Retreat East

There were some lovely elements to our stay and some bits that needed improvement… Firstly we arrived late (not planned) and got to the great barn on a Sunday evening at 7:15pm (last orders 7;30). We’d emailed to explain and they advised to peruse the menu so we could order on arrival. I emailed back having looked at the 4 main course options and said we’d both like the beef. We parked in the main car park and walked down to the main area which is about 100m walk. It says don’t park near your room or you’ll be charged £50 so we duly stuck to this. No one else did, there’s car everywhere! The view from our room was just a car park by the time everyone ignored the parking rule. We arrived and after a few moments someone seated us. We ordered food and drinks and waited a fair while for drinks and then had to remind them to bring us water. After a while the waitress came back and said no beef :-( so we had the pork. The food was stunning, really delicious, we ordered green veg as a side which was broccoli and peas (£6) as it said the mains only come with parsnip, they don’t, there was plenty and we didn’t really need the extra veg. I didn’t have a starter but had one of their nibbles which was very nice- disappointingly they charged me for 2 courses when I had a nibble and a main and they charged me £7 on top for the nibble. We then went to our room which was lovely. The QR code welcome book is ok but doesn’t really explain much about the room facilities or the hotel really. Welcome basket had chocolate and crisps and there’s milk and water in the (noisy) fridge. The toiletries are absolutely lovely and the water pressure is great. The bed was comfy but no bedside tables is a paid for a morning cuppa etc. the TV can swing to be visible in the lounge or bedroom areas but the bed frame makes it impossible to watch TV in bed. Breakfast is ok, nothing overly exciting and not set up by the start time also no one offered us the cooked option menu on either day. We had to wait quite a while on day 2 to get anyone’s attention for hot drinks. The spa is a sauna and a steam room and an outside hot tub (booked separately). There was no one on the spa reception (which is inside the restaurant) so we just figured it out ourselves. That meant we had to use the robes from our room as we couldn’t find any in the spa. We had to fill in forms for treatments sat in the main restaurant area which is ok but a bit weird in your robes. The treatments were brilliant, really good. We had afternoon tea which was lovely, no offer of bubbles so we just had the standard one. No offer of drinks refills. Second nights sleep was dreadful, we were in the Den which is connected to the Nook. Whoever was in there couldn’t sleep and paced all night which caused the floor in our room to creak and kept me awake a lot! There’s a lovely skylight above the bed but it’s mega dirty so the view wasn’t quite what it could be. So all in all… lovely food (Sunday roast a

Stayed in the farmhouse as a group of six girls in October as a long weekend together and whilst we enjoyed our weekend together we were a little bit disappointed with the accommodation. The farmhouse is lovely and understand it’s a very old building but several aspects of the house are completely filthy and need a clean. I emailed customer care when I got home over a month ago and haven’t heard anything back. Horrible cobwebs everywhere (which I understand could happen in an old building but this just clearly hasn’t been cleaned properly in a long time), cigarette bits outside the patio door, filthy remote control, water marks over all walls in the bathrooms and mould in the freezer. Sofas are also quite marked which doesn’t really scream the luxury retreat this is meant to be. There is a window smashed in one of the bedrooms as well and a huge crack in the floor in one of the bedrooms/ ceiling of the kitchen so you can hear everything in one room from below. I would say six adults is probably the max you can fit comfortably without being too cramped. We paid £15 each for breakfast each night of our stay which is not worth it for the continental option!!! The plates aren’t even big enough to fit a slice of toast on and there are very limited options and doesn’t even include a ‘proper coffee’ from the menu. Asked the staff several time to replenish the yogurts and everything was so slow. Some of the group ordered hot food for an additional cost which took 45 minutes to come and it wasn’t busy. Also ordered smoothies which took 30 mins to come as the bar staff had ‘lost the ticket’. So after already paying £15 for breakfast + £4 + £5 smoothie + hot food I noticed on check out they added 13.5% service charge when we received less than average service. I’m not surprised I didn’t hear back via email as when anything was raised to staff it didn’t seem urgent or looking to provide good customer service unfortunately. I would also advise not to come just for a spa day especially in colder months. There is no where to sit and wait apart from the restaurant when a group is in the sauna and steam room area you have to be quiet due to being right next to the treatment rooms.

Me and my partner had such a lovely time staying at the Retreat East. When we arrived, the staff were so helpful checking in us and providing us with a tour. The cabin was incredibly clean, with a cute welcome basket given too! It was beyond peaceful. The staff were also so friendly at breakfast and the food was delicious! We had a great time.