We eagerly anticipated our new year stay at Plumber Manor. Our friend who made the booking used to live in the area and had eaten there before. Checking out the web site for the manor it looked very impressive and we were all looking forward to a luxurious weekend in our superior rooms.
At first glance the spacious room looked fine. The first disappointment was the bathroom; a very dirty carpet that didn't fit up to the bath leaving a strip of bare concrete, a toilet ringed with lime scale and piles of dirt in every corner, an avocado bathroom suite and a very noisy plastic power shower. The bedroom was no better, as my husband hung his black coat in the wardrobe it slipped off the hangar - no great problem - when he picked it up it was no longer black! the floor of the wardrobe had probably never been cleaned in its life. finding dried dog food on the carpet near the bed was a little surprising as we had not been informed that the room was used by dogs. My husband then decided to open a window and found his hand covered in cobwebs. On looking up in the curtains you could see the culprits; dozens of spiders living happily in the folds! Add to this the tatty, broken furniture - not quaint and antique - just old, dust on every surface and dancing cobwebs in every light and we felt that our 190 pounds a night room was perhaps not so superior. But we were there to have a good time and our friend went to talk to Richard, one of the owners, about the dog food. He promised to sort it out.
That evening we joined in the festivities for the new year a passable meal if a little rushed. Our group are not that young - late 40s but we were the youngest there by far!
The next morning we set out to discover the area. My friend again mentioned the dog food as it was still on the carpet and Richard promised to see to it. We spotted the two cleaners and realised what the problem may be; they were both at the very least in their seventies! After spending a delightful day in the Dorset countryside we returned to find nothing changed in the room. Richard was not there but after a bit of a hunt I found Lindy who called herself the "Saturday girl" and she agreed to come to our room. She said that she knew about the room but they had not been able to do anything as we had been out all day with the key! I said surely they had more than one key for each room, she confirmed that they had a master key. After showing her the dog food and all of the dust, dancing cobwebs, dirt and spiders she admitted that she had in fact visited the room earlier that day but had not seen anything she also said that Richard had also been in himself but had found nothing! When shown the very obvious problems she was very embarrassed and highly apologetic. She informed us that they shut every February to do a deep clean. So if you go in March you will get a clean room but as the year goes on it just gets worse. She said that she would report back to Richard and he would come to see us.
We dined in the hotel restaurant that evening no complaints about the food but the plates could do with being warmed. Richard did not mention the room.
The next morning we had to depart early. We took a very quick small breakfast then went to pay. Richard said sorry about the room but I actually went there with one of my cleaners and she passed a duster over the front of the pelmet but found nothing wrong.
He admitted that his eyesight was not good. He said that he was knocking fifty pounds of of the bill and that was enough and an end to the matter as he thought that there had never been a problem in the first place and if I was not happy with the room then perhaps I was the problem and quote " perhaps your standards are higher than ours." What a thing for a hotelier to say! Surely they want to aim for the highest standards especially at those prices. He had no care for whether we had enjoyed our stay at all he had no customer care skills and was extremely aggressive and rude making us feel very uncomfortable. Essentially the dust dirt and dog food in the end were not the problem but the way the whole thing was not dealt with was. We were made to feel as if we had done something wrong. Very pompous old fossils living in another world!

We stayed for three nights for a birthday celebration and enjoyed a wonderfully relaxing time. The hotel is charming and comfortable rather than smart, and we much appreciated the company of Toby, a very large black labrador. Our room in the main house overlooked the garden, very beautiful on a frosty morning, and we had a super large and comfortable bed. OK, the bathroom wasn't luxurious, but it was large and warm. Meals were excellently cooked and presented, the scrambled eggs at breakfast being out of this world. My partner was delighted with his dish of pigeon and partridge breast at dinner, as was I with the more conventional delights of a properly rare fillet of beef. The Jacobean house itself is such a pleasure, a real family residence, elegant but quite without pretension. We couldn't have had a better stay.

Superb break with my wide and two labradors .Excellent courtyard rooms for those with dogs.Wonderful location. Breakfast very very good. Will visit again

We have just returned from a few days break staying at Plumber manor and it was absolutely perfect. Beautiful tranquil surroundings and beautiful hotel - very charming and full of character. We had 2 young children and they were catered for admirably. We had a large room in the courtyard which easily accomodated 2 extra beds. The room was comfy, the bathroom was comfortable and spacious - albeit green - everything you would need including suprisingly powerful shower and a woman's "hygiene" bag in case you were caught short.. The handmade shortbread biscuits were very well received and the tea and coffee making facilities were a treat - you don't usually get these in even 5 star hotels. The meals were fantastic, the dessert trolley to die for. And they even produced baked beans for breakfast for the kids... Nothing was too much trouble. It was a fantastic place and if we go back to Dorset we would definately stay there again.