Bowden Hall Review

The hotel staff are very friendly and helpful, the location was good for us, being close to Hiking routes. Rooms a little noisy due to the age of the building.

It is a shame the restaurant lets the hotel down. The food at dinner was over cooked so even with the simple fish and chips, the fish was very dry and the batter over done. The chicken was also overcooked and had the texture of rubber.

Buffet style breakfast generally OK at the weekend but on the Monday morning it was cooked to order. The table next to us placed a vegetarian order but received our meat based full English and was some way through before she was informed she was eating meat at which point the staff were going to give the already started breakfast to us.

When ours did arrive, my meat sausages were cold and cutting open showed they were raw in the middle but instead of taking them away the staff member went to get a temperature probe which was duly inserted whilst I waited to see if I the raw piece I was looking at met the restaurants minimum temperature requirements. The min temperature requirement started at 65 deg but strangely dropped to 52 deg as we watched the temperature only reach just under 50.

After having waited patiently (and being embarrassed by the process) whilst the rest of the breakfast went cold she offered to reheat them, rather than replace them.

We were finally offered a free coffee in compensation, but had already unfortunately drank two cups with the breakfast.

Bowden Hall, good accommodation let down by restaurant and bar

Our room was lovely, with good views. Reception staff professional and helpful.
Regrettably the hotel (part of the Mercure group) was let down greatly by food & beverage. Non-alcoholic Mijito probably the worst I have had. With food; cheese souffl was a round lump of pale substance surrounded by / swimming is liquid and served in a pudding dish rather than a souffl dish. There was no puff / heat etc. The ribeye steak overcooked (for rare) and quality poor, and the hake was overcooked, insipid and poorly seasoned.
Complained in restaurant, told that there was a new chef, but our view was the food was pre-cooked and prepared by / from food producer wholesaler.
Complained on leaving, and was told that the General Manager would e-mail my husband. This never happened.
This is my first disappointment with Country Hotel Breaks, having stayed at some wonderful locations with great accommodation and excellent restaurants. I would recommend that someone from the Company do an unannounced stay to make sure the Company is content with the hotel being so advertised.

Would not stay at The Bowden Hall Hotel again.

My husband and I booked to stay only one night at the rate of 182.00,
After viewing the website which appeared attractive & comfortable rooms, we decided to book.
On arrival we walked into the reception which was just a small desk without a welcome from anyone.
Then a young lady appeared saying sorry but we have a function on.
We where given a room on the third floor which looked unwelcoming, under furnished, a small cupboard with 4 hooks for clothes. The room & bathroom looked dismal, the towels where grim hard and tatty, not a bathrobe, slippers, no information folder about the hotel, After asking a young lad at the desk if there was possibility of an upgrade or another room furnished at least, he answered "no sorry, and I'm new here not sure!" We decided to just forget it after looking around the hotel for a manager..... there wasn't one on duty! Breakfast greeting was "We are closing soon so do you want a cooked breakfast! unbelievable. Last time staying here. In great need of refurbishment in rooms and bathrooms very dated & obviously understaffed.

Lovely rooms food a massive let down

Lovely helpful reception staff check in and out was professional plus very efficient. There was 4 of use had rooms 435 & 436 which was perfect but a bit hot at night no air conditioner. Lovely walk in the grounds and around the hotel. No lift so if u have mobility issues long way up carrying laggage. One big let down is the food and waiters There is a lot of staff waiting in the restaurant but they are not very efficient there are disorganised and zero attention to details some tables had bread some just didn't. As for the food if u like plain boring, luk warn food that's the place for you. The staurant has a lovely a atmosphere shame about the food. Get new chef and train waiters the hotel has such potential

Not 4 star

This hotel is in a good location for exploring the surrounding countryside. However in a number of respects it falls below what one would expect for a 4 star hotel. The room we were allocated was on the fourth floor accessed via a winding difficult staircase. There is no lift. The room itself was an attic room, dark and rather cramped. Although the bed itself was comfortable there were no electrical sockets nearby and we had to use an extension lead trailing across the room. The breakfasts were good. However the first evening meal was something of a disaster. We ordered a salad starter which took over 35 minutes to arrive; the main courses were rather bland; the only saving grace was the deserts. In the light of all of this we decided not to eat in the hotel restaurant in the evenings and ate out. The grounds of the hotel are extensive but not well maintained. Although the offer we booked under was a good one, this hotel needs to up its game considerably to merit a 4 star rating.

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Deluxe room was cold when asked reception to sort, but was told we can give you a blanket, don t want too sit with a blanket round me in a 4 star. No extractor in bathroom, windows filthy spoiled the view. Rang of peak luxury left message nobody returned my call, poor customer service, quick enough to take bookings but not wanting to hear complaints.

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We found the rooms very basic and dated. We would not class this hotel as luxurious. The food in the restaurant left a lot to be desired, very poor quality. The hounds were well kept and beautiful so very relaxing setting but we would not stay here again.

Disappointed holiday.

Dark room, 1 small sash window. Food very poor. No tarragon in tarragon sauce. My buerre blanc sauce split. Very expensive wines which were absolutely not worth the money. Found a pair of black knickers in our wardrobe, probably too dark for housekeeping staff to see them. Very dissatisfied with everything really. Mr Mark Dimaline.