I visited Rhinefield for their Sunday lunch with a girlfriend. The hotel is set in mature woodlands and is a listed building, the staff were all extremely proactive, very friendly and had a genuine desire to delight the customers. We were offered water immediately we took our seats. Menus were given to us and our server asked if we had an allergies. My friend had a gin and tonic, served with juniper berries... a charming touch. My salmon was delicious as was my friend’s roast chicken. Veggies were nicely presented separately. Staff offered warm breads and kept a close eye in the room to anticipate customers needs. I had cheese, my friend had ice cream for our last course. Tea and coffee was served in generous sized pots. A member of staff asked if we would like to walk in the gardens and walked us to the rear of the property to access the ornamental gardens. All staff were highly motivated and gave first class customer service. Food and decor was excellent too. I will definitely return. Thoroughly recommend this venue. 2 courses were only £25.50 per person.

I arranged a surprise night away at the Rhinefield for my Wife's birthday and the whole experience was truly delightful - the service, staff, food and location were absolutely perfect. Booking was easy and on arrival Rianne in reception mentioned we could upgrade our room for just £20. She took the time to show us both rooms, with no pressure and we were very happy to take "Bluebell" the superior room. Our evening meal in the beautiful restaurant was served by a gentleman originally from Romania who was so professional, friendly and attentive. Outstanding service, discreetly delivered!

Rarely do I write a negative review but the reviews of the afternoon tea at Rhinefield House seem so far off our experience that I feel it is only right to forewarn others.

This was the most disappointing afternoon tea that I’ve had in over 20 years and particularly so when one of the best is 10 minutes down the road for the same price at Limewood.

I’d expected afternoon tea to be served at Rhinefield House in the delightful room signposted in the hotel as the afternoon tea room. Instead, all customers were squashed into a small and dark dining room (and my guess is it is closer to the kitchen/other area the waiters have to cover). If I had wanted to eat in a dining room, I would have booked for lunch.

Then, there was a 30 minute wait for the first course and when we complained about the delay, we were told it was our fault due to the fact that we booked last minute in the day. In fact, we booked a week ago. To be fair to one of the staff, he did offer us a glass of champagne by way of apology.

The most unexpected (and not in a good way) part of the experience was the food menu. First course consisted of a large hot meat and mushroom pie, a hot butternut squash and blue cheese pasta dish and a cold smoked salmon terrine. The combination was bizarre in itself - hot and cold; meat in pastry, smoked fish terrine and veggie cheesey pasta - but stranger still was why they were being served as part of Afternoon Tea. I don’t think anyone would expect these to be part of an afternoon tea menu. To be fair to the hotel, I now see that these items are on their sample menu. But I didn’t expect to be told by the waiter when he asked why we hadn’t eaten much and we explained that they were not standard fare for afternoon tea that he had over 20 years’ hospitality experience and it was common practice to include such a wide range of foods, including pizza, in afternoon tea. He followed it up with the chef has no choice in the matter and has been required by management for over a year to serve this menu.

Second course consisted of sandwiches and scones. The sandwich fillings included smoked salmon with cream cheese and cucumber; completely recognisable as afternoon tea but not in sundried tomato bread. At £35 per head just for the food, I also didn’t expect to be served just 3 tiny sandwiches or a small jar of shop bought jam with the scones.

Third course was a selection of three cakes, which were all pretty awful.

The icing on the cake was the fact that the discretionary service charge had been automatically added to the bill and when I asked for it to be removed, the response was “it wasn’t my fault“.

If someone is expecting an authentic afternoon tea of a sound quality that you would expect for £35 per head, I would not recommend Rhinefield House.