Down Hall Hotel & Spa

My sister and I had been looking forward to our special spa treat (a present from our nephew) all year. Unfortunately, we did not have an amazing experience - it was extremely disappointing to say the least – especially for my sister had travelled hours to get there from Reading and had to make special arrangements for her husband to take the take off work to look after their little one. There is no doubt that the hotel is an impressive building and approach; set back and reached by a long driveway it looks pretty amazing and very luxurious on arrival. Unfortunately for us we joined a check-in queue of 25 American visitors who must have just been dropped off prior to our arrival. With this many people to check in, it was a shame the hotel reception staff did not receive some extra support to ensure everyone (including us) did not have to wait as long as they did. We had a strict time limit in the spa and this waiting time held us up considerably. When we did reach reception, the staff member was very pleasant and dealt with us in a good manner. We dropped out bags into our room (129) which was a very luxurious room, great space and all very plush. The bathroom was excellent and very spacious with a shower and bath facilities. The bed linen was lovely and the beds are good. Although we only overlooked the car park, the rooms facilities and décor were excellent. Dinner at the hotel: the staff on duty were very poorly trained; we were not asked to taste the wine; there was extremely small choice of dinners on the hotel menu; we were not advised that our voucher could not be put towards beverages. The staff did not ask if our food was OK or afterwards or even If we had enjoyed our meals – they simply didn’t seem to care and were there just doing a job (but not very well). Having decided that we both fancied the Norfolk Skate wing we gave our order to the waitress to be told she had just served the last one to the American table. We really were stumped at what to then order from the menu, as the choice was so limited and I ended up asking for the bar menu which had some alternatives. I asked if the chips were made on site and was told that yes the fat chips are made on site although the skinny fries that come with the burger were not. I ordered the haddock and chips (expecting fat chips – having had this discussion) and my sister ordered the steak and ale pie and vegetables. Our meals arrived, mine with skinny fries! It was just mediocre – definitely had better and so disappointing that the fish and chips did not even come with peas! My sisters meal however was good. We were asked to ‘sign out’ of the restaurant, however due to (another) queue of Americans all individually paying for their meals we decided that as we were staying overnight and coming back there in the morning, we would see the hotel staff about our dinner then. Back to the rooms for a relax in our P.J’s . Telephone rang in our room asking us to immediately come down t