After several weeks of planning I managed to surprise my partner with a night in this very pleasant hotel along with her sister, brother and their respective partners. Booking was not easy and this is one of very few complaints. You have to book the spa break through a call centre but the hotel details, such as dining arrangements direct with the hotel. Not only did I have to make several phone calls but at the end paying the bill for three rooms nearly defeated all concerned.
Turning to the hotel it is a beautiful property, even on a grey February day. The rooms are excellent with many great features and are extremely comfortable. A few small items looked a little bit tired and hopefully there will be some money spent on attending to things such as a shower tap that is hard to turn off.
The lounges are well laid out and comfortable and the afternoon tea that came with the spa package was of exceptional quality. Tea however should be served with a pot of hot water. Each time we got hot water but why do we always have to ask?
Our meal was served in the conservatory, as requested. The cooking was faultless and the staff attentive but picked up well on the pace that we wanted. A shame that the set price menu has extras all over it; a slight embarrassment can be caused by guests thinking that they are being greedy incurring extra cost.The wine list was good both in choice and quality.
Breakfast was a pleasant change from those awful buffets with dried out usual suspects. Great fresh ingredients served in some unusual combinations that really worked.
Partner and her sister reported on the spa saying that it was well run and delivered the goods.
Overall a great stay with only the few niggles. One thing that we all agreed we would change if we could was the picture of Mr Bannantyne in every room. We like the result of his management but consider that he should trust the site manager to deliver and take a back seat. At least having the pictures free standing makes it easy to lay them down to hide his face.
- Charlton Hotel Shepton Mallet
- Charlton Hotel
