Coombe Abbey Hotel Reviews 26

We went to a Christmas party in the marquee last night. The place is beautiful and so was the marquee, however you are packed in like sardines ( not what the website photos show). Every time someone went past us we got pushed, the floor moved, the toilets didn’t lock and had no toilet roll. The food was ok but no wonder there’s bacon baps at midnight, you need them. 3 courses, you don’t need to worry about being overfull. Staff were very pleasant, however with so many people there they were like trails of ants serving the food, right next to where we were sat, so we felt every single one of them going through the too small space between tables. Won’t be going to a Christmas event there again.

Saturday morning breakfast a shambles
Full of wasps no covers for fruit etc.Long queues for toast,coffee and cooked items all in a little room.Plates with with food left on them attracting more wasps.Food needs filling up a lot faster to get to the end of the line to find items missing or coffee machine needs sorting.We got upgraded for a small fee.Comfy bed but room needs a lot of work.
Sunday morning breakfast we thought we would check it out before heading to Toby down the road.
All 4 of us decided it was like chalk and cheese. doors were closed some cooling/aircon units working.
hardly any wasps and staff clearing up not running round.We thought it might be because it was sunday but told more people booked for breakfast than yesterday . Last gripe bottle water £4.10 to take to room.
POSITIVES.
Staff friendly and helpfull.
Better breakfast experience sunday
Trip on punt great and relaxing
MEDIEVAL EVENING FANTASTIC very suprised but we all gave it 100% well worth the money

What an amazing experience from start to finish from the moment of checking in to the attention to detail in the dining room fantastic three course dinner I booked for mums 80 th birthday singing happy birthday to her and presenting her with. A plate of chocolates lovely breakfast would definitely stay again staff were AMAZING

We booked a St Patricks themed afternoon tea in January for 15th March, we drove the 60 miles from home on the day, when we got there we showed our confirmation a man went of to check and came back and said the event had been moved to the garden restaurant, we were shown to the bar and told to wait till the restaurant opened (about 20 Mins) we then tried to get into the restaurant but they did not have our reservation on record, we were told to wait to one side whilst he checked in other customers and then he would check to find out what was going on, he came back with "are we sure we had the right date" assuring him that we did and showing the confirmation letter he just looked confused and rather blank, so we decided to try the original venue the marquee, but know that was empty, so back to reception where we saw the first man again, who went to check again only to come back and say the event had been cancelled and as far as he was concerned everyone had been told and money refunded. Obviously Not, as i certainly would not of driven 60 miles to an event that was cancelled and i definitely had not received a refund, he apologised and said he would refund our money. But why had we not been informed the event was cancelled, why were we left waiting around in total an hour for someone to find out the event was in fact cancelled, the first time we spoke to someone he said the event had moved (after checking) only for the same man to check again and come back with oh sorry its been cancelled and we should have been informed ( yes we should have been informed the fact we turned up should have been obvious that we had not) we did not get to see the manager, we were not told when it was cancelled, we were not even offered a cup of tea for the inconvenience, i am in a wheelchair so getting out is a bit of a chore at the best of times, we have been to several events at the abbey over the years but feel sadly let down with the customer service on this occasion and the lack of knowledge as to what is going on by the staff will not be returning in future

We had a fantastic stay at this charming medieval hotel. The room was beautifully designed with a comfortable bed, and the entire hotel and its grounds exuded elegance and grandeur.
The staff were exceptionally friendly and welcoming, making our experience even more enjoyable. We also tried the room service, and the dessert was delicious.
The only downside was the additional parking charge—£10 for 24 hours. Given that guests stay overnight at the hotel, complimentary parking would have been a more fitting gesture.

went there for Christmas afternoon tea it was amazing,
beautiful carols very well song.my only criticism been there two years running both years in between the carols they do a piece
which is John Lewis Christmas adverts. to be honest it's not great! and to hear the same thing 2 years in a row is getting boring. they could do songs from Christmas movies as a alternative. apart from that food is great atmosphere is amazing
service the staff provide is impeccable.

Our second time at Coombe abbey & most likely our last! This time it was very different to our first visit in 2016. The hotel seems to now be run by young clock watchers. They do not care about the service they provide. The bar lady was banging around snapping at multiple customers I’m sure they will have multiple complaints about her, she snapped at my wife because she took longer than 4 seconds to find the cocktail she wanted. We were served our drinks with a chipped glass & we sat at a table that was DRENCHED in booze. The grumpy bar lady came to collect old glasses from our table and left it so soaked we had to turn it round so it didn’t drip on our legs. There was a wedding on & they had their own marquee & own bar yet they all piled into the hotel guests bar and flooded the seating area. So me and my wife moved down the other end past the main doors to relax and two drunk wedding guests came over and sat at our table, there were another two on a table behind one of which was asleep! It was a shambles! Then a bar man brought drinks down to the wedding guests that shouldn’t of even been in this section of the hotel & my wife asked him if we can have some drinks as we had rang our table buzzer twice which was ignored, his reply was you will have to come get your own drinks from the bar as I’m too busy. This was directly after dropping drinks off to wedding guests table. If we are HOTEL guests paying good money for dinner, bed & breakfast in the HOTEL we don’t expect staff to not prioritise wedding guests drinks in the part of the hotel they aren’t suppose to be In they had their own bar, own marque and the receptionist the next day told me they shouldn’t of been in there. Outside wedding guests were blocking the exit dropping/smashing glasses, it was a horrible place to be if you wanted a relaxing break.
The place is majorly understaffed and have no control over wedding guests no order or organisation what so ever.
No complaints about Dinner it was lovely & so was the service in the restaurant hence the two stars.

Myself and my partner are getting married today and Coombe abbey! Since arranging the event, we have been thrilled from the start at the service we have received. Hannah is our wedding organiser and she is incredible! She has been very accommodating and has helped us achieve the wedding day of our dreams. She is very friendly, thorough and has worked so hard to achieve our dreams for today! Thank you so much Hannah! And to your team. You have all been a huge part in making today a very special day!
Shanice and Aaron 😊

Our second visit to Coombe Abbey. Had a brilliant time. We were made to feel very welcome. The room was huge with really comfortable furniture. The views from the windows overlooked the moat. This room led to a second room again with comfortable furniture and two large windows overlooking the grounds. Both rooms had televisions. Off this room was a very well laid out bathroom. We also had bathrobes and slippers to use while we were there. The staff were very friendly throughout our stay. We had a wonderful evening meal and, again, the staff were very efficient and friendly. Breakfast was very good with something for everyone. Juices, Fruit, yoghurt, pastries and full English. There was plenty of food to choose from and if you wanted more, that wasn’t a problem. You just help yourself. I would highly recommend this hotel.

A fabulous retreat from the stress and routine of everyday life… the ambiance of times past combined with good food and service… rooms of exceptional character …
Prior to leaving we noticed a flyer for the Abbey Punt which turned out to be the Hidden Gem of our stay - a passionate puntsman runs the business from the bowels of the abbey where he’s created an eclectic setting including piano , rope swing etc from which he delivers a multifaceted account of the abbey’s history culminating in a 40 minute punt around the abbey’s moat- a haven for wildlife and the most fabulous stance from which to appreciate the splendour of Coombe Abbey.. I hope this little gem of an enterprise continues to flourish and bring elements of joy and surprise we’ve been fortunate to experience today .

We had a magical experience at Coombe Abbey.

The greeting on reception was warm, friendly and informative; the service at Afternoon Tea, was very good and while it wasn't Michelin Star, it was perfectly lovely and delightful ( they may want to review the Earl Grey Tea however... the room supplied Earl Grey was superb- the one in the restaurant awful!)

Dinner was of a good standard (for a hotel) and the service , well, it was sweet and they are trying hard with lots of new staff.

We walked the grounds on a grey day, but we delighted in the beauty of it.
We stayed in the most beautiful room in the hotel (Lady Craven) so that certainly helps- but I have to say it was very good value on a dinner bed and breakfast stay mid week.
There is no Gym or Spa and while I would strongly suggest they consider building a pavilion for their own bottom line, I will certainly come back if the prices are still as good.
All of the staff were charming and my Canadian friend fell in love with the architecture and the historic interior- I do wish they had a resident historian who could talk us through it all. It would be an awesome upsell that I would buy!
Thank you for a truly spectacular experience.

Nice place, beautiful room but under no circumstances don't go there in the winter time...you will freze !!! they play around with the heating system..."wirelessly"
I couldn't sleep 16 °C in my room ....16°C !!!

Terrible. I received a £100 parking fine despite being resident at the hotel. I asked the hotel for some assistance but they refused to offer any help.
Awful awful experience and staff that really couldn’t care less. For such a beautiful venue it is a shame that it is ruined by an aggressive car parking company and indifferent staff.

My husband and I have stayed at Coombe Abbey a few times and were looking forward to staying again. We booked an overnight stopover en route to a family party through Booking.com. Unfortunately, we had to cancel all our bookings due to a family emergency. I understand the cancellation policy, but Booking.com said to contact the hotels directly and explain the situation as it was the hotel who decided whether or not to refund customers. We did this and the only one who did not reply or refund our money was Coombe Abbey Hotel! Thanks Coombe Abbey for your understanding!!! We will never stay with you again.

I recently visited Coombe abbey with friends for afternoon tea and we all became ill with food poisoning/ food borne illness a few hours after eating at the restaurant. We reported it the following day and after chasing a couple of times received a letter 3 weeks later stating they had completed an investigation. They denied any responsibility and stated they hoped we would return! The letter stated ‘given the onset period of symptoms, we believe it was very unlikely that the food consumed at our premises was the cause of your illness’, which is bizarre and incorrect given onset of food poisoning can be hours or days dependent on what was consumed.

I phoned and spoke to the general manager. He proceeded to tell me about the 5* food hygiene procedures they have in place and argued that we couldn’t possibly have got food poisoning from there. I don’t doubt they have correct storing, delivery procedures etc and chefs are trained to L2 food hygiene. However, mistakes can be made- it is entirely possible someone could have touched a contaminated surface before touching food which we consumed. There is no other logical explanation how a group of people from different households could all become ill with the same symptoms at the same time a few hours after eating there. I was appalled at the response from the manager who ended the phone call very abruptly.

I received a follow up phone call a week later from the Operations Manager who was unaware I’d spoken to someone the previous week. He responded much better and could give a few tips on customer service to the general manager. He could obviously tell we were genuine but informed us that unless there is direct proof connecting it to their restaurant, their policy is that they cannot reimburse us. Apparently if they reimbursed everyone who complained they wouldn’t be in business (a very telling comment!) He did offer us a complimentary afternoon tea and said we would be looked after. However, after sitting with my head in a bucket all night, I’m not particularly inclined to return.

So to summarise- it was a very average time tasting afternoon tea which made us all very unwell and we experienced appalling customer service, although made slightly better by the operations manager. I’d recommend avoiding.

It was a belated Birthday Present for my Wife, and it was a perfect surprise for her.
From the time we booked in at Reception, then the evening meal and finally breakfast, it couldn’t have been better. ALL of the Staff were so polite and professional.
The room, well, superb, so much character.
We didn’t want to come home.
Thank You so much for making our stay special 👏👏

Thank you for making us so welcome at the Great Gatsby Glamour Ball. The reception staff were super friendly and the bedroom we were allocated was beautifully plush. It was also so helpful to be able to purchase a beautiful bouquet for our colleague who organised the party for us.

Our only little complaint would be the vegetarian food (or lack of). The menu we were promised sounded lovely; however we ended up being given a small bowl of lukewarm cauliflower soup as a starter and pre-made tortellini with a mediocre tomato sauce for our main. This wasn't really the food experience we anticipated. The rest of our table was also kept waiting ages for our food to arrive. It was really disappointing.

Myself and my partner was bought an afternoon tea voucher as a present. We have been for Afternoon tea several times before at Coombe Abbey prior to myself becoming a vegetarian. When i booked my reservation I stated on my booking that 1 of the guests was a vegetarian. We arrived and was shown to our table and handed a menu each. There was no vegetarian option on the menu so when the waitress came back to take our order I stated I was vegetarian. The waitress said OK no problem do you eat eggs and then went off. The food arrived with no information about what was in my sandwiches. Not knowing what your eating is not really enjoyable for me and as I'm not one for making a fuss especially when all the staff were busy I just carried on eating them. Unfortunately later that evening I wasn't very well so the next day I tried to contact the hotel to find out what was in my sandwiches. After calling 6 times and various extention numbers nobody answered so I wrote an email. I received a reply with the information I had requested, 1 of the fillings had cream cheese in which is something I don't eat due to being ill once before. Despite all this I explained to the manager we still had a lovely day but surely they could print off a vegetarian menu so people can at least see or choose what they would like. After this experience we will not return to Coombe Abbey. There are more accommodating afternoon tea venues for vegetarians i have recently visited like Marco Pierre restaurants.

WENT FOR PRE BOOKED AFTERNOON TEA AT GARDEN RESTAURANT COOMBE ABBEY,PRE IMFORMING THEM THAT WE REQUIRED ONLY HAM AND CHEESE SANDWICHES.ON THE DAY NO CHEESE AND HAM SANDWICHES WERE PRESENTED ONLY A MIX OF PESTO BASED SANDWICHES,STAFF UNATTENTIVE VERY POOR CUSTOMER SERVICE,TO DEMONSTRATE SPOKE TO MANAGER WITH COMPLAINT,SAID THEY HAD NO CHEESE OR HAM LEFT.I REPLIED THIS IS A HOTEL ARE YOU KIDDING ME ?ITS WHAT THE CHEF ORDERS IN HE REPLIED.THEN WAITED FURTHER 40 MINUTES THEY EVENTUALLY TURNED UP WITH 3 PITTIFUL FINGER BEEF SANDWICHES ABSOLUTELY APPALLING AFTERNOON TEA CUSTOMER SERVICE,WOULD NOT RECOMMEND ATALL,WHATS GONE WRONG WITH COOMBE ABBEY AFTERNOON TEAS ??????????????????

The hotel staff are so welcoming and friendly. We had a beautiful room, with lovely decor suiting the hotels history. The grounds are stunning. The Medieval Banquet was fantastic, the team should be very proud. The food was delicious, including the breakfast the next day. We will definitely be coming back. I believe its the small things that make a stay, like the gentleman opening the door as we left wishing us a safe journey home, and the complimentary worthers originals in reception. Two small things that would make the stay even better would be bottled water in the room and posher biscuits for teas and coffees in the room. Apart from that I loved it all!