music gave a relaxed atmosphere.

Stayed as part of the twilight spa package. Very friendly front of house staff, smiley and helpful. Room was well appointed except for really poor bed pillows (lumpy and hard) and no shelf in shower for shampoos, etc. Spa was wonderful. Again, staff were very friendly, food and service was outstanding. Breakfast at the hotel was very good, lots of choice, good quality of food. The only slight downside was we arrived at 9.45am, which was still 15 mins before close of service, but did feel a little rushed towards the end as serving staff seemed more focused on prepping the bar area for the rest of the day whilst we were still eating our full English. A minor point really as the breakfast was delicious but it seemed unnecessary and made us feel rushed. On the whole, a very relaxing stay and treat pre Christmas!