Bishopstrow House - A Von Essen Hotel

Fantastic food, but that's where it stopped. the room was poorly maintained, and the bathroom was a joke. my wife was unable to stand under the shower and she is only 5ft 5" so not good unless you are extraordinarily short.

The staff were very helpful, particularly the Reception staff. However, the hotel was a bit shabby, and my room would certainly have benefitted from re-decoration. Worse still, it was cold in the bedroom and, despite the very cold weather conditions, the fires were not lit in the public rooms. The indoor pool was too cold to swim in for the duration of our stay as the boiler was broken.

Staff appeared harrassed/ over worked and hence the service particularly at reception on check out was slow and a little chaotic. Breakfast was average for a hotel in this bracket. Room was o.k but the bathroom was in need of updating/repair.

Signposting to hotel entrance not very clear. Food and service excellent and well presented. Security: evidence of forced entry and repair on bedroom door around lock.

Potentially a great hotel as the old house is lovely and the outbuildings with a little TLC could be excellent. But they're not. We were in an annex which was fine for access but smelled dreadfully of damp and our room was also in need of some updating and refitting. The bathroom was clean enough, but you still got the sense that you didn't want to be there. Apart from reception and one waiter the rest of the staff seemed hopeless. The food was a welcome surprise as we feared it would be as incompetent as everything else, but it was very good, but overpriced. Breakfast was again good, but the waiter we had was so rude it was incredible.