Mr & MRS Smith the Grosvenor Arms

We really like the Stay Original brand. We’ve stayed in other properties in Dorset and had great experiences. This hotel has the brand - but is let down on details. I booked a while back and forgot whether I booked B&B or Dinner + B&B. When we arrived (which was 9pm Friday) the guy at the check in desk was friendly and said ‘You’ve booked dinner, B&B’. Now I should have double checked. But sometimes we do, sometimes we don’t. This led to a misunderstanding, where I thought we needed to eat dinner at the hotel to get our value. Upon check out, turns out we hadn’t boss the dinner, B&B. Just breakfast. We had been caught in a serious accident on the A303 for nearly 3 hours so we arrived much later than expected. I’d called while en route to say we’d be late and when we arrived, the guy who checked us in kindly offered to allow us to order dinner and bring it up to us. A great start. The room we booked was their best room - and it was really nice. Very spacious. Massive bathroom. Well decorated. However, unlike some of the top rooms in their other hotels, no a/c unit. This meant we had to keep the windows open, which are above the courtyard and kitchen. Wasn’t too noisy (although Friday night is DJ night) but would have been nicer to have a completely quiet space, cooled by a/c. The food on night 1 was fine. We really appreciated the room service when it’s not the typical offer. Breakfast the next morning was average. The food felt like it had been cooked earlier and left under a heat lamp for a while. Not at all what we’ve come to expect at the stay original hotels. We went out for the morning and visited the town. It’s a lovely English village. When we returned, we had a range of drinks and snacks. All were lovely and in a beautiful setting. We retired for a nap before returning for dinner at 6. Dinner was really poor. My salmon wasn’t cooked. When I spoke to our server, he seemed uncertain about what to do. He asked me what I would like. I said for it to be cooked. Instead of firing a new piece of salmon, the old one came back on a new plate. Really odd. Breakfast the next morning was poor as well. I did order a bottle of champagne as it was our anniversary - and mimosas sounded better than simply OJ. However, my hot food order was for scrambled egg on toast, with hashbrowns and smashed avocado. I got one hashbrown (which was pretty pricey for a single hashbrown) and the smashed avocado was a puree, smashed beyond all recognition. No chunks of avocado to be seen. Looked like it came from a bottle. When we went to check out, I was told we didn’t have the dinner included (typically a £40 per night value) and ended up with a bigger bill than I expected for food that wasn’t great at all. I did half expect a discount on the dinner bill after the salmon. It seemed as if all of the staff were quite young and perhaps needed a bit more support around how to provide top level service and support. While it is a ‘pub’, we paid nearly £300 a night and

We have a long and fond connection with Shaftesbury and love visiting this beautiful town and surrounding area. This was our second stay at the hotel and, as before, we cannot fault it. We appreciated the warm reception, happy and efficient serving staff, excellent, high-quality food and stunning room. It is gem of a place and a deservedly popular hotel and gathering place. We loved it.

This hotel is located in the middle beautiful Shaftesbury town. Our stay was fabulous. The staff accommodating, rooms clean and modern, food excellent with well thought out inexpensive menus. We look forward to returning.

Pleasant hotel with good service in the centre of Shaftesbury. Parking is a little distance away (hotel refund the cost). Worthwhile booking a table in the bar on a Friday/Saturday evening if drinking in the hotel as it gets quite busy.

Excellent hootel in the middle of Shaftesbury. We did not eat there due to other arrangements. Bar and restaurant were busy so that is a good sign.

Wonderful hotel, staff were very welcoming. Good breakfast and lovely evening meal. The hotel is in a good location for exploring Shaftesbury. The only downside is that there is no parking and you have to use public car parks which are short stay. We did move our car to a car park a bit further away which was free and long stay so not a problem if you don’t mind a walk.