We were here Friday to Sunday in February and stayed in the Horsley Suite. A large and comfortable room with a view of the grounds and the sea. If excellent service, top-notch hospitality and a glass of wine in front of a roaring fire are your thing book into this hotel! The staff were helpful in every way, from local knowledge to organizing dinner in their restaurant. An absolute pleasure. The food was outstanding too. I look forward to returning in the summer. Well done all who work there!

I was recently a guest at a 60th birthday party held at The Orestone. The food was excellent and the friendliness and the attentiveness of the staff was outstanding. The restaurant is charming with a lovely terrace and views of the sea. Picture postcard setting, comfort, service and cuisine - a marvellous venue. I will definitely be returning for Sunday lunch soon.

Lovely hotel with wonderful staff. Stayed in room 3 with a very large comfortable bed with crisp white cotton bed linen. Bathroom with double sinks, bath and separate shower, complete with lovely bath robes. Bar and lounge area is lovely with comfortable sofas and open log fire which was very welcoming after a day out and to come back to for a hot chocolate. We had the taster menu on the 2nd night which is a must, has to rank as one of the best I have had.
Breakfasts where great and any special request were not a problem.
Thank you all for a lovely stay. We will be back.

I suppose the term not quite what I was expecting sums up Orestone Manor.  You have to make a severe left turn off the xxxx road, which we didn't do partly for over shooting it and partly for fear of not making it in one turn on a fast road and bend, instead turning around further down and approaching from the better direction.  The hotel is only a short distance down a narrow lane.  If you brave the steep hill and single track road you pass a charming thatched pub and the start of several cliff paths (with paid parking) and access to Maidencombe beach (again by a steepish path - not easily accessible in the wet without the right shoes )

The sign for the hotel is slightly lopsided, unlit and in need of a little paint, this rather sums up the hotel.  There are a couple of photos on the Trip Advisor site that might give a fair impression of the standard of some of the decor and finish - the reception for example....  the front of the hotel (despite having a lovely small fountain by the entrance - all let it down rather and even made me wonder if I had done the right thing by booking this hotel.  But it is definitely worth pressing on.

We had the Horsley suite, the room is lovely, spacious, light and clean (not a given by any means in any 4 or 5 star hotel) but this is not helped by the colour scheme of dark cream and mustard!  Being kinder it could be described as gold (cream, gold and blue being the room's colour scheme). Bit reminiscent of the colour in my old primary school.  A bit of fresh cream paint and some new (not modern) pictures or better quality prints (and I am a fan of the preraffelites).  The bathroom could do with being modernised a little but it is spacious, warm, clean and well equipped with bath and sep shower and an over the bath shower for hair washing.  On the downside, there are not quite enough power points near the bed, no light on the rather battered dressing table , our duvet cover was badly torn which goes back a bit to attention to detail and we didn't have any soap in the bathroom for the first couple of nights so ended up buying some by which time it then appeared.  But all very minor.

The reception and stairs and corridors are rather gloomy and a bit unwelcoming - not doing justice to the charming conservatory where breakfast, coffee and lunches are served nor the bar area or restaurant.  The conservatory is candlelit in the evening which is lovely.  I am not suggesting the hotel should be filled with lots of square uncomfortable furniture, electric colours or big wallpaper prints as so many hotels interpret being contemporary - just a lick of paint and a bit of freshening up.  I have learnt that 'traditional' in hotel terms tends to mean unloved or tiredmor awaiting refurbishment.

Breakfast is very good, particularly the hot selection (with the possible exception of the mushrooms which I would like to think are fresh  but believe they may be tinned).  The buffet breakfast is a little Spartan with no muesli but fruit salad and a small choice of cereals and OJ.  Staff are helpful and if more toast or coffee/tea is required it is readily forthcoming.  

We stayed in late Sept and the heating was on so we were lovely and cosy during our stay.  We had a very good but not cheap evening meal in the hotel.  Most of the staff are friendly and efficient.  It is worth taking your room key out with you as it can be difficult to raise reception out if obvious hours when you come back from a day out.  The hotel does boast free wi-fi throughout the hotel but it is extremely patchy and only working for us in areas close to reception so not making it as far as the conservatory, restaurant or our room and we couldn't get a phone signal and Internet connection in the same space - not a big issue unless you are trying to make phone bookings from website information.