Visited this hotel twice, for food only, and on the first visit, seated in the restaurant, we were pleased with both the food and service. A young man of about 20 looked after us very well. On the strength of that, we decided to book again even though we would be in the "pub" area and it would be 8.00pm rather than our preferred 7.15pm. At the time of booking, we were not told that a singer would be performing in the pub area from 9.30pm.
We arrived just before 8.00pm and were ready to order at 8.05pm, but this was not taken until 8.20pm. The starter arrived at 8.45pm and the main course at 9.15pm i.e. 1hour 15 mins after we had arrived. Slow service to say the least !!! The young waitresses were struggling to cope with the party in the full restaurant as well as us;
the singer asked if we would mind him starting his act whilst we were still eating ( a nice gesture on his part I thought ) . We had no objections, even though we were aware that his microphone stand was a mere 2 feet from our table and that we too would be in the spotlight . We all finished our main courses by 9.40pm and waited for the plates to be collected,and perhaps order a sweet..................and we waited. No waitress, bar staff or managemnet approached so by 10.00pm I went looking for ANY member of staff to get the bill.
Needless to say, we left the hotel extremely disgruntled , especially as our first visit was entirely satisfactory. The food was good, but the waitresses are definitely in need of some training and this has been highlighted in other reviews on this site. It gives me no pleasure to write a negative review, but perhaps the Management of the hotel should now be getting the message that reviews like this will continue to appear unless they deal with the poor service which has been highlighted on more than one occasion.

We stayed at the hotel for one night only but it was not enough... The staff at the reception were very nice and helpful. When i asked about the hotel itself, it's history lady from the reception printed out information about the hotel's history.
The room was gorgeous with a beautiful view over the deer park... As a huge animal lover i was so happy with it so as was my partner.
We had a dinner at the bar, very nicely presented and well done. Also the bar member was kind and when we asked for the table outside ( nobody was eating outside) he said it is not a problem.
The deer park and surroundings of the place are outstanding. We just booked couple more nights in July and we both really looking forward to it :)
Big thank you to everyone who made our stay so nice :)

booked a room through, booking .com
The web site advised only 2 rooms left, so plumped for superior room, recieved e-mail confirmation of booking.
Recieved e-mail following morning, " Sorry we have to cancel your booking ,as this afternoon. all rooms were booked by a wedding party"
Obviously one does not believe this as it must be a very small wedding, I suspect they actually got a booking for more than one night, over the bank holiday weekend.A phone call from the hotel would have been more customer friendly, not a terse worded e-mail.
obviously money is more important than customer service

The hotel has 5 bedrooms and ours was very comfortable and clean (an armchair would have been nice for my hubby). The staff were friendly and helpful. The food was extremely good and the restaurant was always busy, so if you stay book a table in the morning for the evening.
Good location for the Derbyshire Dales Matlock and Bakewell.