The Raven Hotel

This weekend we celebrated our Golden Wedding at The Raven Hotel, Much Wenlock. It exceeded our expectations in so many ways. From the initial planning meeting Noo Noo, Emma, Lee and Yvonne were so attentive to our wishes, and went out of their way to ensure everything was perfectly planned for the celebratory meal. On arrival, all our guests were given a very warm welcome and they were all delighted with the accommodation, nothing was too much trouble for the staff. The meal, overseen by Lee, was perfectly executed and we all experienced fine dining. Every member of the team went out of their way to ensure we had a wonderful evening and the excellent service continued the next morning when many guests joined us for breakfast. If you are planning a special meal, the Raven Hotel will ensure all your needs are met and we cannot recommend them too highly. The service we received from Noo Noo, Cheryl and Chloe supported by Laurence and Jack was excellent. The collaborative team spirit was in evidence throughout the weekend. A special mention to Yvonne for the beautiful flowers too. Thank you to everyone who made it a very special occasion. David and Rosanne Bartlett

I have just stayed in this really delightful hotel. The moment we walked in we were made to feel so welcome. The decor is fresh and stylish and the woodburners made the hotel feel very cosy. The staff were incredibly friendly and helpful and the food was delicious. The breakfast was the best we have ever had in a hotel. Much Wenlock is a delightful little town. We are already planning our next visit to The Raven.

Let me start by saying that we are a fan of The Raven and chose to go there on our wedding anniversary today. In the past we have delighted in their food and service. However today problems started with my trying to reserve a table for lunch. I called twice in the morning and was met by an answerphone on both occasions. On the 2nd attempt I left a message saying I'd like to book a table for the Lounge Menu, then we set off to Much Wenlock hoping we had been heard. I left my number but no-one called back. On arrival at just after midday we found no-one on reception but a lady did appear after a few minutes and luckily they did have a table free - but she claimed they had no message from me! Oh well perhaps they hadn't listened to them all as I expect I was not the only one trying to get through that morning. Service at the table was initially very good and prompt and we soon had our drinks and placed an order for starter and main. My wife's crab starter was swamped in its sauce so much so one could barely taste the crab. The toast provided was burnt and limp. However my ham terrine was OK. Moving onto the mains my fish and chips was good but a bit overdone - but not sufficiently that I felt like complaining. So far not brilliant but overage I'd say - but not really worth the prices being charged. The biggest problem came with ordering coffee. It took ages for our order to be taken. When it came to paying the procedure was positively archaic and entirely paper based. You have to go to reception and wait for someone to check you out. Because the receptionist was busy (she was the same lady who took our order, served our food and made our coffee) with with an incoming call we waited for over 10 minutes until a young lad was given the task. Sadly not all our items were on the paper hand written receipt and we saw him nipping into the bar to check prices of our coffee. Finally he spent what seemed an age adding everything up with a calculator. Full marks to this lad for coping at short notice but he was obviously not trained. We paid with the credit card machine and left - only to be later chased after in the street and told the transaction had not gone through - even though the lad had earlier said it had! This was an embarrassing end to our wedding anniversary lunch which in the end cost nearly £60 for two pretty average meals. I wish we had gone to the cafe over the road! Two points for improvement Raven - (1) have sufficient staff on a busy Friday lunch time. The lady we had serving us had multiple tasks including dealing with new customers on the phone, making coffees, taking food orders, serving food, making drinks, being a receptionist etc. It was clearly too much for one person (2) For goodness sake get a computer system for taking orders and generating a bill. It's not acceptable to keep guests waiting while bills are written down by hand, and then added up by hand. Please do take these comments constructively. We want the Raven to suc

Let me start by saying the restaurant and food at the Raven is excellent and worthy of 5 stars. However, the accommodation (room 12) was extremely poor. The room was very small, the mattress very soft, the shower over the bath was not fit for purpose and the TV didn't work properly due to a lack of internet connection or bandwith. The ultimate disappointment was the total lack of items for a continental breakfast on the Sunday morning. When I asked about breakfast pastries the waitress told me that they didn't have any on a Sunday. Also, there was no cereal left or yoghurts. When I complained about this at check-out I was told they did have them at the start of breakfast but had all gone even though we were down for breakfast at 9.00am! Either way it was totally unacceptable when you are paying £120/night. All in all I would definitely recommend the restaurant but would never stay there overnight again.

My wife, her friend and I called into The Raven for a mid afternoon lunch as we had eaten there before whilst seeing in nearby Ludlow. As this is a popular venue we had booked a table in advance. We were met BR friendly staff and offered a table near to a window. We placed an order for a round of drinks whilst we studied the menu. Between us we choose the fish & chips, sirloin steak and scallops. All three main courses were excellent and served promptly. For dessert we choose two portions of apple & rhubarb crumble together with a fudge brownie - these were delicious too. Together with a bottle of wine and beers the bill came to £106 so £117 with a tip. We thought this was good value DIT money when your considered the quality of the food and service. Well worth a visit.

The Raven restaurant is housed within the hotel of the same name. We visited for Sunday lunch. The cost was very reasonable at £29 for 3 courses. Everything was of the highest quality; a good variety of vegetables and the roast beef was perfectly cooked. The service was just right, attentive but unobtrusive. Lovely people. Will return!