Buxted Park Country House Hotel

We recently stayed at Buxted, our intention was to have a chilled relaxed weekend. It was perfect, the staff were extremely welcoming and nothing was too much hassle for them. The food in the restuarant was amazing, and was all washed down with the best bottle of red wine I've ever had. Its not cheap, but you get treated like royalty. We had such a fab time, we've now booked to hold our wedding there in the summer.

Buxted Park is a huge disappointment. I recently stayed there as a wedding guest and would suggest that it is in dire need of refurbishment. The service was also appalling. The low lights of the stay were: - A wait of 5 mins as nobody was on reception when we arrived and also no bell on desk to let anyone know of our presence - Calls made from the in-room phone to reception were left unanswered - The paint on the exterior of the building was peeling in many places, and the impression was one of a very neglected building - Our bedroom was shabby and basic, including a bathroom that had not been cleaned properly - we have stayed in (far cheaper) more luxurious holiday inns! - A very large cockroach like insect sighted on the landing outside our bedroom. On reporting this to the housekeeper, it was promptly removed but Reception offered no apologies……The hotel have since claimed that it was a may bug... - 5-star prices for 3-star bar service. We were particularly annoyed that after midnight the bar would only serve doubles of spirits, but did not tell us about this until the bill came afterwards… - Unfriendly and evidently harrassed staff - The overall impression was that the revenue gained from so many wedding bookings (there were four over the weekend we stayed) was more important than the comfort and positive experience of guests - Reception overcharged on our check out. We had booked a cheaper rate over the internet and were charged the standard room rate. This is an expensive hotel and lets the others in the Handpicked chain down. I would neither recommend nor return.

Spent an enjoyable weekend break at the Buxted Park. Lovely spacious grounds and an imposing building; the reception area is understated and friendly, and the public rooms very spacious and elegant. The restaurant has 2 AA rosettes but for our tastes the food was a bit pretentious - beautiful to look at and to taste, but portions are small and the expensive table d'hote has no vegetarian options for main course (although one is offered when requested), and the majority of items carry a further surcharge. We chose to go to a local pub for our second night, The Griffin Inn at Fletching, which is highly recommended. Breakast is a standard country house buffet, but by 9:45 (service ends at 10:00) it is looking a bit run down. Our standard room was very comfortably furnished but quite small, but with a lovely view of the Sussex countryside. Walking through the grounds on Sunday we even saw 4 deer go cantering by. As others have written, beware of weddings. They proudly explain that they have hosted 160 weddings in the last 12 months, so you are likely to encounter one, which means that the rest of the hotel has no real atmosphere. A pleasant weekend, but not a place we will return to, the details let it down.

Having recently visited Buxted for a surprise birthday party I would like to recommend the hotel to other travellers. The venue is beautiful and the grounds are stunningly steeped in history and wildlife. We had a delicious lunch and the staff were attentive and friendly. We plan to go back and spend a few days there to really enjoy the peaceful surrounds and amiable service on offer.

We decided to stay at Buxted Park for a tranquil country house experience as advertised on their website. Instead, the experience was far from tranquil. We arrived to be greeted by a dilapidated facade in need of a good repaint. The reception was less than impressive being a desk and a computer in a rather dinghy room. We were greeted by a lady who was complaining about her room having been given away to another couple by mistake and due to lack of space had to be relocated to another hotel. The hotel was hosting a wedding reception at the time which impinged on our country house experience enormously. The bar was jam packed with guests, the terrace was mobbed by wedding guests and the gardens were described by a number of lads as a war zone (which we too experienced - the wedding guests being rather boistrous). The orangerie was also closed off to diners due to the wedding. However, we decided to stay and have dinner and give the the hotel a chance. Service was slow, the staff looked harassed and the chef had to apologise for the time delay experienced imbetween courses. In fact, my husband ordered a pot of tea to find that the pot contained two teabags and no hot water. No waiter in sight he had to visit the kitchens himself for some hot water! Our room, was on the small side and definitely not 4 star quality. If you're looking for a quiet break then give this hotel a miss if there's a wedding going on. It's noisy and the service is well below that expected of a 4 Star hotel. The food was however very good and the orangerie, grounds and terrace could be very pleasant if the hotel was not swarming with rowdy wedding guests.

What a fantastic place - we arrived at 4pm to find a wedding about to begin, but we were checked in quickly and went to our room. Ok, a bit small, but nicely decorated and, as requested, well away from the wedding party. We went for a walk in the grounds,which were stunning, and had a quick shower before heading out for dinner (The Star in Old Heathfield - excellent) . On our return, we had a good sleep and woke up to the sound of birds chattering - no planes, cars, trains: nothing. Breakfast in the orangery was excellent, with a fantastic view over a croquet lawn and the valley. Then the Sunday papers on the lawn before reluctantly checking out and driving home. Would we go back? In a heartbeat.

The whole experience at Buxted was Fantastic! The staff were very helpful and friendly, even though they were extremly busy with a wedding. The main hotel rooms exude an 'Olde world' opulence with modern touches. The crystal chandeliers were magnificent, and the fireplaces hinted at the promise of a warm evening in winter. Very peaceful, with no piped music to distract. The grounds were a pleasure to walk in, with several wildlife distractions to amuse. Drinks on the terrace were a must! Have recommended to family and friends and we hope to return.

Buxted Park has a rather troubled history, rapidly changing hands since the devastation of the 1987 hurricane. The property is set in truly magnificent grounds complete with church, cricket green and wildlife. As you enter through the gate house your expectations are of a terribly grand hotel with opulent furnishings............ you may be disappointed. The property itself is rather tired looking and quite uninspiring for what is often described as a palladian mansion, flaking paint work suggests serious lack of investment and for us our expectations had now plummeted to an all time low. We were checked in however with ease and impressive courtesy even though the hotel was obviously busy with a wedding party, we were taken up to our suite the Queen Mary by a true gentleman who insisted that a colleague carried my case up the flight of stairs, he brought us into the room and we were amazed by the sheer size of the room, things were getting better! Although the room was obviously steeped in history it also provided the modern conveniences of a plasma screen tv with dvd (no teletext however or sattelite except sky news) and fabulous bathroom fittings including double vanity unit. Both the bedroom and bathroom had fabulous views of the grounds from its huge windows and the room was very comfortable temperature wise, not feeling like it had been just turned on a short while before our arrival. The room was very grand indeed, we counted 29 cushions alone, and the sofa was big enough for half a dozen fatties, so the two of us had plenty of space to laze on it! We were only staying for the 1 night and had booked a late check-out the following day with lunch in the Orangery restaurant so decided to take room service that night we ordered a full three course menu and the food was of a very high standard, in particular the temperature and ,presentation of the food. We enjoyed a good nights sleep and had a very good breakfast brought to us early the following morning ,most importantly being that the food and drink was served at the right temperature and the tea had not stewed prior to delivery. That morning we had arranged for some bikes to be available for our use and the only reason they weren't immediately available for our use was that a really nice south african mountain bike expert was checking them over and wanted to be sure we had a safe ride. We had a fabulous hour or so cycling in the grounds and were amazed by the sight of 50 or so deer in the grounds who stampeded away when they saw us approaching..it was a truly wonderful experience. Lunch was served in the Orangery and again the food and presentation was of a very high standard however the service was absolutely appalling. Firstly we were stood waiting to be taken to our table for several minutes even though the restaurant was not busy, we were then seated and handed our menus without a greeting and were not approached for 15 minutes. Eventually our order was taken by a rather odd looking 'care in the community' style waiter who did seem very nervous, however the restaurant manager was always watching him from a distance so should have been ensuring our experience as guests wasn't affected by his lack of expertise. We waited for about 20 minutes without any bread or drinks that we had ordered, our starters then arrived but still no drinks or bread, after a quick word to the manageress drinks and bread arrived several minutes later. The main courses arrived without too much delay afterwards and I reminded the waiter that I should have received the glass of red wine I had ordered to be served with my main course, he acknowledged this but it never arrived and he had disappeared! I spoke again to the manageress who had greasy hair and a dirty blazer who apologised and offered a discount on our drinks. We enjoyed our desserts but left no tip and were disppointed that this bad service had really let the hotel down badly when the food was faultless and service in all other parts of the hotel had been exemplary. I should also make aware that for guests who like to use the leisure facilities in hotels this hotel should be avoided the gym was a real embarrassment for the hotel peeling wallpaper mould and damaged equipment and no swimming pool, it would be better if the just closed this area off completely until they have the funds to renovate it, to be fair however the gym is not featured strongly in any of the hotels literature. So to conclude Buxted Park offers a good country house experience, mostly excellent staff, beautiful countryside around you, fabulous suites which are definitely worth the extra, and brilliant food ,with the service in the Orangery and the presence of the gym the only disappointment and I'm sure we may have been unlucky. I just hope the current owners spend enough money and hold onto it for long enough unlike the previous owners. Go on recharge your batteries this weekend!

From all the photos I had seen of the hotel I was extremely excited at the prospect of staying there. Upon arriving I was not greeted by the huge, beautiful, imposing frontier I had seen in photos but instead, we entered through what looked like a side entrance. There was not, what could be called a front reception desk, just a table plonked in a very dimly lit room. The hotel staff, were pleasant enough which was one of the only consolations. Immediately upon entering the room I was struck by how cold it was. I understand that it was winter but I didn't plan on having to wear a jumper throughout my stay! That evening we decided to dine at the hotel restaurant. As it was a weekend there was a wedding being held (which I expected) but it seemed that all the staff were waiting hand and foot on them rather than on the other paying guests. There was only one waiter to serve everybody else in an again, very dimly lit room. The entire dinner eventually took nearly 3 hours. Not because we are very slow eaters but because we had to wait so long between courses! The food was very nice but a little on the small side. On finishing dessert we decided to order latte and petit fours to our room. 10 minutes later a latte was delivered on its own. At that point I could not muster the energy to do anything about it. If nothing else, the bed was very comfy. Come the morning, we headed off to breakfast to be greeted by a self-service buffet which included all the ingredients for a full English except beans! But at no one point were all the elements hot and ready at the same time. We decided to leave straight away. When asked if we had a good time, I did explain a few of my qualms to the helpful receptionist who did her best to console but by that point there wasn't much she could do. Yes it was good to get away or the weekend but I definitely won't be going back to Buxted.

We have been to Hotels all over the World and this is still one of the best I remember. The rooms we had (albeit a suite) were great, although I should opt to stay in the main house if possible and the service was pretty good too. Food should always be good in hotels of this type so the fact that our expectations were met is only to be expected. The only downside is that the signposting around the hotel is a bit weak so you are always unsure of what are public areas and what is staff space like the laundry. Also there is no inside pool which for a UK hotel means that the outside one is unsable for 11 months of the year. Quite near Gatwick and much better than airport hotels. I would go again.