The Manor Chilworth Manor - Southampton

Eating was nice, nice choices, the staff was very friendly.

Breakfast at Chilworth Manor on this, our last day, was a better experience. Perhaps it was because we had booked earlier due to checking out or maybe fewer guests book for 8am, or maybe there were just fewer guests in the hotel. We didn’t have to queue to get a table, we didn’t have to queue to get to the buffet, we didn’t have an endless stream of guest passing our table to get to the buffet in short it was how we had imagined breakfast would be by using a booking system. Perhaps it might be an idea to warn guests when the restaurant has reached full capacity so they have the opportunity of choosing a quieter time.

We arrived exactly at 9.00 am the time our table was booked (as we had been requested to do some weeks ago) and were informed that there were no tables left in the restaurant. We were offered a table in the lounge/bar area or a little side room that had been opened for the overflow. We chose the side room. It was pleasant enough but tea and coffee was not served there as it was in the restaurant. Guests had to make it themselves using the thermos flasks of coffee or hot water. This was disappointing but would not have been a problem if ordinary tea and milk had been provided to go with the hot water. A waitress did try to rectify this as soon as she was told but had difficulty locating the tea so by the time she got back we were halfway through our cooked breakfast. We do not understand how the restaurant can run out of tables if a time slot has to be booked in advance. Surely the policy of pre-booking must apply to ALL guests. In addition to that the guests were not asked to wear masks while serving themselves at the buffet. While it is no longer mandatory to wear a mask it is common sense.

Buffet menu very limited, soup or salad to start, beef or fish or vegetarian pasta with only one choice of potatoes and vegetables only available on request. No gluten free desserts on offer.

Good choice of fruit, cereals and cooked food but had to ask about gluten free sausages were not gluten free and no gluten free bread on offer.