Coombe Abbey Hotel

I made a cardinal error booking a night at Coombe Abbey; I booked first, THEN checked the reviews on TripAdvisor! I was left confused. There were plenty of reviews raving about the place but a not insignificant number complaining about terrible service, maintenance or other tales of woe. Given that this was to be a romantic evening away for my wife and I, I was a little apprehensive about what I'd find. I needn't have worried. Coome Abbey truly is "No Ordinary Hotel". It's a lovely hotel in a gorgeous setting. Some of the restoration work in slightly incongruous on closer inspection. The blend between 12th Century stonework and the 20th Century equivalent is not exactly seamless but I can imagine more authentic stonework would have been exceedingly expensive to achieve. Walking into the reception required some care to avoid crashing into things. It's very dimly lit and having just walked in from the bright sunshine, our light-reactive spectacles being dark meant we could barely see a thing for several minutes! I liked the dim, distinctly 'medieval' feel but my wife found it a little too dark for comfort. We found the staff very pleasant and helpful. Our waiter at dinner was bordering on 'over attentive' but he was pleasant and sufficiently discrete so we didn't find it a problem at all. Our room was lovely, being a feature room on the first floor, overlooking the moat and the main drive. The standard of decor was high; not perfect, but perfectly acceptable. It was large and had a lovely bathroom. It passed an important test; it was nicer than our bedroom at home. 'nuff said. Dinner was very nice (we avoided the medieval banquet). Our package included dinner from the table d'hote menu but there was no problem with us ordering a la carte; they simply added the difference to our bill. The food was lovely and perfectly good value for money. Breakfast, too, was perfectly acceptable, being the usual good quality choice of hot and cold buffet. The only issue I can see is that the car park is currently something of a dust bowl. The car needs a damn good clean, now! All in all, it was a very enjoyable stay and I'd have no problem returning.