Hopeless! No standards, no attention to detail, no idea whatsoever
25 August 2019
On arrival, the Receptionist pointed towards a room and asked us to take a seat, no escort to a table. The place was deserted, all of the tables and chairs very low and not comfortable for eating at. After a long wait, the waiter appeared and asked what type of tea we would prefer then disappeared for a very long while. Whilst waiting we observed the surroundings, the table cloth and napkins, made of manmade materials and not ironed, strange and coloured pottery plates and water stained/unpolished dinner (not tea) cutlery, cocoa pops on the stained carpet, crumbs from previous customers on the seating and thick dust on the surrounding cabinets etc. The tea arrived in pots that didn't match the crockery on the table, was lukewarm and we had to ask for one of the cups, canteen grade pottery, not china, to be replaced as it was dirty. The food arrived a while later on a tiered serving stand, another complete mismatch to the existing two ranges of crockery already on the table. The waiter didn't ask if we would prefer vegetarian or regular sandwiches, they were mediocre, and not suitable for the vegetarian "Birthday Girl". The scones probably shop bought and microwaved to freshen them up, the cakes were a few slivers of stale shop bought sponges, a hideous joke and not the artisan bakes one would expect from an establishment purporting to offer "Afternoon Tea". The prosecco was the only thing we could look forward to, however, the glasses were not polished and sparkling, but at least it was cold, we needed it by this point, knocked it back in one and left immediately. This experience was paid for in good faith and given as a much appreciated gift but managed to spoil the recipient's Birthday. My advice to BuyaGift.Co is to remove this establishment from your list of "experience providers" as you are failing miserably under the sale of goods act. Furthermore, the full purchase price and compensation should be paid to the purchaser and recipient.

Response from Buyagift
By
Lynsey, Customer Services, 02 Sep 2019
Hi there, thanks for leaving a review about your recent experience. I am sorry to hear the hotel didn't meet your expectations, we'd always recommend mentioning any problems on the day of your experience to allow the hotel the opportunity to ensure you are left happy at the end of your stay! I'll be sure to pass your comments across to the hotel so they can make improvements where possible to ensure future visits are more enjoyable.