At Moonfleet Manor - West Dorset

Spa day package. Lunch was a let down, requested no olives on my pre-order it came with olives! No water arrived when I asked for some. Sour dough starter was disappointing like a brick. Salad main the potatoes were hard no cup saucer to drink the hot drink from. Avoided the afternoon tea due to hearing bad reviews. Starter plate didn’t get cleared the main arrived. Not luxury for a luxury hotel! Best thing were the treatments so would only return for that reason.

We were maybe expecting too much? But it definitely fell short of our expectations from start to finish. Poor signage once off the main road over the roundabout, meant we went the wrong way. Once at the hotel we had no idea where the restaurant itself was as no signs...so we had to ask a member of staff. Hotel has an unfortunate odour which hit us as soon as we walked through the front door. I think it may be their cleaning products but it wasn't nice and reminded us of a care home. Luckily once we got down into the restaurant then the smell was overpowered by food which was good. Staff were really friendly and lovely, but service was extremely slow despite it not being at all busy. We overheard the people on the next table to us actually mention this to the staff (and they had been waiting less time than we had! . Unfortunately food was not up to standard, especially for the price tag. We are more than happy to pay those type of prices if the food was up to standard, but it wasn't. We eat out A LOT and this meal was way below par when compared to similar venues. Hummous and crudites were very basic, potted crab was oily. The steak was not at all good very chewy and full of fat. Certainly not what was expected for the price we have had far better steaks in pubs! Puddings were better thankfully. We were told by the waiter that the chef apologised for the steak and that we wouldn't have to pay for it. Then the Head Waiter came over and offered us 5% off as well as free drinks. However when we got the bill, there was no free steak. By this point I didnt even want to bring it up as maybe the waiter wasn't meant to offer us that. 5% came off the bill, but it wasn't off the whole bill, and it wasn't off of all the food, just part of it. Think it gave us just over £4 off which didn't really cut it considering what we had paid for the steak and what it was like. We did get them to remove the service charge my pet hate! Please watch that as they add on a large service charge and if you don't ask to have it taken off or realise it is on there, then you pay it. Our service charge was just over £15! I hate it when places do this and I'm sure they do this as they fully expect people not to have the guts to ask to have this removed (most people just prefer to leave a tip of their choice rather than having a set amount thrust on them . All in all we felt it was not a great experience at all and we left very disappointed in the whole evening. Unfortunately we would not want to return.

Sunday lunch, 5 adults, 2 kids. Excellent food, lovely relaxed ambiance. Added 2 people last minute so service was at times chaotic but did not spoil the experience. Very child and animal friendly. Will be there again in June with a friend staying in the hotel for a few days.

Lovely setting customer service is just so poor. We wanted to prove the reviews from before wrong…, waitress today with brown hair mid 40,s has no customer service skills in any shape way or form. We popped in yesterday to suss the restaurant out before our family meal today. My choice no way would I have come back today. Turned up for a drink yesterday and they served 2 family’s before us and we were there before them and waited for 20 minutes before giving up and leaving without a drink. Today not as busy so service should of been spot on…. Well the waitress needed a hand grenade put some where…. Food so over priced poor quality and we paid £15 for a large wine…. Such a perfect setting but boy there is only one waitress holding your establishment together the older lady with greying hair with a smiling face!!! Food is so overpriced and small potions……. Something needs to change this place could be a gold mine…….staff need to know about customer service and the chef needs to be a higher standard for the prices charged…….

We came for a friend's birthday lunch .The meals were so overpriced for the quality and quantity.Staff were friendly but service was slow.We are all local ladies but I am sorry to say I will not be returning again and certainly won't recommend it to anyone.