Crown at Worthington Hotel

My partner and myself went for a meal at the Crown last night. Saturday and the place was very very quiet. This should have been a warning. We were shown to our table for two in the conservatory, at the very back of the restaurant, although most of the tables were free in the restaurant ? My partner had trouble to squeeze in to his seat, as all the room was taken up with a large fire extinguisher next to his seat, and a child’s highchair hanging off the wall, the legs having been used to keep the fire exit closed. I asked to be moved as it was also quite cold as well. The waitress moved us to the restaurant. We asked for the drinks menu and or wine menu, they didn’t have one. I don’t think I’ve ever been to a restaurant that didn’t have a wine/drinks menu. We managed to order a bottle of wine without knowing what choice was on offer. We had nachos to start between us which were nice. But when the main course came, I had ordered medium rare Ribeye steak, it arrived medium to well done very thin, and I doubt it was 10ozs in weight. The onion rings were overcooked. My partners Crown burger was mediocre at best. Neither meal were worth the expensive price they were charging, my partners onion rings were greasy and not very nice. I had apple crumble which was much better with a small scoop of ice cream. I did speak to the manager who apologised and took 10% off the food bill. But I did ask him why there was no wine/drinks list. He said he had been too busy over Christmas and January with functions to have time to do one ? I think there was a function that evening upstairs .We hadn’t visited The Crown for a few years, and I don’t think we will be visiting again in a hurry. The standards seem to have really gone down unfortunately. There are a lot of other local restaurants we can frequent which are a lot more convenient, and more value for money.

Disappointed and stunned by the experience myself and my guests have had at the Crown. We have had a marquee booked for my daughter’s christening. To begin with, only one side of the marquee was open (the side further away from the carpark at the top of the staircase). Some of my guests were elderly including a person in a wheelchair and some only being able to walk with a zimmer frame. When I have asked the staff to kindly open up the other side of the marquee to enable those guests to make an entry directly from the carpark, the employee refused to open the easily accessible side of the tent. Due to this, the guest who arrived in a wheelchair had to leave as they could not have accessed the marquee from the other side due to the high staircase with no accessibility for disabled individuals. My husband’s grandmother had to be carried up the staircase on a wooden chair by family members as she was unable to take the high staircase herself. Which could have been easily avoided had they allowed us to open up the other side of the tent. The following day I have learnt that the owner of the Crown suggested to carry her up in a chair, rather than opening up the other side of tent for us. Outrageous! When I had made my booking, I have been reassured that the marquee will be heated up inside and that it will be suitable for a party in March. When myself and the guests arrived on the day, there was only 1 heater inside, while there was 3 heaters outside the marquee not being used. One heater was not enough for the big tent so I have asked the staff whether we could have some of those heaters outside the tent. The employee informed me that there is no gas for those heaters and they cannot do anything else for me in order to heat up the marquee any more. I was left rather disappointed and upset as all of the guests had to sit inside with their coats on as it was a cold day. We have also tried to order a few bottles of Prosecco to celebrate, at which point we were left further disappointed as the staff informed us that following a busy Saturday night, they do not have any Prosecco left. One should think the place would make some effort to stock up on a celebration drink for any events booked. My booking was for a “traditional buffet” at £9.95 per person, including sandwiches, wraps, sausage rolls etc. and yet, we have had no wraps brought out with the rest of the food, it was completely missed out. Although I have received a £25 refund for the inconvenience of missing the wraps out. However, that is not really acceptable when I have booked on for 43 guests. When I have made a complaint about these issues, Ashley, the party planner was apologetic and has labelled the day as a "total chaos". Due to my appalling experience, I have requested a partial refund. The owner of the place screamed in my face, in a manner nobody should be spoken to let alone a paying customer. Regardless of all my frustration with my experience, I have remained calm and

Had a surprise 70th party for my mum, Alex was so helpful in the lead up and at the party and everything went really smoothly. Everyone commented on how nice the venue was and how amazing the buffet was (they even accommodated our last minute vegan options)! I would definitely recommend to anyone planning a party, the function room upstairs is all self contained with its own bar and toilets and the children loved having the green spaces outside to play in and stroke the horses!! It was nice that guests could move to the bar downstairs afterwards and use the pool room and listen to the live music.