Bestwood Lodge Hotel

My husband and I stayed here for one night en route to Sherwood Forest Center Parcs and we weren't disappointed. The building dates from the 12th century and is set in a 750 acre country park. It was throwing it down with rain throughout our stay, which stopped us exploring the grounds, however on the plus side it added to the character of this parkland hunting lodge. We booked on Expedia and got a standard double for £66, including a brilliant buffet breakfast, giving you a choice of fry-up or the healthier options. Dinner, meanwhile, was a very good carvery (as we had come on Sunday night). For just £8.95 each we got a starter (choice of about 7), all you can eat carvery with choice of 3 meats, dessert (the choice was slightly limited but what we picked was yummy anyway) and coffee. Our room was perfectly clean and comfortable, although a little stuffy, but in fairness air conditioning wouldn't have suited the cherry pannelled room. In true old-fashioned style, the sash window wouldn't stay open so we used a folded up towel. And unless you want to risk being scalded, get out of the box shower before you try to adjust it (I didn't) as it isn't the clearest to use! However these are minor gripes only and didn't affect my overall opinion of this place. All the staff we came across were extremely polite and helpful, including April the assistant manager and Joe the waiter. Please note the lodge can get quite busy/ noisy as it serves as a functions venue, however our standard double room was well away from the action and even though there were a lot of guests that night we didn't hear them. The car parking capacity is also considerably more than that shown in the Expedia photo. Close to outstanding- would definitely recommend.

Spent one night in the hotel dinner,bed and breakfast. Lovely mansion set in beautiful grounds. We had a lovely recently refurbished room. We had an enjoyable dinner on our arrival and a very average breakfast. I would stay here again if I was looking for a 'relaxing'hotel.

Booked to stay one night here in a single room as I was going to a wedding nearby. When I booked I was told it was the last single room left, and that there was a wedding at the hotel and hence there would be loud music until midnight (and this was confirmed in a letter to me as well). This didnt bother me as I was not going to be spending the evening there. Staff were wonderful - very welcoming, and happy to help book taxis etc. All the cleaning staff I bumped into the next morning (being an early riser) were all incredibly friendly and all apologised for me having to see them! The downside was the room and decor - very shabby - room needed a complete overhaul (new bed, bathroom, furniture etc) and although the room was clean on first impressions, little things like the light pulls being very grubby and the woodwork on the windows being covered in dead insects (just above normal eyeline height, I must admit, but definitely not nice when you reach up to try and open the (non-opening) windows...

The hotel is beautiful and our room was comfortable with a wonderful view of the park, just what we needed after a long journey! The staff were friendly and we appreciated them telling us that there was a wedding reception (having been to places before where they did not!!) I must say that even though we were informed that there would be a disco playing until after midnight, we hardly heard it and slept like logs! We would like to say a big thank you to all the staff at bestwood lodge for looking after us.

Excellent staff, really made us feel welcome. We attended a wedding there on the 20th November 2004, and my boyfriend booked us a room as a birthday present for me. It was not at all what i was expecting, totally above all expectations. Thanks for a wonderful time!!!!. Also with my boyfriend being from Nottingham and myself from Wales, it was nice just to escape together for a quiet weekend, which was made perfect by our stay in this hotel.

My family stayed here in November 2003 and I was quite surprised at how run down the hotel is. It clearly needs a lot of investment money to be spent. There are some good things. The building is an attractive historic house and the park setting is nothing short of spectacular. The reception staff were helpful but there was no one on hand to help with luggage. This was a real problem as our room was three floors up and at the far end of the corridor. There is no lift and even the stairs between floors are not linked - they are quite a long way apart and you wander along various corridors opening and closing doors to access them. The final stairs were extremely steep with very small runners - I had to walk sideways to ascend them. Certainly wouldn't want to have to get out of there in a hurry. It wasn't very convenient with children and heavy suitcases. If I'd been alone I wouldn't have managed. There was no warning given of this at reception. Most of the rooms on our corridor were being gutted and redecorated. Ours was large (a family room) but shabbily furnished and clearly in need of a complete refit and redecoration. The bath panels were broken and the bathroom itself was old and peeling. We ate in the restaurant one night and the food was just about ok. Quite an ambitious menu but not very good quality. Breakfast was good - a buffet. We stayed two nights and it cost us £250 for b&b and dinner one night. I didn't think it was good value for money and wouldn't stay here again. Frankly a Travel Inn would have been much better value for the facilities on offer.

I arrived to find a run down hotel quite the opposite of what I expected. After dinner I retired to my room and found it to be musty and smelt of old socks. The following day I spoke to a manager called Robin who seemed nice and looked quite handsome but he knew very little and couldn;t really help with any of my problems making various excuses as to why he couldn;t help me with my problems. To be honest he seemed like he wanted to be elsewhere and not dealing with my problems. That night it seemed there was a lot of noise coming from the bar area and when I went for breakfast heard staff talking about the night previous when this Rob character had been tied up, stripped and tickled while in a drunken state. So all in all nice food and mostly nice staff but not very pleasant surroundings and not very good management or professionalism.