The Crazy Bear Stadhampton

May 2nd, 2023

May 1st, 2023

May 1st, 2023

Apr 30th, 2023

If this review was of the hotel only then it would have been a 5. Communications before our stay were great and swift. Sophie, who showed us to our accommodation, was amazing and went above and beyond to ensure our stay was prefect. Also Isabelle who drove us back after dinner was very attentive and a huge benefit to the company. Our room was great, very comfy bed and great amenities. However, our issues came from our dining experience. On a Sunday meals are served in their event space, the glass house. While initially happy that this seemed to be roomier than the reviews of the Thai restaurant space, on being seated the whole place felt like we were at a wedding of someone we'd never met - we were sat at a table for six for a romantic dinner for two. It then took 35 minutes to get a drink, bearing in mind that you are given a 2 hour window for your table this seems entirely unreasonable. The food that came out was tasty but cold, we couldn't speak to anyone about this as the staff seemed to have perfected the art of disappearing and avoiding eye contact. At no point during our meal did anyone check if our food was OK or check if we needed anything else. This would be slightly more understandable if they were short staffed but for the size of the venue there was an abundance of staff. What was lacking was any sign of leadership. After sitting on the very uncomfortable chairs for another 30 minutes after finishing the meal and trying to pay our bill we ended up going up to staff station only to be ignored for another 15 minutes while a staff member was having (I hope) a personal conversation on their phone swearing continuously. We now figured out why our food was cold as the chef was whispering 'service' to an unmanned area. All in all a dreadful dining experience and a massive shame given the effort and customer service put in by the hotel team. This is a restaurant surviving on a reputation that it no longer deserves.
Apr 29th, 2023