The Great House Hotel and Restaurant

Aug 25th, 2022

I hope we were just unlucky, and I feel sad writing this, but it wasn't the best experience this weekend. We stayed overnight and had the tasting menu. The Creppy family are departed a while now, and the staff such as Henri that stayed on are long gone, they set unbelievably high standards which were always going to be hard to meet. We loved the room we stayed in, but the rest of the experience was a bit awkward. I feel sorry for them as it was super hot and it must be difficult to get staff at the moment, but when you have paid 500 for one night and food inc wine then things can be a bit disappointing. From the start we could tell that they were under the cosh, the manager was sick, and we were told repeatedly how busy they were tonight. We asked to eat 30 mins later than booked which they said would help. We ordered a half bottle of champagne but had to wait about 15 minutes as the fridge was broken at it would not be cold. It arrived and wasn't cold enough really, then after 10 minutes in the ice bucket it was. Simultaneously other guests were told the coffee machine was also broken. A bit of a shame as we were celebrating a birthday and it sort of spoiled the moment waiting for a drink. Then ordered a 2014 Pomerol which to be honest I found really rather average, but that is the luck of the draw. The food was quite good, but only one course impressed us, the trout was good. The staff seem very downbeat to the point of it being awkward, one told us and another table to make as much mess as we like as it was her last shift. Others seemed very awkward and lacking confidence/a smile. Again, hard to get quality staff at the moment, but there seemed to be a lack of pride/confidence in what is being delivered. I also asked for cheese to finish off, in the past they had a glorious cheese cart with a huge selection of great cheeses. I accept maybe it was too hot for this, but I was simply given a plate of three cheeses, no one asked me if I would like to choose anything or for example do I like blue cheese. Then when it was delivered my wife tried one of them, liked it so asked what it was, and they didn't know what the cheese was which is probably not what they aspire to. makes me sad as the cheese at the Great House is stuff of legend. More minor stuff: Breakfast wise the coffee in the percolator was way too strong even for someone who likes strong coffee, a tiny shot of milk was not enough so we asked for more, would have been nice to be offered hot milk to make Cafe Au Lait etc. Also another minor point, the soap and shower gels were quite horrible, they stick to you and don't wash off, not something I'm usually bothered about, but the half empty containers looked like they had be refilled with something not very nice, or it was just never very good. When we checked out I think the manager may have been back, he did not ask us once how our stay had been so we had no real chance to say anything. We tried to be understanding and of course being British nothing was really a problem for us, but when you've spent 500 for a birthday it was all a bit disappointing and not nearly up to par. I sympathise that it might have been a difficult night, but to be honest it would have come off better if I hadn't been reminded every few minutes that they were so busy and everything going wrong. I'm not even sure that they were that busy, the terrace was out of bounds and the restaurant was 3/4 full. Matters were drawn in to focus the next day when we went to the Weavers Spa, and also for lunch at the Crown in Stoke by Nayland, staff were cheerful, helpful and great at both of these local places. Sorry for writing this negative review which I feel sad to have written about a place we used to love.
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