£49—Afternoon tea for 2 at Cotswolds country retreat

My friends and I had a perfect Afternoon Tea at Studley Castle. We live quiet close so knew the area and location well. However, it is well worth travelling to this stunning venue. The staff are lovely, the Afternoon Tea/coffee and food was plentiful. A perfect treat for a lazy, luxury catch up with friends.

Arrived at the same time as large numbers of people who were "checking in" to stay at the Castle, so our arrival was "chaotic", however, staff were very polite and helpful. There was much confusion when I was shown to the table reserved for our "afternoon tea";- the table was only set for one person, and I suspect that was due to the "booking process" online. However, the staff merely requested to "have a closer look" at the "code" I had stored on my mobile phone, and they quickly rearranged the table to accommodate both me and my wife. The next complication came when I confirmed that both my wife and I required "vegetarian" options... That caused a slight delay whilst a request was sent to the kitchen to change our "afternoon tea" which had already been prepared,- and was "not vegetarian". A senior member of the kitchen staff came to our table to speak to us and politely explained that there would be a delay whilst suitable vegetarian options were arranged. The delay was minimal and not a problem for me or my wife. The food and drinks were "as expected" and a "take-away" box was provided upon request to allow us not to waste a few of the items that we were just to "stuffed" to eat there and then! I have nothing but praise for the staff with whom I interacted whilst at Bodelwyddan, especially the lady who actually served our "afternoon tea" as she was very attentive despite the influx of guests arriving at reception who unsurprisingly "over-flowed" into the area where the few tables for the "afternoon teas" were arranged.

I hadn't expected the area "set aside" for "afternoon teas" to be situated in the contemporarily constructed "reception" area for the castle;- hence the "view" was not inspiring, nor was the architecture! When choosing Bodelwyddan Castle as a venue for afternoon tea I had anticipated being accommodated in an area of the Castle which at least had a view of the grounds! There was no sense of "occasion" provided by the area used for the "afternoon teas", it was merely part of a "general bar and seating" area where lots of people were "coming and going". The contemporary style of the newly built reception area in which the afternoon teas are served was more in keeping with a bustling airport terminal rather than Castle that was originally built in the 15th Century!

Meeting of cousins in a lovely setting, albeit winter and a very full Thames River. Attentive waiting service.

Booking was difficult because we had no confirmation of online booking and could not speak to anyone on the phone for over 24 hours - phone said someone would answer but no one did!

But the staff when we arrived were very helpful, polite and efficient. We had a lovely afternoon tea.

Good afternoon tea, but service was slow, only one person serving several tables.

Decor was lovely, staff were friendly and did their best to manage under the pressure.

The booking made via the website was not showing up on the sheet in the restaurant when we arrived, this was not an isolated booking there were several other bookings we were aware of that weren't logged. The staff worked hard to accommodate the booking but the delay in being served was significant, and the staff were clearly unable to manage the increased volume in bookings. The sandwiches were pretty basic and felt thrown together, beef in white sliced bread, no butter or horseradish. The cheese and chutney sandwiches were just cheese, no chutney despite supposedly being cheese and chutney sandwiches. Had to chase the prosecco, generally very disappointing experience.

Excellent location for afternoon tea

Service was a bit slow but overall a good day

The food was very well presented, the staff were extremely nice. A very nice experience.

excellent apart from check in where there were delays

Beautiful setting, with long drive up. We arrived early and sat in comfortable lounge beforehand. We were the only people having Afternoon Tea so felt a bit 'Billy no mates' but staff were friendly & professional.

We received a warm welcome from Harriet, our lovely server. The food was delicious and we didn't feel rushed at all, despite it being very busy.

Always a friendly greeting by very helpful cheerful staff. Quality of afternoon tea is excellent in a lovely location. Highly recommend a visit.

The food provided was nice.

This hotel used to offer a really lovely afternoon tea in its tea room. Unfortunately, this is no longer the case. This afternoon tea was in the main restaurant, which was dead. The ATG weren't helpful or accommodating and lacked enthusiasm or any excellence in service skills. The food was nice, but compared to before this was a disappointing experience overall and I won't be going back.

Went with a freinds 70th birthday treat for afternoon tea she really enjoyed it, was a bit apprehensive as now Warners but was not disappointed.

Very nice and good staff

Excellent service. Very friendly and nothing too much trouble. The afternoon tea was beautifully presented and was delicious.

We can’t eat peppers or fish but there weren’t any other choices, although they doubled up on the other two fillings. Dry scones that were meant to be served warm but they’d obviously been sitting out as they weren’t warm at all. Not enough cream… one serving between two. Lots of cakes which we took home as we were full. Pluses & minuses!!

Clean & newly updated though my husband nearly fell through the floor in the mend WCs… the no entry sign had been moved!!!

Great food and service. It took them a long time to answer the phone. When trying to book.

Thoresby Hall is a marvellous building in which to enjoy a delicious afternoon tea. The view from the Blue Room was stunning and the staff were amazing, particularly the waitress who gave us lots of information about the history of the Hall.

For some reason although we had booked on-line through the link provided by TravelZoo the hotel had no recollection of the booking. The manager smoothed things over so there was no issues, credit to her.

Staff were very good at seating us & bringing food initially. Then completely disappeared. We would have loved more tea to drink but no one appeared in the room until much later & we asked for box to take surplus food home. Great shame as food excellent.

Lovely venue, slightly dated/scruffy decor in some areas, beautiful period wooden panels in others. Great afternoon tea, more attentive staff needed. Not just shown to a separate room & then forgotten until they think you've finished.

We had a first class afternoon tea served up in a beautiful building.

From start to finish the staff were very efficient, helpful and polite and the elegant building was beautifully decorated for the festive season making our experience even more special. If all of the other Warners Hotels are as good as Holm Lacy House then my wife and I will seriously consider visiting their establishments at some point in the future.

We had mislaid our voucher but they allowed us to enjoy our afternoon tea as long as we provided the code at a later date. It was the following day before we located the missing voucher for redemption. Many thanks to Beci for her help and understanding. She saved our afternoon!

Excellent customer service and food delicious. Would definitely recommend

The afternoon tea was lovely - as was our Waitress, Karen. However parking at Littlecote House was an absolute nightmare - not helped by an EXCEPTIONALLY RUDE maintenance worker who verbally harangued my husband & continued with more of the same towards me inside the building. He was absolutely appalling!

More parking info/signposting for non-residents. Our experience would have made those less robust than we turn tail & leave - which we did consider.

We were staying at the hotel as guests and chose this offer as an additional treat. I have been to Warners before some years ago and things are noticeably different now, I believe the chain is now owned by different operators. The overall impression wasn't a bad one but it wasn't as good as previous experiences. There are less staff and it felt as if there had been cut backs. The "extras" like shampoo etc in the Spa had gone, tissues, general cleanliness in rooms etc and overall the staff seemed less 'happy' and let's say for me it felt that it had lost some of it's previous "gloss".

Fabulous afternoon tea and took some home! Difficulty on arrival when Warners Sinah Warren couldn't find our booking but they resolved it in the end. Friendly, helpful staff too.

We love Warners Hotels and this was an Afternoon Tea treat because we can never manage to eat one when staying!

Attended for afternoon tea. Staff very attentive and pleasant. Seated in beautiful room with views of well maintained garden. Wonderful value for money. Couldn’t finish the selection of cakes, waitress offered to pack the same, which we gratefully accepted.

Booking was ridiculously difficult through the site you used and proved to be impossible. We had to contact the hotel direct to book.

Lovely venue with great staff and beautiful food

Wonderful location. Fantastic historical building. Great Xmas themed afternoon tea, all served by a very friendly lady called Karen

pleasant visit

Was a ,overly afternoon, well looked after and good food

Really lovely at Bodelwyddan castle

Great value for money and chance to experience one of their hotels for afternoon tea.

Lovely place with very helpful staff

Excellent after a stay at Norton Grange

Lots to offer especially if you like entertainment in the evening

Just lovely.

Great adult experience

Unfortunately my husband and I were unable to attend so gifted the voucher to his two sisters who went for one of their birthdays. They throughly enjoyed the experience and the birthday girl was royalty treated.

Excellent value and lovely female staff member who looked after us.

We'd give the afternoon tea a 10/10 score.

Good value but sandwiches were a bit plain and bread very thick.

Very pleasant helpful staff

Quality of food