Descubra sua estadia em Thornley-with-Wheatley

“'This review is intended to be objective and constructive. Firstly, the good points: A lovely building with fantastic grounds and an enormous terrace. Friendly staff. Now, unfortunately, the problems: Flies! Maybe the time of year, but there were flies all over - I think they enjoyed the food as much as we did. Also, in our room, there was an infestation of tiny black flies which I had to attack before putting the light out. Reception. A bit like a dinghy large cupboard, and usually unmanned. The room keys were on a large wooden fob, almost too large to go in a pocket. Very 1960s. Breakfast was poor. Yes, full English available, but no muesli, no weetabix, the granola seemed to run out as there was none on day 3, no fruit, either fresh or other. On two of our three days there was no white sugar, and pots of jam dumped on a table without a receptacle to take to your table. I went down to the bar on day 2 at 9.25pm. The bar was shuttered, as was Reception. Just had to drink water! Our room. Overlooked the car park, and had the smallest TV I've ever come across in a hotel. About the size of a laptop. The tiny bathroom had a loose loo seat, a damaged cord to the basin light, and a filthy, mouldy step up to the shower. These problems were reported - the loo seat was fixed, but a new cord to the light came away at it's first test. We were given a reduction to what we paid, but these problems should not happen in a 3* hotel. A makeover is badly needed as it could be such a lovely hotel. Obviously very popular with wedding groups, but for those staying there - Hmmmm!'”

Markets itself as a boutique hotel but has a lot of improvements to make before it can live up to its self appointed title. They may have won “Four in a Bed” many moons ago but it has made me wonder what competition they were up against and whether tactical payments were involved! Or perhaps standards have simply plummeted since the show was aired 11 years ago. Upon a arrival there was no one at reception to greet us and we had a long wait upon ringing the bell before anyone came to assist us. The hotel was clearly understaffed and the two young bartenders/receptionists were obviously inexperienced in customer service. We were immediately told no breakfast would be available the next morning but we could go offsite which was really disappointing. However the nearby cafe they directed us to was actually superb so that was the one highlight of our stay!! Our room appeared ok on first impressions but upon closer inspection was tired and in parts unclean. There was lots of dust in many areas and the coffee cups were stained and dirty looking (“raised” marks in the bottom of one of them and tea rings in the other). There was a chip in the shower tray which was sharp edged so had to be avoided. The shower was powerful but not hot, only lukewarm and tiny in size. The room was far too hot to sleep in. Admittedly it had been a warm day but even with a wide open window the room was stuffy and stale. Our evening meal was poor. We had the choice of eating outside amongst a rowdy group of who we presumed were locals who swore and shouted all evening long, in a bar where the loud music was almost drowned out by the loud music coming from the kitchen or a half dining room that had tables that had not been cleared away where the music was also deafening. The food was at best below than average. My partner ordered fish and chips and was served fish and greasy wedges. I ordered lasagne, which was on the specials menu, I assumed it would come with something like a salad, garlic bread or wedges but no it was just a lasagne also swimming in grease with very little meat content. Perhaps they should ask if customers would like anything to go with this dish as who wants just lasagne?? The worst part of our stay however was having to listen to the constant shouting and swearing of the drinkers outside our room on the decking area until very late. This ruined our stay and could easily have been addressed by the bar staff who appeared to enjoy it, rather than think of their residents stay. Come on guys, you have potential to be far better than you currently are. Sort the staffing levels, sort the cleaning regime. Prioritise residents if you wish to be a boutique hotel. As things stand we would definitely not return.