The Rudloe Marco Pierre White

Some good points but many more bad points. The staff were very pleasant and polite, we can't fault that. The food was mostly very good, as expected seeing as the hotel is owned by Marco Pierre-White, though we know that he doesn't do the cooking himself, it is his team who do all that. The location of the hotel was perfect for what we wanted to do - visit the Roman Bath house in Bath. We were both given a complimentary cocktail on arrival (though this had to be claimed by 5pm on arrival day or you just wouldn't get one). There wasn't any choice of cocktails, you got what you are given. I'm not sure but I think it was a Mimosa as we were just handed it by the barman.... The gardens were typically of a Roman style, not surprising given the location and also MPW's heritage as he is half Italian I believe. They were nice, we sat in them for our arrival cocktail. They were a bit overgrown but we could still sit relatively comfortably at one of the tables. The food was good, nicely presented and always arrived very hot, and it kept the heat too. The menu was limited though, which we expected as our whole stay was bought through Wowcher and didn't expect the full whack anyway. I had poached egg one morning and part of the egg white was still not quite cooked, I put that bit aside but I'm not sure if I'd already eaten any uncooked egg before I noticed, and strangely enough I had a bad case of sickness and diarrhoea later in the middle of the night. Sides are all at an extra cost, so if, like my husband, you wanted potatoes and veg with your steak you will have to fork out an extra £5 - per side. So it cost an extra £10 just for my husband to have any veg with his steak! The steak itself was excellent, according to my husband. The breakfasts incur the same additional £5 charge if you want fresh orange juice with it, so again another £10 as we both like orange juice with our breakfasts. You do get complimentary tea or coffee with breakfast but neither of us drink that and the waitress looked at us as if we had two heads when we said no thanks to that and asked for some OJ instead. You'd think she would have just replaced the tea/coffee with the orange juice at no extra charge but that didn't happen. The cost of alcoholic drinks was ridiculous too, if you wanted another cocktail aside from your free welcome one it would have cost another £12.50, a bottle of beer is £7.50 and just a diet coke (unsure if it was a can, bottle or even draught - we didn't try to find out) was £4.95!! So if the two of us had wanted to stay in the fig tree garden and just have a few drinks without going elsewhere it could have easily cost us £100, just for one evening's drinks. But if you're thinking "Well we can just go somewhere local, buy a few cans and take them back to the room" - yes you could but if you leave ANY signs such as bottle tops or empty cans, you will get charged £40 corkage. So take any rubbish (food waste too) and put it straight

Just returned from a wonderful 3 night break for my husband's birthday. It was supposed to be 2 nights but we were having such a good time that we decided to extend it. From the moment that we arrived the service was impeccable whilst still managing to be friendly. Every member of staff was a credit to the management team. Luciano looked after us remarkably, and made me feel like a VIP. He was completely in control of the room without having the arrogance that can often come with that role. We chose to stay in the main house, as we wanted to unplug from the TV for a while, and have long, lazy baths, but if you prefer a TV, and a shower the Dower House provides that. The bed was exceptionally comfortable, and the pillows were amazing; like sleeping on fluffy clouds. The four eclectic lounges open to all guests, meant that there was always a space to relax, unwind and chat, whilst taking in the art work and various objects on display, or dip into one of the many books. As for the price, all I can say is, we have stayed at other hotels for a higher price without a three course evening meal being provided, and thousands of pounds of artwork to be found in your bedroom and around the building. The food was exceptional each evening, and, if you were on a budget, there was plenty on the menu without adding extras, but it was nice to have the option. If you prefer to stay in a chain, and have food supplied by a hotel catering company, from an impossibly large menu, maybe this isn't the place for you. But if you want fine dining at affordable prices in lovely surroundings, I would thoroughly recommend the Rudloe.

What an interesting quirky place to stay! Our room was spacious, spotless and very comfortable. We were in the Sex Pistols room and loved it. Bed was comfortable and the bathroom was lovely. Lovely walk around the gardens, yes it’s natural looking but I loved it. Restaurant food was really good. Only slight negative was it was the same menu two nights, except for one starter. And all the starters were cold ones. Having said that, they were delicious. I had steak first night and cod the second, both were very good. The drinks are not cheap but not more expensive than other places we have stayed. We had a bottle of wine on both nights and 2 sides each night and our bill was £110 on top of the cost of the stay. Breakfast was good and there was plenty. The staff were great but not intrusive and we had a lovely relaxed 2 days with a visit to Bath. All in all it was a really good weekend.